No movement on marriage push
The Federal Government has sidestepped questions on marriage law anomalies such as immigration of same-sex married couples and the recent case of a trans woman who remained legally married to her female partner.
Australian Marriage Equality put the questions to Attorney-General Robert McClelland during a human rights forum he hosted for non-government organisations in June this year, but the written response from the Department only outlined the marriage ban rationale.
-œThe Government’s policy on marriage reflects the widely held view in the community that marriage is between a man and woman, the response stated.
AME national secretary Alex Greenwich has since sought confirmation that the marriage ban would be overturned if it could be shown that the majority of Australians supported equal marriage.
-œWe’re not surprised [by the response]. It seems that when you ask any Labor cabinet member a logical question about same-sex marriage they struggle to answer it, whether it be Anthony Albanese, Tanya Plibersek or the Attorney-General, Greenwich told Southern Star.
-œFor the people within Labor who support same-sex marriage, like Louise Pratt, we want to help them point out to their colleagues the amount of support out there, and the benefit of same-sex marriage to the community as a whole.
He added that AME has been attempting to arrange a meeting with the Attorney-General since Labor won office, but has yet to be given a date.
