Labor factions look to save face on gay marriage
By Jeremy Thompson
Updated December 01, 2011 13:01:53/ABC news online
Partners kiss at gay marriage Photo: A vote in support of change would embarrass the PM. (Rodolfo Buhrer)
Labor Party factional leaders are searching for a face-saving compromise on the issue of same-sex marriage ahead of the ALP national conference, which starts on Friday.
Last night Queensland's Parliament upped the pressure on federal Labor when it joined Victoria, Tasmania and the ACT in passing legislation recognising same-sex civil partnerships.
Opinion polls show that the majority of Australians back same-sex civil unions but Prime Minister Julia Gillard is flatly opposed to gay marriage.
Ms Gillard is suggesting the issue be put to a conscience vote in Parliament - a vote which would be lost because the Coalition would vote against any change.
But the internal push to change the ALP platform is led by Finance Minister Penny Wong from the Left faction, and ACT Deputy Chief Minister Andrew Barr from the Right.
"I'm proposing to insert a new set of words into Labor's platform which would commit the Labor Party into amending the Marriage Act to ensure equal access to marriage for all couples, irrespective of sex, who have a mutual commitment to a shared life," Mr Barr told Radio National.
"It's a very strong statement of values for the Labor Party. It's about ensuring that the Labor Party is on the right side of history on this issue."
Mr Barr leads the cross-factional Rainbow Labor Network, which believes it has the numbers to bring about change.
He says he has the support amounting to more than the 20 votes needed from non-Left delegates to get the motion through.
"We've been working very hard to ensure there is cross-factional support," he said. ...<cont>
) playing dirty, negative politics all year quite successfully (with the strong support of the media, especially News Ltd/Murdoch) in the hope of bringing on an early election.
PM accepts gay reform vote
Michelle Grattan
December 3, 2011/the AGE
Prime Minister Julia Gillard accepted the numbers were decisively there to support marriage equality. Photo: Kate Geraghty
THE Labor Party is set today to embrace gay marriage as part of its platform - but not to force its MPs to vote it into legislation.
The platform switch flies in the face of Julia Gillard's frequent declaration that marriage should only be between a man and a woman. But the Prime Minister yesterday accepted the numbers were decisively there to support marriage equality.
Sources said she had told factional chiefs that their delegates should get a free vote on changing the policy when the national conference debates it today.
Ms Gillard is set, however, to get her way on a conscience vote for Labor MPs, on which the numbers have been very close.
The factions last night agreed that the vote would be on the voices, avoiding a count which could be awkward if there were any significant defections from the Right.
The platform change will be moved by ACT Deputy Chief Minister Andrew Barr, from the Right and Finance Minister Penny Wong, from the Left. Their proposal says: "Labor will amend the Marriage Act to ensure equal access to marriage under statute for all couples irrespective of sex."
Ms Gillard needs a victory on the conscience vote because she has put her authority on the line over it - and also because Catholic right-wingers in the caucus have been threatening to defy any ruling from conference that binds them to vote for a private members' bill on gay marriage.
Labor sources say the new arrangement will be similar to the situation on abortion, where the party is pro-choice but does not bind its MPs. ...<cont>
Labor decides on conscience vote for gay marriage
Updated December 03, 2011 12:34:04/ABC news online
Delegates at Labor's national conference in Sydney have voted to give MPs a conscience vote on the issue of gay marriage.
At the same time, the conference also voted to change its policy platform on the legal definition of marriage to extend it to same-sex couples.
That move had been fiercely opposed by some within the party, including powerbroker Joe de Bruyn, who argued the change would see Labor lose public support.
"Are we really going to say that something we regarded as fundamental all this time, we should now turn on its head?" he asked delegates.
The amendment to ensure MPs were allowed a conscience vote on the issue was moved by Prime Minister Julia Gillard, and was carried by 208 votes to 184. ...
.... It is now likely a bill will come before Federal Parliament to allow gay marriage ......<cont>
Photo: Conscience vote: Julia Gillard, Treasurer Wayne Swan and Attorney-General Robert McLelland. (AAP: Dean Lewins)
Every time some major issues come up for public perusal, the old gay marriage (usually alongside the old chestnut of abortion and the rights of the unborn) gets front page status while the real issues get shunted to the fourth or fifth page.
I hate commercial tv with a passion.
