In news that will surprise no-one, it turns out that the Coalition while in government completely dismissed the type of reforms that they are now championing as an excuse to hold up our legislation which will improve the rights of same sex couples. I think that any fair minded person can see that same sex couples should have exactly the same rights as heterosexual de-facto couples, which is what this piece of legislation will achieve. But the retrogrades in the Liberal and National Parties simply won’t accept that it’s not OK to discriminate against gay people as a way of winning the support of bigots.
I believe that it’s time for Australians to loudly reject the bigoted, narrow minded, prejudice that the conservative forces in this nation use as their bread and butter and demand that we work towards a more egalitarian nation where fairness and respect are the guiding principles we live by. I think that we’ve taken the first step in that process by electing my government, but we need to do more by letting the opposition know that discrimination is just plain wrong, it is not a reasonable area of ‘policy differentiation’. Australia deserves better than the clowns that John Howard has left behind, moulded in his bitter image.
The Secret Diary of Kevin Rudd 
The key argument against reform is that is dilutes the sanctity of marriage. Marriage is defined as a union between man and women for life and to the exclusion of all others. The problem with this is, because of the legal process of divorce, it is no longer for life and since family law is a no-fault jurisdiction, it is not necessarily to the exclusion of all others. So in effect, what they are arguing is that it has to be between man and women – why?
All that aside, my understanding is that the reforms proposed by your party seek to maintain the term ‘marriage’ so as it is to apply to man and woman, but recognise the fact that other similar relationships exists that should enjoy the same legal protections. So in the end, you are giving them want they want and just making it better for a significant part of society that endures significant discrimination.
Marriage is not for everyone, just like Christianity or the liberal party are not for everyone. To exclude other forms of relationship would be akin to legislating to
The problem for you old chum, is that there are lots of Catholic private school Labor party types who also do not believe in gay unions, a fact you conveniently choose to airbrush out of your blog. I am a conservative by the way who is not opposed to same…where are your Labor Party apparachniks on this issue?