Page 3563 - Week 12 - Tuesday, 22 October 2013
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us to progress change when it is warranted. In a situation like this, where there is a discriminatory law, a law that is wrong, we should change it. In this instance, we are leading the nation by making this change. That too is a good thing. This is how change is made and the Assembly should be proud of its role in it.
The ACT is already much better placed to legislate than it was two years ago. In the past, the federal government held a veto power over the ACT’s laws. The federal minister could unilaterally overturn a law made in this Assembly. Now, thanks to legislation from Bob Brown, this power is gone. The federal government would now require support of both houses of their parliament to invalidate ACT laws. On passing his bill in the Senate, Senator Brown said these new laws enhance democracy and the support for the bill reflected the new politics in Australia where people vote for greater diversity and support better representation for all Australians. I think that sums it up well.
With regard to the prospect of a High Court challenge, the federal government have indicated they will challenge the ACT law in the High Court. This is not surprising. The Abbott government do not support marriage equality. The motives of the Abbott government are unfortunate. They are intervening where intervention is not necessary. They would do better to let well alone and allow the ACT to implement legislation that is supported by the majority of Australians. But the Abbott government are demonstrating nothing if not that they are out of touch with the values of most Australians on this issue. They are out of touch with the expectations of modern Australia.
The High Court ruling will not be made on a point of ideology, however. It will be a ruling of law decided on narrow matters of statutory interpretation. It is not a ruling of what is right or just. And so, if the High Court upholds the Abbott government’s challenge to this bill—while I do not think it will, it is a possibility as we are operating in an area of constitutional law that is quite vexed—then the ACT will review the legal reasoning of the High Court and, if necessary, try again. As everyone who has travelled today to watch this debate knows, enshrining marriage equality into law is a fight that will go on, however many hurdles get in our way.
Here is what we know about what Australians think of marriage equality: two out of three Australians support marriage equality, 80 per cent of young people support marriage equality and a majority of Christians support marriage equality. There is overwhelming support amongst Greens voters for marriage equality. Four out of five Labor voters and a majority of conservative voters all support marriage equality.
Other states in Australia are moving marriage equality bills. Tasmania with its Labor-Green minority government and New South Wales with a Liberal government are poised to progress marriage equality bills. Same-sex marriage is now legal in a range of places across the world, including Argentina, Belgium, Britain, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Sweden and Uruguay. Same-sex marriage is also allowed in nine US states, Washington DC, as well as parts of Brazil and Mexico. There is a tide of support for marriage equality and it is growing. It will not be stopped by an unfavourable court decision. If the federal government becomes the last remaining island of resistance, it too will eventually be eroded away.
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