Yesterday, Queensland Premier Campbell Newman announced plans to amend, rather than abolish civil union law in the Australian state.

Same-sex couples will still be allowed to register their partnerships, but they will not be allowed to have state-sanctioned ceremonies.

Civil Union law in Queensland came in just weeks before the socially conservative Liberal National Party (LNP) was voted into state government.

Before the election, Newman had threatened to abolish the rights of same-sex couples to form civil union partnerships after pressure from the Australian Christian Lobby (ACL).

Queensland Association of Healthy Communities (QAHC), who had their funding cut by the new LNP government and took part in a protest asking the government to keep civil unions last month, issued a statement saying they welcome the decision to retain same-sex partnership rights but are disappointed that these can no longer be recognized by a state-approved ceremony.

QAHC president Mark Morein said: ‘The State should not interfere in the workings of the Church and the Church should not interfere in the workings of civil society… For some, this will send a message that while the State acknowledges civil partnerships, it is too ashamed of them to participate in their celebration.’

The 609 civil unions that have been registered in Queensland will not have any legal rights taken away, and same-sex partners who register civil unions after this amendment will have the same rights. Of those partners who have registered civil unions in Queensland so far, only 21 have decided to have their union recognized with a state declaration ceremony.

‘Even if only a minority of people have a ceremony in front of family and friends it is still important to them,’ leader of the opposition, Australian Labor Party’s Annastacia Palaszczuk said. 'It is small minded to deny opposite-sex and same-sex couples a ceremony when entering a civil union.'

Wendy Francis, Queensland director of the ACL, who campaigned for a change in the law said to the Brisbane Times: ‘The main thing the ACL wanted was to take out the mimicking [marriage] parts of the acts, so that was the ceremony and the civil celebrant, so I’ll be glad that’s gone.’

The president of Queensland Council for Civil Liberties Michael Cope said the change was a removal of rights. ‘The mere right to register their relationships deprives gay and lesbian citizens of their fundamental right to equal treatment before the law,’ he said, as reported by Nine News.

Australian Marriage Equality’s Alex Greenwich said that he was deeply troubled by Premier Newman’s announcement. ‘Religious values, however deeply held, can never be a reason to take away people’s rights,’ he said.

Greenwich said the amendment strengthened the argument for same-sex marriage in Australia. ‘Civil unions can be tampered with and watered down but marriage will always provide full recognition,’ he said.