Tas gay-marriage law legal: Giddings

5 Aug 2012, 9:03 pm   -   Source: AAP
Premier Lara Giddings says she's confident Tasmania's bid to become the first state to legalise gay marriage is constitutional.

Premier Lara Giddings says she's confident Tasmania's bid to become the first state to legalise gay marriage is constitutional.

Premier Lara Giddings says she's confident Tasmania's bid to become the first state to legalise gay marriage is constitutional.

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Tasmanian Premier Lara Giddings is confident the state's move to go it alone on same-sex marriage could survive a High Court challenge.

Constitutional experts have warned that a challenge to the state legislating its own marriage law may need to be decided in the highest court in the land.

At issue is whether marriage falls under a section of the constitution dealing with shared powers between the commonwealth and states.

Ms Giddings says her advice from the Tasmanian Solicitor-General and other legal opinion obtained by gay rights groups suggest that the state could win a case.

"I'm reasonably confident it would," Ms Giddings told reporters at the Tasmanian ALP's state conference in Hobart.

"This is about doing what is right."

Ms Giddings said she did not believe a High Court challenge was likely but conceded it was a possibility.

"But this is a matter we believe we can pursue," she said.

"There is nothing that I have received in my legal advice that would preclude the state government from pursuing this matter and legalising marriage here in Tasmania.

"There's far more legal advice out there ... that will show you there's in fact strong arguments as to why we can indeed do this."

Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young called on Prime Minister Julia Gillard, who opposes same-sex marriage, to rule out a constitutional challenge from the federal government.

"Marriage equality in Australia is inevitable and it's time for the prime minister to show the leadership and long-sightedness of the Tasmanian Premier Lara Giddings," Senator Hanson-Young said in a statement.

"We look forward to the day when the Greens' bill for marriage equality ... passes into Tasmanian law and call on the prime minister to assure us that the reforms won't be overshadowed by federal legal intervention."

In Victoria, Attorney-General Robert Clark would not say whether he supported same-sex marriage.

"The Victorian government's view is that issues in relation to marriage are matters for the commonwealth," Mr Clark said.

Ms Giddings commended Ms Gillard for allowing MPs a conscience vote on federal legislation and called on Tasmanian Opposition Leader Will Hodgman to do likewise.

She implored the state's upper house, where 13 of 15 members are independents and generally considered conservative, to give the legislation a fair hearing.

"I would ask all of them to think very carefully about this and I would hope that we would have a majority who would open their hearts and minds to removing this last bastion of discrimination," Ms Giddings said.

Tasmania is set to become the first Australian state to legalise gay marriage after being the last to decriminalise homosexuality, in 1997.

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