Tassie same-sex activists to fight on

28 Sep 2012, 4:28 pm   -   Source: AAP
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The decision came after a marathon debate over two days from an upper house that is dominated by 13 independents and just one member from each of the Labor and Liberal parties. (AAP)

The decision came after a marathon debate over two days from an upper house that is dominated by 13 independents and just one member from each of the Labor and Liberal parties. (AAP)

Same-sex marriage advocates in Tasmania can see a victory in the defeat of legislation in the state's upper house.

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Same-sex marriage advocates say the fight is far from over after Tasmania's go-it-alone bill failed in the state's upper house.

Tasmania's 15-member Legislative Council voted down the bill 8-6 on Thursday night after it had become the first to be passed in an Australian lower house last month.

Success for the legislation would have made Tasmania the first state in the country to allow gay marriage.

"Today in Tasmania we came closer to marriage equality than we have ever been in Australia before," Australian Marriage Equality spokesman Rodney Croome said.

"Those MLCs who are against seem to be more concerned about the constitutionality of this bill than about same-sex couples marrying, which I think shows we've won the debate even though we've lost the bill.

"This issue has a bright future.

"To those people who think they've put the issue to bed tonight, they couldn't be more wrong."

Mr Croome said Tasmania has missed out on the benefits of being first cab off the rack in Australia.

"The tragedy for me as a gay man in Tasmania is that I may end up being able to marry in Sydney or Canberra or Adelaide under legislation that we developed here," he said.

The decision came after a marathon debate over two days from an upper house that is dominated by 13 independents and just one member from each of the Labor and Liberal parties.

Speakers against the bill, including several considered undecided before the debate, argued marriage was a matter for the federal government, a costly High Court challenge was inevitable and Premier Lara Giddings had no mandate for the change.

"It is a second class marriage bill not recognised anywhere but Tasmania," MLC Rosemary Armitage said.

"This is a Claytons bill."

Co-sponsor of the bill in the lower house with Ms Giddings, Greens leader Nick McKim, said MLCs who voted against the legislation lacked courage.

"If they're going to vote against the bill they're holding Tasmania back, they're choosing fear over love, they're choosing division over unity and they're choosing the 19th century over the 21st century," he said.

"The Legislative Councillors that are hiding behind a so-called fear of a High Court challenge are taking the coward's way out here."

The most impassioned pro-bill address came from independent Mike Gaffney who drew applause from the gallery after he declared he was "ashamed" of the house.

"Perhaps we are dinosaurs," he said.

"I am truly, truly sorry."

Tasmania may now find itself on the sidelines watching as South Australia, NSW or the ACT become Australia's first gay wedding destination and reap what could be hundreds of millions of dollars in tourism revenue.

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Your Comments

Replace the non-democratic two-party preferential constituent voting system with proportional representation

Marcel - from Perth, 8 months ago

The two-party preferred (like the Chinese one-party preferred) constituent vote counting formula is used to purposefully exclude smaller groups like gays, the Greens, Aboriginals, Muslims, etc from electing parliamentary representatives and to disenfranchise them. It creates the false sense that the two remaining parties have been elected democratically, represent the majority and that the smaller groups don’t exist in sufficient number. Liberal and Labor backroom puppeteers have got you fooled

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