ACT Labor endorses full marriage equality

ACT LABOR ENDORSES FULL MARRIAGE EQUALITY / CIVIL UNIONS REJECTED

The ACT Labor Party Conference has passed a motion of support for Marriage Equality with the support of an estimated 90% of delegates. The Motion was supported by both the Chief Minister, Katy Gallagher, Deputy Chief Minister Andrew Barr, as well as Federal ACT Senator Kate Lundy.

The Motion comes as Andrew Barr, has declared that Civil Unions are not a viable alternative “Civil Unions… are not a viable alternative to full marriage equality. Wherever civil unions have been established around the globe, governments now face ongoing and accelerating campaigns for marriage equality. Frankly, civil unions here in Australia would simply see the call for marriage equality intensify,” Mr Barr said.

Australian Marriage Equality National Convener, Alex Greenwich, has welcomed both announcements “Not only has the ACT Labor Party convincingly declared support for full equality, but Mr Barr has also ruled out civil unions which would threaten to entrench discrimination against gay and lesbian couples by creating a 2nd class scheme”.

The ACT Labor now re-joins Queensland, Western Australia, South Australian, Tasmania, Northern Territory, and Victor in passing motions of support for full marriage equality. The NSW Conference deferred the issue to the ALP National Conference, but senior ALP figures including Anthony Albanese and Paul Howes used that conference to declare their support and pro-equality voting intention.

ALSO: Joe Hockey declares 78% of youth support Marriage Equality
Shadow Treasurer, Joe Hockey, has used his newsletter to announce the results of a youth survey in his electorate that show 78% of young people in his electorate support marriage equality (details here). This result is in-line with a recent galaxy poll that showed 80% of young voters Australia wide also support reform (details here). AME National Convener, Alex Greenwich, “We congratulate Mr. Hockey for voicing the youth’s strong support for marriage equality, and we call on him to include this in his parliamentary report back on marriage equality on August 24th”.

ACT Labor delivers overwhelming vote of support for Marriage Equality

The Australian Rainbow Labor Network has welcomed the overwhelming endorsement of ACT Labor for marriage equality.

Around 90 per cent of ACT Branch Conference Delegates today voted in favour of the following resolutions:

Conference calls upon the ALP National Conference to amend the platform to support the legal right of all adult couples in Australia to be married if they so choose, and for that marriage to be recognised and registered by law in Australia, regardless of the sexual orientation, or gender, of the parties to the marriage.

Conference acknowledges that civil unions of same sex couples do not deliver the same legal security and social recognition as marriage and that a relationship recognition scheme that is separate from marriage would continue to make members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer community second-class citizens.

Conference calls upon the ALP National Conference to reject any motion to adopt a civil union scheme as a substitution for the rights of all adult couples, irrespective of sexual orientation or gender identity, to access marriage.

Conference calls for any parliamentary vote on same sex marriage to be taken as a binding vote for members of the federal parliamentary party, and that there not be a conscience vote on this issue.

Australian Rainbow Labor Network spokesman, ACT Deputy Chief Minister Andrew Barr, welcomed the strong support of the ACT Branch and acknowledged the Branch’s long‐standing record of support for fairness, equality and human rights.

“Marriage equality is about giving every Australian citizen the same rights. At the moment gay and lesbian people have lesser rights. ACT Labor members have recognised this unfairness and they have voted for change,” Mr Barr said.

Mr Barr pointed out that ACT Branch members had rejected a civil union scheme because it would not achieve equality for GLBTI people and would continue to see us as second‐class citizens.

The Australian Rainbow Labor Network is a coalition comprised of the respective State and Territory Rainbow Labor organisations: which were established to promote gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and intersex equality within the Australian Labor Party and to promote progressive policy debate within the ALP to the Australian GLBTI community.