Page 1640 - Week 05 - Thursday, 11 May 2006
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
right for him to say, “It is a furphy.” But in the cold light of day he will realise that the points being made here are about the exercise of property rights—and these are important things about sustaining a relationship.
The other reason why the opposition cannot possibly support these amendments is the taking away of rights in subclause (4), which reads:
If a consent required under subsection (1) (b) is not given, the Childrens Court may, by order, waive the requirement for the consent.
That is not in the original legislation. It is a significant departure from the rights of people whom yesterday in debate the Chief Minister was referring to as children—and clearly they are legally children because they have not reached the age of majority—making decisions. This piece of legislation proposes to take away the normal rights and responsibilities of parents and guardians and cannot be supported in its present form.
MR CORBELL (Molonglo—Attorney-General Minister for Police and Emergency Services and Minister for Planning) (9.50): The property issue is a furphy. Mrs Dunne asserts that, in a marriage, if one person is 18 and one person is 16 and the 16-year-old inherits, the 18-year-old can act on their behalf. It is not automatic—only if the 16-year-old lets them do so and indicates to them that they want them to act on their behalf. To assert that you need that to deal with property is simply wrong.
Mrs Dunne: What about the capacity to find housing?
MR CORBELL: In relation to the capacity to find housing, the situation is no different from two young people in a heterosexual de facto relationship or in a heterosexual marriage needing to find housing.
Mrs Dunne: Two 16-year-olds cannot marry. You cannot take a lease when you are 16.
MR CORBELL: Let me finish this point. For example, if you want to enter into any contractual arrangement and both people are under the age of 18 you need the consent of your parent or guardian.
Mr Stefaniak: You could probably get a parent to do it.
MR CORBELL: That is entirely consistent with the approach we are adopting in this legislation. You need the consent of your parent or guardian to enter into a civil union. If your parent or guardian or, in some rare circumstances, the court agrees that you can enter into a civil union then surely the same follows—that your parent or guardian will give approval to enter into other contractual arrangements.
Let us remember that these people do not stay under the age of 18 forever. They stay under the age of 18 for no more than two years. If two young people want to enter into a civil union and they have the consent of their parents to do so and the court agrees, they can surely get the consent of their parents or guardian to also enter into contractual arrangements, say, to rent a house through their parents. They are not going to be 16 or 17 forever; in fact, they are going to be 16 or 17 for a very short period of time. So it is an absolute furphy argument. The most telling reason why it is a furphy argument is the
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .