It is mind boggling how easily, political parties and governments can contradict themselves to serve their agendas.
It was only back in 2004, that the Howard government rushed (and I mean inconceivably fast for politics) through, within an hour of announcing, and with bipartisan support from the ALP, an amendment to the 1960's marriage act, to ban same sex marriage.
No plebiscite, no election mandate, no public consultation. And all the reasons given are pretty much the opposite for why we need this bullshit cluster fuck we are going through now.
The amendment act as it was first tabled, and subsequently enacted without change:
http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/bill/mlab2004287/
MARRIAGE LEGISLATION AMENDMENT BILL 2004
2002-2003-2004
The Parliament of the
Commonwealth of Australia
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Presented and read a first time
Marriage Legislation Amendment Bill 2004
No. , 2004
(Attorney-General)
A Bill for an Act to amend the Marriage Act 1961 and the Family Law Act 1975, and for related purposes
Contents
A Bill for an Act to amend the Marriage Act 1961 and the Family Law Act 1975, and for related purposes
The Parliament of Australia enacts:
1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the Marriage Legislation Amendment Act 2004.
2 Commencement
(1) Each provision of this Act specified in column 1 of the table commences, or is taken to have commenced, in accordance with column 2 of the table. Any other statement in column 2 has effect according to its terms.
Commencement information
Column 1
Column 2
Column 3
Provision(s)
Commencement
Date/Details
1. Sections 1 to 3 and anything in this Act not elsewhere covered by this table
The day on which this Act receives the Royal Assent.
2. Schedule 1
The day after this Act receives the Royal Assent.
3. Schedule 2
The 28th day after the day on which this Act receives the Royal Assent.
Note: This table relates only to the provisions of this Act as originally passed by the Parliament and assented to. It will not be expanded to deal with provisions inserted in this Act after assent.
(2) Column 3 of the table contains additional information that is not part of this Act. Information in this column may be added to or edited in any published version of this Act.
3 Schedule(s)
Each Act that is specified in a Schedule to this Act is amended or repealed as set out in the applicable items in the Schedule concerned, and any other item in a Schedule to this Act has effect according to its terms.
Schedule 1—Amendment of the Marriage Act 1961
1 Subsection 5(1)
Insert:
marriage means the union of a man and a woman to the exclusion of all others, voluntarily entered into for life.
2 At the end of section 88B
Add:
(4) To avoid doubt, in this Part (including section 88E) marriage has the meaning given by subsection 5(1).
3 After section 88E
Insert:
88EA Certain unions are not marriages
A union solemnised in a foreign country between:
(a) a man and another man; or
(b) a woman and another woman;
must not be recognised as a marriage in Australia.
Schedule 2—Amendment of the Family Law Act 1975
1 After subsection 111C(4)
Insert:
(4A) However, regulations made for the purposes of this section must not facilitate, or provide for, the adoption of a child by 2 persons of the same sex who live together as a couple.
2 At the end of Division 3 of Part XIIIAA
Add:
111CA Certain international adoptions not allowed
A person (including an officer of a State or Territory) must not, for the purposes of:
(a) the Convention on Protection of Children and Cooperation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption signed at The Hague on 29 May 1993; or
(b) a bilateral agreement or arrangement on the adoption of children made between a State or Territory and an overseas jurisdiction;
facilitate, or provide for, the adoption of a child by 2 persons of the same sex who live together as a couple.
Interesting to note, that the primary amendment, as per Schedule 1, annuls every single marriage performed in this country, while divorce is legal. It quite clearly stipulates that marriage is for life, so while divorce is an option, no marriage can be guaranteed to be for life.
Then pretty much everything little Johnny said at the press confrence announcing it is the opposite of what we're hearing now:
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/05/27/1085461876842.html
From SMH May 27 2004
Mr Howard said the Marriage Act would be changed to include a definition of marriage as the `voluntarily entered-into union of a man and a woman to exclusion of all others'.
``We've decided to insert this into the Marriage Act to make it very plain that that is our view of a marriage and to also make it very plain that the definition of a marriage is something that should rest in the hands ultimately of the parliament of the nation,'' Mr Howard told reporters.
''(It should) not over time be subject to redefinition or change by courts, it is something that ought to be expressed through the elected representatives of the country.''
``As far as the other measures are concerned, the government takes the view that not only is it a statement of its attitude towards marriage but it's also a necessary assertion by the parliament of the country above all others to define what is regarded in our community what is a marriage.''
And no argument from the ALP:
http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Bills_Legislation/bd/bd0405/05bd005#Purpose
From the Parlimentry Bills Digest No. 5 2004–05
Government
The Government s haste to have the current Bill passed appears to be linked to two applications filed in court to have same sex marriages performed within the laws of another country recognised under Australian law(2). This Bill amends the Marriage Act 1961 to prevent the recognition of same-sex marriages in Australia, even where the marriage has been performed under the laws of another country which does recognise this type of union.
In addition the Government has also indicated that the need for Parliament to give its immediate attention to the current Bill is related to expressions of significant community concern about the possible erosion of the institution of marriage (3). It is the Attorney-General s opinion that Parliament s quick action is needed to address these community concerns.
ALP commitments
The Marriage Amendment Bill 2004 contains those provisions of the Marriage Legislation Amendment Bill 2004 which the Australian Labor Party stipulated it would support in a press release issued on 1 June 2004(4). Shadow Attorney-General, Nicola Roxon MP, reiterated during the second reading of the current Bill that the Labor Party would agree to the measures it contains. However, the Party expressed reservations about the process on two grounds. The first, questioned the Government s claims that the issue of gay marriage was of such major community concern that it warranted the need to be dealt with urgently. The second raised the point that the first Bill has already been referred to a Senate committee, the report from which is yet to be released(5).
The Greens
The Greens have labelled both the current and the first Bill discriminatory against the gay and lesbian community and condemned both the Government and the Labor Party for failing to acknowledge the change, within present day society, in the make up of couples(6). In the House of Representatives, Greens MP, Michael Organ introduced amendments to the current Bill which included provisions that acknowledged gay and lesbian unions within the definition of marriage and also the recognition of such unions as marriages in Australia regardless of whether they were performed in a foreign country. These amendments were not adopted and the current Bill passed the House of Representatives unchanged.
Fucking cock swallowers!
