Victorian ALP fail to debate marriage

Victorian ALP fail to debate marriage

The State Conference of the Victorian Labor Party has failed to vote on a motion pushing for marriage equality as a Federal policy and did not even debate the issue as there were not enough members present in the room to have a quorum.

The motion read, “We call upon the ALP National Conference to amend the national platform to support the legal right of couples of marriageable age in Australia to be married if they so choose, and for that marriage to be recognised and registered by law in Australia, regardless of the sexual orientation, or gender, of the parties to the marriage.”

The party previously endorsed a motion in favour of same-sex marriage at its 2009 conference but the motion at this year’s conference was intended to add pressure on the Federal Government in the lead up to the ALP’s National Conference where the party will revisit its stance on same-sex marriage.

150 people were needed for the issue to be debated but only 147 were present.

It is unclear if this was a deliberate move to scuttle the motion as other motions also failed to be debated.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard spoke to the conference earlier in the day but did not touch on the issue.

Victorian Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby co-convenor Sarah Rogan said she was disappointed at the outcome of the conference.

“Not having quorum is quite a poor way of avoiding the debate,” she said. “The Lobby thought the motion put forward by the Socialist Left was incredibly worthy of debate and it was quite disappointing to see Labor not debate their position. The ALP prides itself on being able to democratically debate issues, and if it’s being stifled, they need to do better than that.”

Albert Park MP Martin Foley said, “It’s important to note that the motion put on Saturday reiterated a motion passed with overwhelming support at conference last year. So the Victorian party has already expressed its support, as has our leader Daniel Andrews”.

In related news, around 800 people rallied for same-sex marriage next to the Sydney Town Hall today before marching to Taylor Square.

Trackwork on a rail line through Sydney’s Inner West which closed some train stations may have been a contributing factor, as could confusion over whether the rally had been given permission by police.

Protestors were watched by a larger than usual police presence, with two mounted police officers stationed at the doors of St Andrews Cathedral for much of the protest.

Police and the Anglican Diocese of Sydney had asked protesters to stand away from the church after initially refusing permission for the rally to go ahead in Sydney Square and this was complied with.

No incident has ever occurred between worshipers at St Andrews and marriage equality protesters and that tradition of peaceful coexistence continued with today’s event.

Numbers were down somewhat compared to some recent protests, but the younger than usual crowd were energised, chanting loudly, as they marched through the streets of Sydney despite being boxed in by two police cars in front of the protesters and mounted police following closely to their rear.

Marching up Oxford Street protestors were cheered by people from bar windows while motorists tooted their horns in support.

Other rallies for same-sex marriage were held in Queensland and Perth.

You May Also Like

9 responses to “Victorian ALP fail to debate marriage”

  1. What happened to Joe, did he let some guy give him a BJ and now he hates all gays???

  2. The biggest obstacle to same-sex marriage rights can be summarised in three words: “Joe de Bruyn”.

    “Joe is the National Secretary of the Shop Distributive and Allied Employees Association, is the Senior Vice President of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, and is a member of the National Executive of the Australian Labour Party. He is known for his staunch opposition to abortion and embryonic stem cell research. He wrote a paper on Pope John Paul II’s Encyclical ‘Laborem Excersen’ applying Catholic social teaching to Government Legislation.”
    http://www.catholicstudents.org.au/conference2010.php

    “At a quarterly SDA members meeting in February 2011, de Bruyn moved a resolution against gay marriage, without giving any members a chance to speak or vote on the issue. This led to the first instance of members of the SDA speaking out and challenging de Bruyn on his stance on gay marriage. 83 SDA member signatures in support of gay marriage were presented to the SDA Queensland branch quarterly meeting, shop steward Duncan Hart said SDA national secretary de Bruyn’s staunch opposition to gay marriage did not reflect the feelings of its members.”
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_de_Bruyn

    Union boss savages Gillard on gay marriage
    http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/11/19/3070792.htm

    Labor in crisis as disenchanted desert the party
    http://www.theage.com.au/national/labor-in-crisis-as-disenchanted-desert-the-party-20110524-1f2jz.html

    For more information google “joe de bruyn”

  3. All over the online media ALP MPs and their cronies are shaking their collective heads and going “what happened?” … I’ll tell you what happened – The ALP tried to paint themselves as progressive during the NSW state election to hang on to power. They lost power but they also stripped it from the Greens and the truly progressive Independents. The same happened in VIC last year. The ALP head-and-shoulders are desperately trying to appeal to bogan Australia and so same sex marriage is a lead balloon. I blame GLBTQI Labor supporters who have continued to believe the ALP will deliver same sex marriage – were you not listening when Rudd, Gillard, Swann, Pliberseck and other MPs said they did not support Same Sex Marriage? That was back in 2007. Stop banging your heads (and ours) against the proverbial brick wall and vote Green or progressive Independent to force a wedge between the mirror-image major parties. The ALP lie has set us back years on this issue.

  4. Until we become a respected block within each major Party we are chasing our tales. Being Gay or Lesbian has to be beyond politics, however our long term efficacy dictates our continued involvement. Abib and Shorten won this battle. Unless Gay conservatives can come up with some spontaneous genius we are about to loose what meager gains we made with a State labor Government over the last ten years.

    Have our elders failed us? I think not: As a community we are still in our infancy – it took the christians some 350 years to get that ancient childrens’ fable, the old testament penned. There is hope.

  5. Gillard came late to her conference, went in through a side door, did her speech, and took off fast. She is even scared of her own political party!

    The quest for equality is about living as freely as the next person- to be treated equally before the law. We will accept nothing more and want nothing less. The Labor Party left the people, we did not leave the Labor Party.

    The Greens are the only party in power that supports and advocates for equality.

  6. Save your breath Nathan, right now there is very little cohesion in our community – we’ve been very effectively divided and conquered (for now) by a few energies, led by the conservative ALP movement. Add to that the ALP supporters who believed the Labor pollies who said that same sex marriage support would be a shoe-in at the various ALP conferences. Victorian ALP failings are a precursor to the federal washing-of-the-hands coming up on this human rights issue. To all the Local, State and Federal upper and lower house ALP politicians who said they’d be the thorn in the side of their ALP head and shoulders (and the misguided who voted them in) … sharpen the thorn and dig it right in, or get out of the way!

  7. The rally was awesome today. Perfect weather and a great active crowd.

    It would be nice to see more gay people supporting the cause because change will only come with action.

    Supporting marriage equality does not mean that you want to get married but it means you support the choice to get married.