Liberals stall calls for reform

The Federal Cabinet deferred indefinitely a range of same-sex reforms proposed by Attorney-General Philip Ruddock, leaving lobbyists wondering if the Government is playing the gay community for fools.

A spokeswoman for Wentworth MP Malcolm Turnbull said the proposals, believed to centre on recent recommendations made by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, were put on hold at Tuesday night’s heated Cabinet meeting.

The spokeswoman said there was no indication if or when the equality proposals would be revisited.

The decision has been condemned by the Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby, which all but endorsed a change of government at the next election.

Voters clearly have a choice now between one party that’s giving a full commitment to change all 58 laws and another party that is not, Lobby spokesman Ghassan Kassisieh said.

It will cost the Government votes, because you’ve got an alternative that had taken steps when a Bill was presented that didn’t include same-sex partners.

The Government’s equality champion, Warren Entsch, called the judges’ pensions amendment a Labor party stunt, not a real solution, but Kassisieh said individual reforms were welcome.

We’d like to see more Government stunts; at present its only stunt was including same-sex couples in anti-terrorism legislation, Kassisieh said.

The Lobby would use the delay to meet with more Cabinet ministers including Treasurer Peter Costello and Finance Minister Nick Minchin, Kassisieh said.

A spokeswoman for Warren Entsch said the delay was an opportunity for the friends and family of gays and lesbians to lobby the Howard Government.

Those [cabinet ministers] who were supporting the reforms before are still pushing -“ that hasn’t changed, she said.

It is understood that two Liberal ministers, Tony Abbott and Kevin Andrews, and the Nationals were strongly opposed to the reform proposals, the details of which have yet to be released.

The Howard Government is expected to announce its same-sex reform policy prior to the calling of the election.

But Kassisieh said the decision put a lot of pressure on Turnbull, whose electorate now contains a significant number of gay and lesbian voters.

They’ve had substantial time to think about these issues. These things have been in the Government’s face for several years now, he said.

It’s really disappointing considering how supportive the cabinet members we met with appeared to be.

The public’s support is behind these changes and certainly it’s a political issue in Turnbull’s electorate. It’s his issue now. He’s taken over from Entsch as the Government’s supporter of same-sex equality.