Julian S Punch AM
THE Federal Government’s moves to eliminate discrimination from Commonwealth laws, bringing entitlements for same sex couples into line with those for heterosexual couples has turned out to be nothing but a cynical grab for revenue. Those few advocates from the so called Equity Group who went to Canberra on this issue pretending to represent the sexual and gender national community did so without credentials or consultation. They got conned by the Government and the right wing religious fundamentalists in power who while happy to increase revenue are not prepared to recognise the same sex ‘marriage like’ relationships with the same respect and quality equated to heterosexual relationships.
From July 2009, Centrelink will be able to investigate same-sex couples if they fail to declare they are in a de facto ‘marriage like’ relationship. Same sex couples have a short time to complete the compulsory register and declare their ‘marriage like’ relationships as ‘de facto’. Many couples are so angry about this inequality that they have indicated to the recent Coming Out Proud email of 1,500 recipients that they will refuse to cooperate with the registration while realising that they may well be jailed as conscientious objectors.
No one from the sexual and gender diverse community would be reluctant to pay their taxes and receive or not receive benefits that equate with the fairness rules for the general community. However this is not a fair arrangement that respects same sex relationships with the same civil acknowledgement and celebration equated with heterosexual relationships. Mr Howard and now Prime Minister Rudd’s ‘parrot like’ repeating of the sad marriage mantra, ‘marriage is a solemn and sacred relationship between a man and a women to the exclusion of all others’ is not fooling many. There are many same sex couples in Australia and some in Tasmania who have been married in European Union Countries and some American States but are not recognised in Australia the so called land of respect for the equality of human rights.
I would commend Centrelink for their sensitive training of their officers and preparation of regional information forums on this issue. I encourage same sex couples affected to email the Prime Minister Mr Rudd and Senator Jo Ludwig Minister for Human Services regarding this serious inequity. It will only add to the discrimination and intimidation that same sex people often experience from fundamentalist groups within the community (especially rural areas) and the resulting exposure to poor self-image, mental health issues and incidences of suicide/self harm.
