NSW not ready for gay marriage: MP

NSW Upper House MP Helen Westwood said she is unconvinced marriage equality has a chance of making it through NSW Parliament, despite New Zealand’s legalisation of same-sex marriage on Wednesday.

Speaking to ABC Radio on Thursday, Westwood said that while she was very happy with the passing of the New Zealand bill, she was “not convinced that such a motion would actually pass in the Lower House” and that it may well be defeated at the moment.

“We just don’t know what the vote would be in the Lower House – marriage equality in the Legislative Assembly has never been tested. I don’t think anyone has even surveyed members of the Lower House,” Westwood said.

A number of news outlets incorrectly quoted Westwood as saying her concerns lay in the Upper House, the Legislative Council. When the Star Observer spoke to Westwood she confirmed the quote was incorrect and that her concerns lay in the state Lower House, not the Upper House.

Westwood, who is openly gay, is the deputy chair of the Standing Committee on Social Issues, the body which has investigated the constitutional legality of same-sex marriage legislation at a state level and gauged public opinion on the issue since December.

In May, Westwood gave an emotional off-the-cuff speech to state Parliament in support of an Upper House motion giving in-principle support to marriage equality, saying that the nature of the debate was so personal it was “a challenge” to speak on it without crying.

That motion passed 22-16, making the NSW Legislative Council one of Australia’s first Parliamentary houses to sanction marriage equality.