Page 5913 - Week 14 - Thursday, 8 December 2011
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learned the lessons of history, this government hopes it will not take so long to heal the wounds inflicted on other Australians and their families on the basis of bigoted notions of sexuality.
Every heterosexual Australian has the right to marry. The commonwealth’s refusal to allow same-sex marriage contradicts the principle that it is not acceptable to discriminate against another human being on the basis of his or her sexuality. It denies the very essence of human rights and exposes human beings to prejudice and bigotry. The refusal to allow for same-sex marriage ignores basic and accepted realities of human diversity and it denies many families their most fundamental legal protection.
The ACT Labor government has a proud history of opposing discrimination in all of its forms. ACT legislation reflects this government’s commitment to the principle that all people are entitled to respect and dignity, and the right to participate in society and to receive the full protection of the law, regardless of sexual orientation.
In 2003 it was ACT Labor that amended the Adoption Act to remove the bar to same-sex couples being considered as adoptive, loving parents. In 2004 it was the ACT Labor government that enacted the Human Rights Act to respect, protect and promote human rights. In the same year it was the ACT Labor government that enacted the Parentage Act to remove discrimination relating to sexuality and relationship status. And in 2006 it was the ACT Labor government that enacted the Civil Unions Act, to allow two people of any gender to enter into a union with the same rights and obligations as married couples under territory law. As members will recall, the Civil Unions Act was disallowed by the Governor-General using his powers under section 35 of the Australian Capital Territory (Self-Government) Act.
In 2008 the ACT Labor government enacted the Civil Partnerships Act under threat of further disallowance by the federal government. The Civil Partnerships Act was the most comprehensive legal protection we were able to give to same-sex couples and their families at that time. In 2009 the government supported amendments to reintroduce the ceremonial provisions which were removed in 2008. But these successes were not achieved without a fight and the spectre of commonwealth disallowance still loomed over the territory. Since then, Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland have all passed civil partnerships laws.
In November this year the commonwealth passed the Territories Self-Government Legislation Amendment (Disallowance and Amendment of Laws) Act 2011. That act has now received royal assent. Now, a single commonwealth minister will no longer be able to use the self-government act against this territory. The commonwealth parliament still has the power to invoke its constitutional rights, but only if a law is inconsistent with a law of the commonwealth.
The Civil Unions Bill is not inconsistent with the commonwealth Marriage Act, because the territory does not make this law for “marriage between a man and a woman”. The Civil Unions Act will operate concurrently with the commonwealth Marriage Act, to provide for those people who are not allowed to marry under the commonwealth act.
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