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Content about Politics of Australia

May 22, 2013
Finance minister condemns Australian Christian Lobby's 'bigotry'

More backlash to Australian Christian Lobby's 'stolen generation' comments, aboriginal affairs minister calls them 'appalling misjudgment'

Australia's finance minister Penny Wong has slammed the Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) for comparing the children of gay couples to the 'stolen generations' of aboriginal children who were taken from their families.

'Redefining marriage ignore[s] the consequence of robbing children of their biological identity through same-sex surrogacy and other assisted reproductive technologies,' said ACL's managing director Lyle Shelton yesterday.

Wong, who has a one-year-old daughter with her partner Sophie Allouache and is a practicing Christian, said:

May 21, 2013
Gay marriage will create another 'stolen generation', says Australian Christian Lobby

Australian Christian Lobby equates gay marriage to the removal of aboriginal children from their families, stolen generation representative calls for apology for 'disrespectful' and 'dehumanizing' comments

Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) has offended aboriginal rights groups and marriage equality advocates by saying gay marriage will create another 'stolen generation'.

In Australia, the 'stolen generations' were aboriginal children who were forcibly removed from their families to be brought-up under white 'Christian' values, where many were physically and sexually abused.

May 20, 2013
Ex Australia's PM Kevin Rudd goes from 'dinosaur' to backing gay marriage

In an unforeseen shift of opinion, Australian MP Kevin Rudd has thrown his full support behind changing federal legislation on same sex marriage

In a blog post, former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, and leadership rival for current leader Julia Gillard, has declared his support for same-sex marriage.

Rudd, who is a current Australian Labor Party backbencher said: ‘I have come to the conclusion that church and state can have different positions and practices on the question of same sex marriage. I believe the secular Australian state should be able to recognize same sex marriage.’

May 20, 2013
Gay marriage ban impacts on skilled migration, says Aussie former senator

Western Australia convenor of Australian Marriage Equality says that political leaders' resistance to gay marriage is bad for business

Former senator Brian Greig said that Australia's resistance to legalizing gay marriage is preventing much-need skilled workers from immigrating there.

'Our nation's increasing isolation on this matter is impacting recruitment and employment mobility,' wrote Greig in an editorial for Sydney Morning Herald.

May 18, 2013
Australian Opposition leader under pressure after French marriage vote

Australian Opposition leader Tony Abbott’s electorate office has been picketed by over 100 people calling for him to allow a free vote on marriage equality after France legalized same-sex marriage

Australian supporters of marriage equality have picketed the electorate office of Opposition leader Tony Abbott to mark the signing into law of same-sex marriage by French President Francois Hollande.

Over 120 people gathered today outside Abbott’s Manly electorate office to highlight the fact that Australia is increasingly out of step with its international peers, with same-sex marriage legislation passing in New Zealand last month and France becoming the 14th country to allow same-sex couples.

May 9, 2013
Greens push for gay marriage vote on 6 June in Australia

Only party to support marriage equality in Australia says vote will give chance for electorate to see which way their MP goes before the general election

The Greens party in Australia are pushing for another vote on same-sex marriage before the general election in September.

Greens MP and deputy leader Adam Bandt is campaigning for his Marriage Equality Amendment Bill to be voted on in the House of Representative on 6 June.

Last September a similar bill was voted down by 98 MPs to 42 in the house.

May 6, 2013
Anti-gay marriage candidates win Tasmania election

Despite a campaign to make local election all about marriage equality, anti-gay-marriage candidates win all three contested seats in Australian state of Tasmania

Two candidates who voted against gay marriage in last year's Upper House vote in Tasmania won their seats in a local election yesterday. The third victor has also said she would vote against a state same-sex marriage bill.

May 4, 2013
Australian Opposition Leader called out on opposition to free vote on marriage by activists

Australian equal marriage activists say that if Australian Opposition leader Tony Abbott is so sure few of his MPs will vote for marriage equality then why not let them

Australian Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has ruled out a free vote in the Australian Parliament on same-sex marriage before 2016 if he is elected Prime Minister and says that so few of his MPs would vote for it that it would not pass now.

'I don't think anyone should expect that this is necessarily going to come up in the next parliament,' Abbott told Fairfax newspapers.

April 30, 2013
Australian PM and opposition leader rule-out gay marriage vote

Political leaders say no to a referendum on gay marriage in Australia, religious groups against marriage equality support a vote on the issue

Australia's prime minister Julia Gillard and opposition leader Tony Abbott have ruled out a referendum on same-sex marriage in September.

Independent MP Tony Wilson yesterday suggested holding a referendum on the matter on the same day as the general election, 14 September.

April 24, 2013
Melbourne Lord Mayor agrees Australia is looking 'silly' for not going ahead with marriage equality

'I think we'll look back in ten years time and say "what was all that about",' says Liberal Party politician Robert Doyle

Melbourne Lord Mayor Robert Doyle agreed that Australia is starting to look 'a bit silly' for not going ahead with gay marriage as other countries around the world do so.

April 23, 2013
Outrage over anti-gay marriage sign in Tasmania

Man describes self-made sign as reflective of his ‘Christian opinion’

An anti-gay marriage sign has caused outrage in the northwestern coastal town of Wynyard, Tasmania.

The sign, which was put up next to a busy main road, depicted the male and female gender symbols next to two wedding rings.

Speaking to The Advocate in Australia, Graham Hodge, the man who made and put up the sign, described marriage equality as ‘a complete misnomer’. 

April 21, 2013
Australian Opposition Leader admits he can’t hold his party back on gay marriage forever

Australian Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has conceded that he cannot stop his party from eventually supporting marriage equality despite his personal opposition on the issue

The man tipped to be Australia’s next Prime Minister has conceded that he cannot stop his party from eventually supporting marriage equality despite his personal opposition to it.

Australian Liberal Party leader Tony Abbott told Sky News, ‘I can't pretend to bind my party for all time,’ when asked if the Liberal-National Party Coalition might change its stance on gay marriage.

‘It will depend on the view of the post-election party room.’

April 20, 2013
Australian opposition party may change gay marriage vote policy

Opposition leader Tony Abbott says it will be up to a future parliament to revisit the issue of gay marriage and the party room will decide what its position is

Australian opposition leader Tony Abbott has left open the door for fellow MPs to make a conscience vote on same-sex marriage.

This came on the heels of his Liberal party’s New South Wales premier coming out in support of same-sex marriage and calling for free choice. The party’s youth wing has also been calling on Abbott to change.

April 19, 2013
Australian state premier says he supports gay marriage

Prominent Liberal politician comes out in support of legalizing same-sex marriage in Australia

The premier of the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW) has come out in support of same-sex marriage.

'As a Liberal who believes that commitment and family units are one of the best ways in which society is organized, I support the concept of same-sex marriage,' said Barry O'Farrell to Fairfax Media, dismissing the argument that gay marriage would damage traditional marriage as 'utterly ridiculous'.

April 18, 2013
Australian Greens to push for recognition of overseas gay marriages

Senator Sarah-Hanson Young says she will introduce bill to recognize overseas same-sex marriages in Australia when parliament reopens on 14 May

Australian Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young said this morning that she will introduce a bill that will allow international same-sex marriages to be legally recognized in Australia.

April 17, 2013
Julia Gillard refuses to change mind after NZ passes gay marriage

Australian Prime Minister has renewed her opposition to marriage equality after New Zealand became the first Asia-Pacific country to legalize it

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard refused to change her opposition to gay marriage after New Zealand passed it today (17 April).

The leader of the Labor party said she will not be moved from her stance despite her country having close ties to the Kiwi nation.

She was asked by a member of the public in Melbourne last night (16 April) on why Australia was lagging behind New Zealand when it comes to equality, the AAP reports.

‘I doubt we're going to end up agreeing,’ Gillard said.

April 1, 2013
‘Daughters’ views won’t sway me’ - Australian Opposition Leader on marriage rights

Australian Opposition Leader Tony Abbott is standing firm against giving same-sex couples the right to marry in Australia despite his daughters’ views on the issue

A day after his daughters publicly announced their support for same-sex marriage, Australian Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has doubled down in his opposition to same-sex couples being allowed to wed – saying that he will never allow his MPs a conscience vote on the issue while the party line was to oppose it.

March 31, 2013
Australian Opposition Leader’s daughters back marriage equality despite dad’s opposition

Two of Australian Opposition Leader Tony Abbott’s daughters have publicly backed same-sex marriage in a press interview despite their father’s opposition to gay couples having the right to wed

Australian Opposition Leader Tony Abbott’s own daughters disagree with him on the issue of marriage equality, with two of them going public in saying that gay couples should be allowed to marry.

March 30, 2013
Liberal Lord Mayor of Melbourne says let gays marry in Australia

Melbourne Lord Mayor Robert Doyle, a leading figure in the Australian Liberal Party, says gays should be allowed to marry and has warned against criticizing other people’s family arrangements

Robert Doyle, the Lord Mayor of Melbourne, has become the latest senior figure in the Australian Liberal Party to publicly back same-sex marriage and has rubbished the idea that you need both a mother and a father to have a family unit.

‘Don't try and define what a family unit is,’ Doyle told The Age newspaper.

March 18, 2013
Australian Liberal MP says she supports gay marriage and her party's policy will 'evolve'

More support for marriage equality from Australia's conservative Liberal party hints opposing coalition might change policy before September's general election

An Australian Liberal MP has come out in support of same-sex marriage and said that her party will 'evolve in step with society's views'.

Speaking in parliament this morning, MP for Higgins (near Melbourne) Kelly O'Dwyer said she believes the Marriage Act should be changed to allow same-sex couples to marry.

'I believe that changing the Marriage Act by extending the definition to include same-sex couples will not lessen the status of families,' O'Dwyer said.  

March 11, 2013
Australian opposition leader says he is no longer 'threatened' by gay people

On TV interview Tony Abbott says he is disappointed in himself for saying he was threatened by homosexuality four years ago, but he still doesn't support gay marriage

In a TV interview four years ago Australian opposition leader Tony Abbott said he felt 'threatened' by homosexuality. Last night on 60 Minutes Abbott told the the same journalist that he now is disappointed with himself for that comment.

Abbott, who is ahead in the polls to become the next prime minister at the election in September, said he made the comment because the 'cohesion of my family was threatened at that time'.

February 19, 2013
Sydney MP condemns Australian Christian Lobby

Former national convener of Australian Marriage Equality calls on MPs to join him condemning lobby group who said being gay was less healthy than smoking

MP for Sydney Alex Greenwich has introduced a motion to parliament condemning the conduct of the Australian Christian Lobby over the past 12 months.

'The Australian Christian Lobby has misrepresented the views of Australia’s Christian community for far too long and it is time their credibility was challenged,' said Greenwich.

February 8, 2013
Anti-same-sex marriage party leader nominates pro-marriage equality candidate

A maverick Australian independent MP with his own history of making homophobic comments has nominated a pro-marriage equality candidate for his new party only a week after dumping two others for anti-gay outbursts

Maverick Australian independent MP Bob Katter has nominated a pro-marriage equality candidate in a surprise move just weeks after having to dump two candidates for his new Katter’s Australia Party after they made extreme homophobic statements.

Katter is personally opposed to same-sex marriage and has called LGBT rights a non-issue in Australia compared to the needs of farmers and people in rural areas but still nominated 29 year old theater director Steven Bailey to run for the Australian Senate in the Australian Capital Territory.

February 7, 2013
Christian Lobby worried Australian Opposition Leader may crack on marriage

The most prominent group campaigning against the granting of marriage rights to same-sex couples in Australia is sending out signals that it is not completely confident that Opposition Leader Tony Abbott will not allow a free vote on the issue

The Australian Christian Lobby has called on opponents of same-sex marriage to lobby Australian Opposition Leader Tony Abbott against allowing a conscience vote for his MPs in a sign that they are not completely confident that moderates within the Liberal Party will not prevail.

Abbott, a conservative Catholic who once studied for the priesthood, is one of the staunchest political voices against same-sex marriage in Australia, yet the Australian Christian Lobby today launched a campaign targeting him on the issue.

February 6, 2013
UK vote inspires Australian Greens to put forward another marriage bill

Australia’s Greens party will put forward another bill to introduce marriage equality after being inspired by a successful vote on the issue in the British House of Commons

The Australian Greens say a successful vote on marriage equality in the British House of Commons has inspired them to move forward with another bill on marriage equality despite previous bills being defeated in the Parliament when the Australian Opposition refused its members a conscience vote.

The House of Commons passed its bill on Tuesday in a vote of 400 to 175 votes.