Page 3495 - Week 11 - Wednesday, 22 October 2014
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I think that there are some important things from our past that need to continue to be part of our present and part of our future. If I was in a different walk of life, if I’d continued in the law and was partner of a law firm now, I would express the same view, that I think for our culture, for our heritage, the Marriage Act and marriage being between a man and a woman has a special status.
Now, I know people might look at me and think that that’s something that they wouldn’t necessarily expect me to say, but that is what I believe.
In essence, my view is that, in actual fact, Julia Gillard had a much stronger position than I do in opposing same-sex marriage; that is for sure. I do not oppose it. There are a range of different views across the community on same-sex marriage that cross the political divide.
I have mentioned this before but when I knew that this debate was coming on—not today but previously—I got in contact with Uncle Mike and Uncle Ian, who are, in actual fact, my mother’s cousins but have always been uncles to me. They have been together now for, I think, close to 50 years—it is a long time—as a same-sex couple. I wrote to them and asked them their view in 2012, in fact. I said:
An issue I am expecting to come onto the agenda sometime in the new year is that of gay marriage and I was hoping you might be able to help me out with some advice. Although I have quite a few gay friends, none have been in a relationship anywhere near as long as yours …
… I am trying to understand whether ‘marriage’ itself is an important issue or not to you when it comes to … your relationship from a personal perspective …
What I am trying to understand is how you feel about the issue, not what others think or what various lobby groups might say. I would really value your opinions (maybe you each have different views) …
They responded. This is simply one view—in fact, two views, but they share the same view, which is probably good for the harmony in their relationship. They said:
Our desire to enter into a civil partnership—
which they did—
was simply to ensure that we safeguarded … matters … on a financial footing … Neither of us was particularly interested in the ceremony or anything related to it, we simply wanted to ensure that we were treated as equals, in all respects, to married couples. Beyond this we are not in the least bit interested in getting married. Being older we believe and accept that marriage is ‘formalizing’ a relationship between two people one male and one female. Furthermore our personal view is that we do not see any advantage in getting married as it would not in any way enhance our relationship.
Indeed there are a variety of views. We have Liberals who are strong advocates, we have a former Labor Prime Minister who is opposed. We have people who are gay supporting, some opposing. It is a range of areas.
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