Gay Unions Back On The Table In The ACT
Now that Howard’s out, Chief Minister Jon Stanhope is pushing once more for gay unions in the ACT. The Federal Government have stopped the laws being passed twice before and he’s hoping this time that Kevin Rudd will not get in his way.
“I expect my colleagues federally to accept [the proposal]... I will be deeply disappointed if they don’t,” says Stanhope. “We will do what we need to do to have it passed.”
According to The Advertiser, if passed, ceremonies will be permitted to take place within the ACT, where gay couples can make a legal pledge to each other in front of a civil partnership notary and at least one witness. It would be the first time anything like this has happened in Australia, and couples from other states would be able to travel to Canberra to get hitched.
It all boils down to terminology and perceptions in the end. The last two times the bill has failed because the ceremonies looked too much like marriage, whereas the ACT government is insisting that they’re nothing like marriage.
Stanhope says that he’s not willing to dilute the bill even further by simply asking for a relationships register, like Victoria and Tasmania. He’s pushing for ceremonies, he thinks that anything less would be a compromise for the people of Canberra.
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drmoreau
said ages ago