Abbott: No conscience vote on marriage
Any changes to the Marriage Act with the current sitting Parliament look destined to fail, with reports Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has ruled out a conscience vote on the issue for Liberal MPs.
According to a story in The Australian newspaper this morning, Abbott has said no to a conscience vote on marriage equality even if Labor allows one.
An Abbott spokesman told the newspaper that the party’s policy opposed same-sex marriage.
“The Coalition’s policy is that marriage is between a man and a woman,” the spokesman said.
“We don’t have conscience votes on matters of policy.”
Over sixty supporters of marriage equality will converge on Parliament House tomorrow to lobby MPs, including Abbott.
Australian Marriage Equality national convener Alex Greenwich said the message of the marriage equality supporters will be that the issue is about people not politics.
“Tomorrow, MPs will be visited by a wide range of same-sex partners, their family members, clergy and other supporters of equality, and they will have a united message that marriage equality is about real people with real lives, not politics and political point-scoring,” Greenwich said.
As part of the lobbying day, it is hoped Abbott will meet some of his constituents who support marriage equality and their message to him will be that the Coalition must have a conscience vote if it’s to be true to its principles of individual conscience.
“A majority of Australians and a majority of Coalition voters support marriage equality and Coalition MPs should have the right to represent the views of these millions of voters,” Greenwich said.
“In denying his party a conscience vote, Mr Abbott is showing himself to be out of touch with the 75% of Coalition Voters who support a free vote.”
National spokesperson for Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG), Shelley Argent, will also be lobbying at Parliament House this week.
“Our children’s fundamental rights are at stake here and I think it’s quite inappropriate for Mr Abbott to be playing politics with this important reform,” she said.
I deserve the same rights as every other Australian. The government is quick enough to take their slice of fat our of my wage each week but they sway away from giving me the rights that other Australians have!
Abbott will never be prime minister. Labor will dump Julia to remain in power. If the Liberals want it, they will have to dump Abbott to get it. He might be able to beat Julia, but he can’t beat a replacement. We just need to keep up our pressure. We are almost there. The general population supports us and in the end that is all that will matter.
Well said Dave, and exactly Ben – this is my concern too that with the “Mad Monk” in the top job, we are looking at up to 10 years until marriage equality even gets another look in before we can even hope to catch up with the rest of the world !!
As it is people are leaving the country to marry the person they love. It should NOT be like this. I feel Julia Gillard is stubborn and untrustworthy on the matter, but Tony Abbott is a fossil brainwashed with extreme Catholicism and values that belong in the last century !!!
****EVERYONE PLS WRITE TO YOUR LOCAL MEMBER, IT IS THE BEST THING YOU CAN DO !! That and also come to protest at the Fed debate in December !! Bring your friends and family, write letters, emails, sign petitions, inundate your member and parliament with our calls for reason, equality and acceptance !!
**** THIS MIGHT BE OUR LAST CHANCE !!
Jack – I’m aware Australia has no Bill of Rights…not clear how it connects with your call to end compulsory voting.
Just to correct one point, the 1999 reforms in NSW were the first in Australia to recognise same-sex relationships – it cleared away discrimination on a state level and give access to many of the basic rights and entitlements de facto straight couples had.
(But there was no partnership register then. That came circa 2009)
Superannuation, equal age of consent and most recently same-sex adoption all happened under NSW Labor.
The Commonwealth discrimination was only ended by Rudd, who went to the 2007 election committing to give same-sex couple equal entitlements and responsibilities. That happened in 2008.
Equal recognition is the remaining battle.
Good luck working with, in your words, Liberal bigotry. If Abbott is like Howard, that will mean no G & L reforms while he is Prime Minister.
@Ben
What you don’t seem to realise is that there in NO bill of rights in Australia.
Lets leave gay issues out of it.
Once you have a such a document it matters no longer about gay or straight issues but more to do with human rights.
That’s how civil rights was won in the US.
It may also interest you to know that our federal and state governments work on a Westminster tradition. The document that we call the constitution is from the UK. It is a hand me down from 200 years ago that is NOT a constitution but loose bits a ‘laws?’ that appear to hold the federation together.
Same-sex relationships in NSW were given a cursory nod and a register in 1999. But yah, I can also register my dog with the council so I cant see how this is a seismic step in human rights. It was only recently that 88 bits of legislation were federally swept away from discriminating against same sex couples!
And b4 u cum down hard on the libs and Tony Abbott, please remember that Howard’s 2004 legislation overturning the wording of the 1961 marriage act was heartily endorsed by labor. Ask Greens Leader Bob Brown how Labor health minister Nicole Roxon cheered and stamped in support of changing this act. This is the same flake who gave straight and gay men Barry Williams and Warick Marsh as health ambassadors, both with virilent homophobic agendas.
http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2008/s2430925.htm
And just for the record Tony Abbott has been one of the only major politicians to appear on JoyFM Gay radio to be interviewed. MS. Gilliard on the other hand is happy to do sit down interviews with the likes of Jim Wallace and the ACL(Australian Christian Lobby).
I have no desire or stomach for either of these major parties. However, there is one significant difference.
Liberal bigotry is out there on the table.
I beleive you can work with that.
Labor on the other hand is deceptive, sneaky, devious and underhanded
pretending to be something it is not.
That is why a change of government is inevitable.
@JackWilson- the American experience is hardly inspiring. Many American state’s still don’t recognise same-sex relationships, something achieved here in NSW back in 1999.
UK Prime Minister David Cameron’s stance in same-sex marriage likely has more to do with being in coalition with the Liberal Democrats than fear of gay and lesbian voters turning away from the Torys at the next election.
And even some countries that have same-sex marriage/Bill of rights don’t have recognition of same-sex parenting or adoption rights.
Finally, it’s all a moot point really – Tony Abbott’s refusal to have a conscience vote kills any chance of same-sex marriage.
JackWilson, Obama supports civil unions, not gay marriage, so that puts him on par with Rudd and Abbott for “sympathy with gay causes”.
As for the “advantage” of non-compulsory voting, just three years ago Proposition 8 – a ban on same-sex marriage – was supported by a majority of Californian voters – despite opponents including the gay and lesbian community, raising more money (even Los Angeles voted to ban same-sex marriage)
@ben
The proof is in the pudding.
What I said still stands about real advances gained in the UK and the US.
It’s NOT fiction it’s real, when a conservative PM in Cameron spruiks gay marriage at a conservative conference, times are changing!
There is also the provision of rigorous anti-hate legislation that has ‘teeth.’
This is b/c of a powerful gay lobby that can muster strong voting power without compulsory voting.
Both the US and the UK have a strong bill of rights.
Australia is one of the last OECD countries with no bill of rights and no federal anti- discrimination act that protects sexual orientation. These are glaring examples of a backward country that does not respect all of the rights of it’s citizens.
FYI. It was the ‘whacko christians’ along with the NYC mayoral office that cut a deal for gay marriage in NY state recently.
However, it was all the non voting blacks in California that turned out in greater than ever numbers that voted for Obama when he was elected and for prop 8 for a marriage ban against gay ppl.
You see Ben everything isn’t as simple and cut n dried as you may think and there are many decent ppl in Australia who happpen to be christian who are appalled at the UNCHRISTIAN way gay ppl are treated.
@Brenton – gay and lesbian voters, like the rest of the population, are diverse. Our place is everywhere – including the Liberal and National Party. And the history of recent NSW reform required a few of them to get enough support for Keneally’s efforts on age of consent and same-sex adoption to pass.
@JackAlison – compulsory voting prevents the whacko Christian extremists – and they are more numerous and spread out than us. Gay and Lesbian voters are overwhelmingly concentrated in about six seats across Australia. Any “threat” to mobilise the pink vote outside the inner city would fail miserably. Think of where the most marginal seats in NSW are…Penrith and the Central Coast…easily more voting church-goers than voting sodomites.
Sorry, your analysis is wishful thinking.
Bash the liberals all you want and yes some, probably most, have voted against us over the years.
But let’s get facts straight. Last election it was the coalition who committed to, if forming government, would update relationship status protections in federal discrimination laws to include same sex relationship. Labor still has not done this.
Both parties have committed to including sexual orientation! ALP has also committed to including gender identity.
And Tony Abbott personally before the election on Joy FM committed to in principle support for this position that then became party policy at the election!
Now I’m just saying… It could be possible given it was a spokesperson and not Tony himself that the spokesperson spoke too soon. Lets wait and see the outcome of the ALP conference. It would look pretty petty if the ALP gave a conscience vote and the coalition didn’t… Wouldn’t go down too well with many small l liberals and would play against Tony in terms of his captain catholic perception in the electorate
The real problem is compulsory voting.
Unlike the UK and the US we are stuck with the tyranny of the majority.
The reason both Obama and Cameron are sympathetic to gay causes is the huge gay push to register to vote in pivotal seats and states where voting is NOT compulsory.
Most of the population in these countries cannot be bothered voting and therefore powerful lobby groups (incl. gay groups)influence politics a whole lot more.
It may come as a shock to you but Abbott or Gillard would be falling over themselves to be gay advocates if they relied on our votes.
They dont, so they couldn’t care less.
That’s an unfortunate reality and a stain on the integrity of democracy which must govern for all, not just the majority. Mind you, it wasn’t always like this and we had very brave and caring politicians who really did try and stand up for what is right. They are ones who do a lot of back room deals such as the former Sid Spindler from the Aust. Democrats.
But I put it to you that a PM and an Opposition Leader who couldn’t pick up a phone or attend a funeral of any of the boat wreck that happened on Christmas Island months ago and yet can call a 14 year old boy in detention says it all. Both parties lack any intestinal fortitude or spine and trade in the misery of others.
Yep, thats the human filth and vermin we have in our corridors of power.
@rob1966 Well said mate. I think we sometimes forget that there is more happening in politics than just gay issues.
Political parties take a stance on a wide range of issues, some you agree with, some you don’t (the Greens included!)
@Brenton .. you are entitled to your political views, but to make offensive comments about gays and lesbians who might vote for a different party than you is inapprorpiate.
Politics is not a “one issue” game. I for one support same-sex marriage, but I also recognise that the Nation needs a strong economy, low unemployment, good social services and strong international ties – I will vote for the party that I believe will do its best for most of these.
Yes, that means on occasion I may vote for a party that does not support same-sex marriage (heck – if you vote Labor or Liberal that is currently the case) – but I will not dismiss other elements as less important than same-sex marriage just because I am gay.
It says a lot about you that you wish your opponents dead rather than supporting a political debate. Shame on you.
This is fatal to the marriage campaign.
Regardless of how Labor votes (as a bloc or conscience vote) same- sex marriage needs support from some conservatives to become law.
Abbott is odds-on to wn the next election – same-sex marriage is now ten years away, likely with an incoming Labor Government.
[…] Full Story from the Star Observer […]
As a mature gay man, in a 26 year old same-sex relationship, I find ANY homosexual that votes ‘Liberal’ an obscenity. So tired of silly, young, ‘little rich’ children that have been to private schools and thinking that voting Liberal means’anything’!!!!!! Those conservative Liberal MP’s ‘assholes’ have voted against the decriminalisation of homosexauity, they have voted against anti-discrimination laws , they have voted against same-sex adoption, they have voted against same-sex relationship recogntion etc. etc. etc ! Do you think that after 40 years of watching Liberal votes in Parliament that one doesn’t NOTICE how Liberals vote! The list goes on and on and on!! How DARE any gay Liberal raise their evil presence on any gay website! You are simply feeding the hatred and persecution on the GLTBI community! The only good ‘Liberal’ Is 6 feet under and not able to vote!
I am just not with the convoluted notion that the Greens are somehow responsible for the homophobia of Tony Abbott and Malcolm Turnbull.
Replacing the “Stop the Boats” with the “Stop the gays destroying Marriage” is not a sentiment I share. Barny the Banana, from the Nationals, might run around spruiking this for Abbott, but if this is the alternative government then we are headed for disaster. Would Abbott rather we marry his daughters? I have to ask though, how many teen suicides will it take for Tony Abbott to remain leader? This idea there is a superior group of humans based on birth, is NAZI light isn’t it?
Turnbull for instance is a mess. He could cross the floor to support a tax, but could not support his own electorate who he said overwhelmingly they support equality. So who does Turnbull support if he does not support his electorate? Perhaps the conservative Catholic hardliner Tony Abbott might be better placed to answer this. For both certainly do not support equality and continue to make the birth of some Australians a punishment.
I just cannot bring myself to support this whole superior sexuality ideology Party and the messages that sends to the community. I thank that Greens we are now talking about equality, and Marriage equality is on the lips of Australians.
@ Will = “tony is in bed with Pell… ew! who do u feel sorry for there?? THE BED!
Tony was just stating process.
As a Gay Liberal voter, ofcourse I am disappointed, however when voting on matters of policy a conscious vote is vetoed.
There are wider issues at stake here: Tony is in bed with Pell, and usually culture is handed down. Thus the shadow front bench reflects Tony’s conservative neo-catholiscism. Again I feel disappointed with the lack of rigor involved in keeping matters of State separate from organised religion, for example Ruddock introducing the Marriage Amendment Bill. There is the issue of reduction, a tool utilised when exercising stigma. Stigma as we know leads to poor health outcomes. View the outcomes of Beyondblue to date for an example of the nature of culture and reduction.
Interestingly the organised christian church did not have any notion of ownership of marriage until approx. 1100 BCE. Prior to that it was secular institution.
The membership of each major party reflects that Oz is the least involved when compared to any other Western democracy. Small memberships are vulnerable to extreme partisan notions: de Bruyn is a manifestation of this.
If Turnbill were the leader of the Liberal would have things been different? I believe so, as previously stated culture permeates from above.
The alterations to the State Equal Opportunity Act under Brumby were at best a pathetic compromise post Hulls backroom deal with the catholics. In affect it was useless.
Ultimately, fault must be pointed at the Greens; they have not achieved cross partisan support. Thus even if we gain Gay marriage, sustainability is in doubt, and our young will be left fighting for rights that our generation only half did.
Abbott so wants to be # 1 that he will pander to whatever he thinks will win him the votes – he will oppose any and everything to make it look like labor is incompetent – The only way he will change his mind is if it becomes very clear that he is losing more votes than he stands to gain based on this issue. He, after all, said he would sell his arse to become prime minister – which is not really that surprising – he would probably give it away under the right circumstances.
What do you expect? Benedict is with Tony all day, all 24 hours of it!
Also, well said Dave!
Malcolm Turnbull and Tony Abbott do not believe in giving GLBTI people the protection of the Federal Equal Opportunity Act, let alone giving equal access to other laws. But what do you expect from a party who strongly supported the White Australia policy for so many years.
The fact is the Liberal and National Party seek to make the birth of some Australians a punishment. Even the Victorian State Liberal Party Clem Newton-Brown of Prahran sought to strip protections in the Equal Opportunity Act, once he had power in Government.
I will continue voting Green, a party with no issue with my sexuality, and a party that thinks all Australians should be valued and afforded basic Civil Rights.