Council supports gay marriage

Hobsons Bay City Council Mayor Tony Briffa has said the council’s decision to urge the federal Government to support same-sex marriage was the “right step to make”.

The Council voted unanimously on April 3 to lodge a submission to the federal Government calling on it to allow same-sex marriage. Hobsons Bay is the second Victorian council to advocate for gay marriage since the Hepburn Shire Council called for gay marriage to be legalised last month.

Briffa, Australia’s first intersex mayor, said the move should encourage other councils to join the calls.

“It’s great that a council can represent its constituents on such an important human rights issue,” Briffa told the Star Observer.

Briffa said the Council has also lobbied the Municipal Association of Victoria (MAV), the peak body representing 78 state councils, as well as the Victorian Local Governance Association.

He said any submission made by the MAV to the federal Government would, in effect, represent 78 of Victoria’s 79 councils.

“I think it’s about time we get rid of discrimination,” Briffa said.

Briffa stressed that religious groups should not be forced to marry same-sex couples.

The council will lodge its submission to the House of Representatives Committee Inquiry into the Marriage Equality Amendment Bill 2012 and the Marriage Amendment Bill 2012.

In related news, Briffa is also facing a legal challenge from Councillor Peter Hemphill over allegations of misconduct. He will go before the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) in May.

The Hobsons Bay Leader reports the allegations result from three letters Briffa sent to Mobil’s then public relations adviser Maureen Short last year over soil technology company Innova’s plans for a soil decontamination plant in Altona.

In a press conference, Briffa called on Hemphill to drop the matters after he revealed it would cost ratepayers up to $250,000 to take the case to VCAT.

Hemphill told the Leader that he would not back down because he was ‘righting a wrong’ to a resident whose “reputation had been destroyed by Cr Briffa”.

“We’ll go to VCAT, everything will be done in public and people can actually hear how silly his whole case is against me,” Briffa said.

Hemphill was not available for comment at the time of publication.