$31K to meet with Gillard

$31K to meet with Gillard

Marriage equality advocates have had to pay $31,000 to put their case to Prime Minister Julia Gillard.

Australian Marriage Equality (AME) and GetUp! successfully bid for an intimate dinner with the PM as part of the Canberra Press Gallery’s Midwinter Charity Ball, where political leaders auction off face-time for charity, including dinner for six at the Lodge with the PM.

AME national convenor Alex Greenwich welcomed the opportunity to meet with Gillard.

“We hope the dinner will help put a real face to the issue and a real face to people discriminated against by the Marriage Act,” Greenwich told the Star Observer.

“The Mid Winter Ball gives us a chance to support a great charity and gives us a chance to make a huge impact for human rights with marriage equality.

“We’re not going to shove it in her face, what we’ll do is put a real face to the issue and let the Prime Minister engage with our community to see the real impacts of discrimination.”

“The face-to-face time with the PM was billed as a ‘unique opportunity for corporate Australia’, but rather than dining with executives and business leaders Julia Gillard will be forced to make the case as to why these couples cannot have their relationships recognised in the same way other Australians do,” GetUp National Director Simon Sheikh said.

“During the Federal Election a year ago, it became evident that marriage equality was an issue Australians cared about despite the major parties’ failure to address it. Our politicians are elected to lead, but are far behind the public on this, it’s time they step up to the plate and support equality and fairness for all couples.”

Sandy Miller and fiancée Louise Bucke will be two of the Australians attending the dinner and have been engaged for the last two years. The couple have two children from Sandy’s previous marriage, 11 and 9.
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“Our youngest often asks us “Mummies are you going to be engaged forever? Why don’t you get married?”,” Miller said.
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“It has been hard trying to explain that our government won’t let us get married and he doesn’t understand why everyone else can get married and become a family legally and we can’t.”
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“We don’t want to be considered special or better than anyone else, we only want the same rights as every other person and couple in Australia, the right to be legally married. Until the government legally recognises that same sex couples are no different to heterosexual couples and should have the same and equal rights in every area in life including marriage, this discrimination will never end.”
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Joining them at that event will be recent Queen’s Birthday Honours recipient Prof. Kerryn Phelps, (AM) Snr Queenslander of the Year Shelley Argent (OAM), and former Vietnam Veteran and the proud father who famously questioned Tony Abbott about the issue on Q&A, Geoff Thomas.
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According to the Mid Winter Ball’s website, they can expect to meet with Gillard over “a spectacular dinner for six at The Lodge or her Sydney residence, Kirribilli House.”

The groups were also successful in a $12,000 bidding on a dinner with  the federal Independents – Tony Windsor, Rob Oakeshott and Bob Katter – two of whom would be needed in any vote on legislation to reform the Marriage Act.

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13 responses to “$31K to meet with Gillard”

  1. rather them than me… sitting in a room with that bitch all night would be enough to put me off my pudding!

  2. At a time when no political party is actually DOING (as opposed to talking about) anything on this issue, it’s great to see AME and Get Up! championing our rights on our behalf. I commend you and I support you … anyone who supports marriage equality in Australia send a donation to Get Up! with your thanks, and do it today.

  3. MENU.

    Pink scrambled eggs and pink Champagne.

    For Pudding, you get to listen to that voice all night.

  4. Isn’t it sad that for the Leader of our country to be heard costs $31,000. We claim to be a Democracy!! This is of great concern to me.
    Well done though for the Marriage Equity Advocates, I hope you make Julia really pay for this experience. Get you $31,000 worth.

  5. It cost the tiny cult, the Christian Lobby, nothing to meet with Julia Gillard all the time. This will be her first dinner where ending discrimination will be on the menu rather then increasing it.

  6. I am prepared to take one for the team and dine with Tony Abbott, if it’s more than fish n chips on Bondi beach wearing only budgie smugglers.

  7. I hope when they meet with the independents (which they also won), that someone points out to Katter that suicide in the farming community (which he so loudly -and rightly- protests) is not always about losing income! I’d love for someone to serve him a few statistics about suicide rates of regional Australians as a result of sexuality/gender identity issues. He loves to spout ‘XX farmers a week were committing suicide’ – i’d love to hear what he has to say…

  8. Tobacco company refuses to donate and turn up to a Labor function and they are getting punished. It will be interesting to see what happens with the “buying” minority.

  9. This is an awesome result – dinner with the independents too, a great bonus! I can’t always attend rallies/protests, and although I don’t have much money, it felt great to donate (my family and friends also donated). More please!

  10. Wonder how she’ll try dodge the issue now she has to meet face to face. She’ll probably send a representative instead.