Get same sex marriage done now, and done right
THE Turnbull government must get same sex marriage legalised — and religious freedoms protected — now, even if it means sitting through Christmas, writes Peta Credlin.
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DIFFERENT countries have taken different paths to legalising same sex marriage. In the US, it was the courts. In Britain and New Zealand, it was the parliament. And in Australia and Ireland, it was the people.
I know many same sex marriage supporters opposed the idea of a plebiscite when first proposed including, very vocally, Malcolm Turnbull.
But as the results were announced, I was pleased to see how the Prime Minister and so many others conceded what I had always felt would happen — that a vote by the people would be a coming-together on an issue that has divided for so long.
Because it was a people’s vote, the question of same sex marriage has now been conclusively settled. No one should seek to revisit it and no one should seek to undermine it. While not a government bill in the formal sense, it will be up to the Prime Minister to get the change to the Marriage Act that reflects the people’s vote while keeping faith with his own very strong commitments on September 15 when he said: “I just want to reassure Australians that as strongly as I believe in the right of same-sex couples to marry, as strongly as I believe in that, even more strongly, if you like, do I believe in religious freedom.”
In particular, Mr Turnbull’s statement, where he said, “religious freedom is fundamental and it will be protected in any bill that emerges from this parliament” will be held up in coming weeks as an inviolable promise to colleagues and the wider community that took his assurances on face value. Already there are arguments that this can’t be done in the final two sitting weeks left before the parliament rises for its summer break and I say, make the parliament sit to Christmas — get this done and get it right.
As a legislative purist, I don’t agree that protections for religious freedoms belong in the Marriage Act (nor do I agree with the cake and florist arguments because that’s entrenching discrimination) but I also wouldn’t take the parliament on trust with a vague promise that they’ll “fix up” religious protections next year.
No, it should be done in a separate bill, done now but not used as a tactic to delay change to the Marriage Act. Having voted for ‘yes’, Australians shouldn’t have to wait any longer than necessary to get this change made but, as someone who knows the legislative system inside out, any idea that a bill to allow same sex marriage can’t be passed at the same time as we protect existing religious freedoms is a nonsense.
Let’s not forget that contained in the yes vote is a lot of people who care deeply about religion, freedom of conscience, and who are conservative.
Indeed, it would be naive to see the result in stark terms as a battle between conservatives and so-called progressives. If you look at the electorate by electorate detail, a greater number of Labor seats voted No than seats held by the conservative side of politics with the dividing line being more about multicultural make-up and religious adherence than political philosophy. Voting
No hardly makes these Labor seats Liberal. The detail in Wednesday’s result also shows that, while traditionally conservative in policy terms, 15 out of 16 seats held by Nationals MPs also voted for change.
As any one of the Australians who took part in survey will attest, the decision individuals made about same sex marriage was far more personal, more nuanced and more complex than a mere translation of political allegiances.
I believe we should be slow to change the fundamentals of our society but when the case is made for change, we should support it. It’s time, now that the debate is over, for those who opposed gay marriage to accept that gay people aspire to the same stability and mutual responsibility in their lives as the rest of us.
Giving the children of same sex couples the same right to married parents and trying to ensure that all relationships are durable, regardless of sexuality, should always be a conservative goal.
The parliament has dealt with far more contentious matters in similar time frames as what’s available, even if they don’t extend sittings, which they should, and on this issue, they have the irrefutable backing of the Australian people to get it done while ensuring Mr Turnbull keeps his promise to protect religious freedom.