‘I Got It Wrong’ On Same-Sex Marriage, Julia Gillard Admits

Former prime minister Julia Gillard has acknowledged she got it “incredibly wrong” for opposing same-sex marriage during her time in office.

Ms Gillard previously voted against same-sex marriage legislation in 2012 during her prime ministership, believing in the ‘traditional union’ and the desire to have a deeper discussion on the position of marriage in society.

“As a feminist I always wanted us to have a deeper debate about the role of marriage and I thought maybe this was the moment for the deeper debate,” she said in an appearance on ABC TV’s The ABC Of… with David Wenham this week.

“I got that wrong, you know, got it incredibly wrong and very happy to say that”.

A Vocal Supporter

The former PM was later a vocal supporter of the 2017 campaign, voting ‘yes’ on the national postal survey and solidifying her supportive stance.

“As the campaign for change grew stronger and stronger and it became clear that the only debate to be had was marriage equality, then I was very happy to support marriage equality,” she said.

This is not the first time Ms Gillard has expressed regret for her previous views on same-sex marriage.

Personal Reflection

Since 2015, she has been open about her process of personal reflection, and how confronting the issue helped her “re-examine some fundamental assumptions” she held.

Where initially Ms Gillard felt it was right to “create something new” with regards to ‘non-traditional’ marriage, she found that it was not an approach that would be widely embraced.

“The nature of Australia’s contemporary debate on same-sex marriage has caused me to re-examine some fundamental assumptions I have held,” she said in a 2015 lecture at Victoria University.

“In my time post-politics, as key countries have moved to embrace same-sex marriage, I have identified that my preferred reform direction was most assuredly not winning hearts and minds.”