After promising to pass a civil partnerships bill in the teeth of federal opposition, the ACT government made a humiliating climbdown today and agreed to pass the measure minus the public ceremonies that Robert McClelland insists, "mimic marriage."
Tasmanian activist Rodney Croome says Kevin Rudd may offer a national partnership registration scheme as a trade-off.
Some such move became essential last week when when West Australia joined New South Wales in refusing to enact a state registration scheme.
The position of the Northern Territory, Queensland and South Australia is not known, but sources suggest they too were poised to refuse to fall into line the the federal governments plan for a system of 'nationally consistent state-based registries.'
Since the existing registries in Tasmania and Victoria are not consistent neither with one other nor the now-emasculated ACT measure, that plan is now dead.
The government have still not produced a logical coherent justification for enacting a separate but unequal system of relationship recognition for same-sex couples.
Meanwhile the Greens will introduce a same-sex marriage bill into the upper house.
Tasmanian activist Rodney Croome says Kevin Rudd may offer a national partnership registration scheme as a trade-off.
Some such move became essential last week when when West Australia joined New South Wales in refusing to enact a state registration scheme.
The position of the Northern Territory, Queensland and South Australia is not known, but sources suggest they too were poised to refuse to fall into line the the federal governments plan for a system of 'nationally consistent state-based registries.'
Since the existing registries in Tasmania and Victoria are not consistent neither with one other nor the now-emasculated ACT measure, that plan is now dead.
The government have still not produced a logical coherent justification for enacting a separate but unequal system of relationship recognition for same-sex couples.
Meanwhile the Greens will introduce a same-sex marriage bill into the upper house.
1 comment:
don't be so harsh on the ACT, i think stanhope and corbell went as far as they could, you can't blame them for revising the civil partnerships (not called a registry - hooray!) legislation - fed ALP was not willing to compromise AT ALL, and we (ACT GLBTI) in the main did not want another overturn. how about the administrative ceremonies on offer by the ACT govt....a bit of a gesture of defiance some might say :)
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