‘We need a marriage action plan’

Greens MP Adam Bandt wants to sit down with the community to formulate an action plan for the next parliamentary term to push for same-sex marriage.

Speaking to Southern Star Observer the day after the Greens formally sided with the Labor Party in a bid to form minority government, Bandt said his party would push ahead with the introduction of a same-sex marriage amendment bill, but wanted more community feedback on the timing.

“My priority now would be to sit down with the people who’ve been conducting such a fantastic [same-sex marriage] campaign and work out how we can use what is hopefully a new sound, voice and legislative strength in Parliament to translate that into reality,” Bandt said.

“If people would like us to push it in the next year, we’re open to that, but if we can sit down and work out an action plan, there’s a chance we’ll see some real change.”

Last week Tasmanian Independent Andrew Wilkie called for both major parties to allow a conscience vote on same-sex marriage and Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young vowed to re-introduce her Marriage Equality Bill on the first day of the new Parliament.

The Greens were unsuccessful in securing a deal on gay marriage as part of its agreement with Labor, however, Bandt said the issue had  been part of behind-the-scenes discussions.

“The agreement we had was that the discussions would be kept confidential, but I think you could look at our list of priorities and draw some conclusions about what kind of things are important to us and what one might have liked to have seen in this agreement,” he said.

“There are a number of things important to us that aren’t in the agreement.”

Speaking of the three key independents, Bandt said he suspected Queensland’s Bob Katter would not support same-sex marriage and was unsure where Rob Oakeshott and Tony Windsor stood.

“I’ve been very impressed in my dealings with Rob Oakeshott and Tony Windsor. They are genuine people willing to consider issues on their merits,” Bandt said.

Australian Marriage Equality national spokesman Alex Greenwich said AME had written to Bandt to set up a meeting to discuss strategies to push the issue.

“One key priority is lobbying and having time to lobby members of both sides of parliament and to have a conscience vote on the issue,” Greenwich said.

“Many Australians, whether they are supportive of same-sex marriage or not, probably would hope that their politicians would be able to vote on their conscience on such a key and emotional issue.

“The other key priority is making sure we don’t settle for a second-best, second-class civil unions type scheme and people like the Greens hold firm to that.”

It’s likely that the Greens’ same-sex marriage bill would not be voted on until next year.