Civil union ceremonies scrapped
Queensland Premier Campbell Newman has announced he will amend the state’s Civil Partnerships Act to preclude same-sex couples from having a state-sanctioned ceremony.
In a press conference this afternoon, Newman said that the Act will otherwise remain intact but that the changes were a demonstration of “good faith” to Christian churches who lobbied to repeal civil unions because they emulated marriage.
“The Civil Partnerships Act allows legal certification which streamlines administrative matters when same-sex couples apply for entitlements with the Government,” Newman said.
“The amendments will keep those legal rights but provide for no state-sanctioned ceremony… which is what offended Christian groups.”
Newman said the decision was made after a lengthy discussion with cabinet and talks with church representatives, but admitted he hadn’t consulted with the LGBT community, saying he’d spoken with advocates before the election and knew where they stood.
He also announced that celebrants who applied to be notaries for same-sex civil union ceremonies would have their application fee refunded.
Attorney-General Jarrod Bleijie announced last month that he was examining the possibility of a full or partial repeal of civil union laws and sought legal advice on available alternatives, admitting all options were on the table.
Before the March election, Newman initially said he would not contemplate scrapping the laws if civil unions had already occurred, and that a repeal wasn’t a priority if he became premier.
He then appeared to backflip, pledging his support for a full repeal while speaking at an Australian Christian Lobby event in February, as long as it didn’t leave couples in “legal limbo”.
Action on civil unions was also not mentioned in the Liberal National Party’s (LNP) first 100-day plan released just prior to their election victory.
The LNP opposed the laws when they were debated in Parliament last year.
One of the first couples to register their civil union under the new laws told the Star Observer in May that a full or partial repeal would be devastating.
“It would feel like being treated like an animal, being declassified by [the Government] saying your relationship isn’t like everybody else’s,” Michael O’Brien said.
“If they’re going to change it to a relationship register, I mean that just sounds like something for pets.
“It would signal that our relationships were not valid, not equal.”
O’Brien and his partner Anthony Gillespie registered their union with the Brisbane Office of Births, Deaths and Marriages on February 23.
More than 600 civil unions have been registered since their introduction in February.
How many couples in Queensland had a civil union so far? JUST ONE! What a waste of time and taxpayers money introducing them anyway, when marriage equality is way better!
[…] officially restored in Queensland on March 22, after a three-year absence following it being stripped back under the former Newman LNP government. The Relationships (Civil Partnerships) and Other Acts Amendment Bill 2015 passed easily through […]
[…] a three-year absence from when it was stripped back under the former Newman LNP government, the Relationships (Civil Partnerships) and Other Acts Amendment Bill 2015 passed easily through […]
[…] a three-year absence from when it was stripped back under the former Newman LNP government, the Relationships (Civil Partnerships) and Other Acts Amendment Bill 2015 passed easily through […]
Am I the only one who saw this coming? Deciding to blindly vote because you want to blame a politician for things they can’t control ends up you having a leader like this
How dare he do this, what many people don’t seem to understand is that hating someone just because their gay is as bad as hating someone just because their black. It’s rediculous, as soon as people start seeing that gay people getting married is NONE OF THEIR BUISNESS. What does it matter to you if a gay person gets married? How does it affect your life. So just LET THEM. It’s not you’re buisness it’s not you’re marriage, it’s not you’re life. This just gives people blinded by prejudice the ability to dictate others lives.
Make him suffer next election for me will you Queensland? I hope this ruins his entire political carrer.
I wonder when the Catholic church, other churches and governments are going to start changing the laws on divorce. NO MORE DIVORCE. Make it against the law to get divorced. Do we think this will ever happen? NEVER!! Yet same sex marriage and same sex civil unions are going to destroy the institute of marriage?!? Please!! the institute of marriage is already destroyed. I wish any gay couple wanting to get married the very best and I hope for their sake that it is eventually allowed but personally I dont want to be a part of any hypocritical institution and their flawed neanderthal beliefs.
This makes me so sick im going home to vomit all over a bible.
Its a liberal thing. Here in Victoria Balieau said “victorian teachers would be the best paid in AUSTRALIA” now he wants nothing to do with it!
Why should religion dictate everything we do?
What really is offensive is that these people think that they are God. My God unconditionally loves my daughter her partner, my niece her partner, my brother, me, you and even people that think they are His/Her [Gods] Higher Power. One step forward, two steps back… AGAIN!
I don’t know if some people misread the article but it doesn’t say that civil union is being scrapped, only that gay couples can’t have a state-sanctioned ceremony.
I’m for gay marriage and I think when people use religious beliefs to justify not having gay marriage they are hypocritical because most people fornicate and that is a sin according to the bible!
But seriously, given the fact that a lot of groups that support the coalition are very anti gay marriage, he’s found a solution that satisfies both sides to some extent. Remember people, this is politics and each side tries to keep their voting contingent happy.
Just look at how the Labour party mindlessly throws money at people to win votes. In my opinion, selling off our states assets to foreign companies to fund this mindless money throwing is more of a disgrace than disallowing a “State-sanctioned” ceremony.
This is the media blowing up small section of a very emotive topic so the Labour party can win back some of the swing voters who voted Coalition this time. I am one of those, and this ain’t enough to swing me back yet.
Why do the friggin church get to decide what is right for everyone else !! Is this the 1800’s, NO! It a friggin autocratic dictatorship deigned to control the masses! !
@Rach No one is asking for your support.
Your argument about incest is flawed I’m afraid. The call for same sex marriage was never labelled as a “different situation” because it wasn’t a situation until after the gay rights movement began. Using you’re same logic, you could also say that inter-racial marriages are not equal either because it was also, at one point, a “different situation” to the majority (of Americans at least). But after the civil rights movement, it was imperative that inequalities in various forms of legislation were repealed. Society changed it’s opinion, it’s a real shame someone as intelligent as you can’t. Maybe checkout the documentary “For the Bible tells me so”, it might help you to come to terms with the inevitable.
It is about time that officials stopped making it harder on the gay community, firstly they vote for the same people in parliament that hetrosexuals do, if they have the right to vote and have to be accounted for as part of the community regardless of sexual gender, they why cant they be married if they choose. Secondly if you research into the hirachy of the past Mainly Ceaser, the hirachy was determined by men being bisexual, it showed rain of power, and seriously why should the government listen to people of a religous belief that gays should not be married yet how many catholic ministers have had sex with the same sex but not legaly the have been caught and charged with countless amounts of sexual abuse against minors of our countries, yet the government takes there views into count, seriously Mr Newman & Ms Gillard show some respect to the community, grow up and relise these individuals voted you in to work for them not against them. And stop hearing views from So called religous groups who abuse our children, and let the gay community be included as ceaser did….
I love that when our education system is poor, our roads are in ruins, the health system is under-funded (particularly in chronic disease prevention) and much of the state is STILL recovering from the floods, that the topic everyone is so passionately fighting over is same sex civil unions. WHO CARES if they get married. Love is love and quite frankly, many same sex couples have stronger relationships than many other married couples I know. I have nothing against the recognition of two people who will probably spend the rest of their lives together anyway, own houses together anyway and have children together anyway. All of this religious opinion impacting on government policies is quite scary, reminds me of much of the jewish propaganda flying around in the World War. These people are still HUMAN and are no less capable of love and committment than anyone else.
Remember what God says in leviticus 20:13
If a man also shall lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.
I guess herr newman could always legislate this and he would double his christian vote..or is he leaving something for mr abbott to do ?
It’s the old adage, the bible is to gays what mein kampf was to the jews !
would you have one in the house ?
christianity is not about loving god it is about hating people.
According to the last Queensland LNP Education Minister Len Powell’s logic, insisting on teaching Creation Science in schools. He opposed the sinful theory of evolution. Stop laughing, this is serious. Minister Powell wrote to Dr. J. Knight Lecturer in Education at the University of Queensland: (Google it).
Mind you, if Creation Science gets it’s way again in Queensland Schools and imposes a belief that the world is just 6,000 years old, you may as well scrap the entire modern curriculum. And close our schools and universities while you’re about it.
Don’t be fooled by the LNP “can-do”, sweetly toned voice. For it disguises the familiar, Deep Southern, Bible-belt, mind-numbing line of argument that’s tearing the US education system apart, as the most primitive of Christian fundamentalists try to destroy the principles, the practice, the liberal education.
Campbell Newman is a two-faced, lying scumbag, who has deceived the people of Queensland. His conservatism will ultimately lead to his downfall, just like his hero Sir Joh.
NSW only made same sex civil unions the law in 2008 which isn’t actually that far in the past. I don’t see how QLD is ’20’years behind’. Yes the law was repealed but it was instantiated only 4 years after NSW. The ‘Qld as backwards’whie not entirely untrue, is incredibly weak in the context of the other states.
The Commonwealth shall not make any law for establishing any religion, or for imposing any religious observance, or for prohibiting the free exercise of any religion, and no religious test shall be required as a qualification for any office or public trust under the Commonwealth.-section 116 of the constitution of the commonwealth of australia
@Lee. No one wants your negative comments here. You don’t like gay marriage. Don’t get one. How about someone prevent your right to chose something for yourself. You are an uneducated, selfish person who needs to take a long hard look at yourself. There are many things in the bible that you shouldn’t “do” and I bet you’re one of those hypocritical bible bashers that use it to suit. You make me sick.
I cannot fathom how the fact that my girlfriend and I are incredibly happy and in love can be so offensive/threatening to these Christian groups! How sad and pathetic must their lives be!
I didn’t chose to be gay, but thank god I can chose not to be an utter backward thinking wanker!
Its getting to the point now where it’s almost laughable te amount of time/energy that these people are putting in to something that at the end of the day would mean that people in love regardless of orientation would be able to marry! Time to separate church and state people, it’s 2012!
All love is unfortunately not equal – I have seen this slogan plastered all over the same sex marriage issue and I disagree with it. If all love is equal what is to prevent incestual unions with fathers marrying daughters, brothers marrying sisters, people having multiple husbands and wives. You can’t say “oh that is a different situation”, the same sex marriage issue years ago was labelled as a “different situation” yet here we are. We can’t start moving all the goal posts and expect everyone to like it or agree.
I agree it’s hard to swallow & be confident in our politicians decisions when they say one thing and do another, this should of been Campbell Newman’s stance from the beginning if its what he believed. I don’t support same sex unions & I have always stood by that and will not be swayed. Each person is entitled to his or her own opinion without telling another person ‘you are wrong’. What is right to me does not have to be right to you, it can feel unfair & unjust but we each lead our own lives accountable to ourselves.
It saddens me though to see such hate filled labels, name calling & back biting going on, this will get us no where when discussing such a sensative topic.
The fringe group ACL, have stated this as their intention all along- and politicians follow (Liberals, and Gillard), to allow us to “register like a dog”, but never ever ever have “a ceremony” that violates the “spirit of the 2004 Gay Marriage Ban” by, wait for it.. “mimicking marriage”. The federal marriage ban is being used as justification for ALL SORTS of discrimination across the board. But as far as these ceremonies- the ACL want out “not seen & not heard” = invisible.
One big mistake the gay community leaders ALLOWED to happen was to prematurely & willingly allow the scrapping of the NSW-wide City of Sydney Relationship Declaration Ceremonies (in place of a NSW govt “dog register” with no ceremony). Even the visibility of what we DID have as ceremonies in NSW has now been quashed- yet another scalp in the visibility wars for ACL. The City of Sydneny Ceremonies need to be reinstated asap- come on Clover!!
Be warned!
This is what happens when you blindly vote conservative! They take money away from Health, support the rich rednecks who don’t represent us at all and have no interests in civil rights for anybody.
Simple answer: Vote left!!! Do not vote Liberal or Coalition at the next federal election or it will get worse!!!