Different state marriage laws would cause inequality

“Why would same-sex couples want to get ‘married’ if their marriage would be invalid as soon as they crossed a state border?” FamilyVoice research officer Ros Phillips said today.

“Why create a separate category of ‘marriage’? This only creates inequality.

“Despite the claims of Australian Marriage Equality, the report of the NSW Legislative Council inquiry into same-sex marriage, and key submissions made to it, show that marriage law is best left to the federal parliament.

The inquiry report said:

The Committee reached the conclusion that the New South Wales Parliament has the power to legislate on the topic of marriage, including same-sex marriage. However, if New South Wales chooses to exercise that power and enact a law for same-sex marriage, the law could be subject to challenge in the High Court of Australia. The outcome of such a case is uncertain and therefore equal marriage rights for all Australians may best be achieved under Commonwealth legislation.

“The right place to determine marriage issues is in the federal parliament,” Mrs Phillips said.

“If you change the fundamental man-woman meaning of marriage, it soon ceases to have much meaning at all. Spain, where marriage has included same-sex couples since 2005, has seen a dramatic drop in overall marriage rates since that time.
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“The ultimate victims of same-sex marriage laws are children, who do best and are safest when raised by their natural married mum and dad. We encourage all Australian MPs to keep the true meaning of marriage, for our future’s sake.”
Mrs Roslyn Phillips, BSc DipEd National Research Officer FamilyVoice Australia: a Christian voice for family, faith and freedom Website: www.fava.org.au