Julia Gillard and same-sex 'marriage'

On Wednesday June 30, Julia Gillard did a radio interview on Austereo. During the interview she was asked about same-sex 'marriage'. She responded "We believe the Marriage Act is appropriate in its current form, that is recognising that marriage is between a man and a woman, but we have as a government taken steps to equalise treatment for gay couples."  

Whilst it might be easy to be thankful that the Prime Minister is not openly supporting homosexual 'marriage', it is important to take a closer look at her own statements and Labor Party policy on this issue...  

First, given that she is trying to get the government 'back on track', she obviously doesn't want to add any more controversial issues into the political arena at the present time.  

Second, in the quote above, she was talking about the policy of the Labor Party by saying "We believe".
However, at their last conference, held in 2009, the ALP actually changed their policy about marriage.
There was a strong push by the left wing of the Party to accept marriage for homosexuals.
[Read ABC report]
That move was defeated - but a compromise position was reached: the policy was changed to REMOVE any reference to marriage being between a man and a woman.

The ALP platform now details their policy on discrimination and recognising same-sex relationships and adds "These reforms are to be implemented consistently with Labor's commitment to maintaining the definition of marriage as currently set out in the Marriage Act". No mention of man and woman!

And on relationships, the ALP policy was also changed at that conference. Instead of saying they supported 'relationship registers' which didn't 'mimic marriage', the policy now says "Labor will take action to ensure the development of a nationally consistent framework that provides 'The opportunity for all couples who have a mutual commitment to a shared life to have their relationship officially recognised'." That allows for a much broader range of 'recognition'! It isn't limited to 'relationship registers'. Hence the federal government didn't challenge the ACT's 'Civil Partnership Act'.

As you know, we oppose ALL forms of recognition of homosexual relationships.
See Labor Party Platform - Sections 137-142.  

Back to Julia's views on marriage:

The reporter on Austereo then asked Julia Gillard what her own views about same-sex 'marriage' were.

First, let me ask a question... Would you expect her to go against official Labor Party policy?  

Well, she didn't! No surprise then, that her answer was that "Look, that is my view, I think that's where we're at as a community now, and I think it's appropriate that for these very sensitive issues that we're reflecting community views."  

Her latest statement relies on 'where the community is at' rather than on a point of principle!  

But policies can change over time!  What if the community changes its view in the future?

Homosexual lobby groups have been busy commissioning surveys to try and show that the majority of Australians support same sex 'marriage'. However the choice of questions often leads people to make that response!  Some of these groups are now calling for a meeting with Julia Gillard to try and persuade her to support their cause. 

The official policy of the Australian Labor Party could well change again at their next conference if enough people vote for change. Already, both the Tasmanian and Victorian branches of the ALP have passed motions supporting same-sex 'marriage' (read report).  

And if the Prime Minister comes to see that the community and the ALP support same-sex 'marriage', could she change her position too?

We need to remember that the government is not run by one person but rather a group of elected Labor MPs who are supposed to implement ALP policy. 

Although homosexual lobby groups are furious that she has opposed 'marriage' for homosexuals, Andrew Barr, the homosexual who is an ACT government minister, has warned them not to be too critical of her - he says that she is much more 'flexible' than Kevin Rudd; more able to be persuaded and more ready to listen to arguments. (Read report)  

Going back to what Julia Gillard wrote in that Socialist Forum document, "We need to recognise the only possibility for major social change is under a long period of Labor administration. Within that administration the Left needs to be willing to participate to shape political outcomes, recognising the need to except (sic) often unpalatable compromises in the short term to bolster the prospect of future advance." (Source)  

As we've seen, a day is a long time in politics.... and so is a term of government!  

This report was sent on our E-News on July 5, 2010.