Rodney Croome . gay advocate

‘No ceremonies’ – 6

The ACT Government sticks to its guns over same-sex unions.

According to today’s Canberra Times (“ACT vows to push ahead with gay unions”, p5), the ACT Government remains firmly committed to its Civil Partnerships Bill, despite pressure from the Federal Government for the states and territories to adopt a less-marriage-like Tasmanian-style relationship registry.

A spokesperson for ACT Chief Minister, Jon Stanhope, has said that the Territory Government is “committed to bringing the (Partnerships) Bill forward”.

“The Tasmanian scheme met the needs and wishes of the Tasmanian community. However, the ACT community clearly preferred a civil unions model and that is the model that the Government is pursuing.” (it's good finally to see some respect for the Tasmanian registry from the ACT Gov't. Let's hope this is the beginning of the end of the whole "dog registration" thing.)

On the face of it Stanhope's statement seems to nail this long running issue. After all, the Prime Minister has said he will not, like his predecessor, invalidate the ACT's Bill if it is passed.

But look a bit more closely. The Feds clearly have enough interest and influence in this issue to keep the ACT Government at the negotiating table. According to today’s report, the Bill won’t be brought forward until “policy differences” between the two governments have been resolved.

It’s hard to see what room for compromise exists on the key issue of officially-recognised ceremonies. Either the Registrar’s recognition of the existence of a new legal relationship is backdated to the ceremonial signing of the partnership certificate (as it is in marriage and in the ACT proposal), or it is not (as with the Tasmanian registry).

More likely the negotiations will pivot on whether there is a residency requirement, something the ACT has already flagged it’s willing to discuss.

If the Feds are assured there’ll be only be a couple of hundred “gay weddings” rather than many thousands, and that the matter can be politically quarantined to the ACT, they may just give way.

What we can be certain of is that both governments are being driven, at least in part, by hard-nosed electoral concerns.

The Feds are keen to appease those religious advocates who say they have the ear of “working families” in suburban Sydney and Melbourne.

On the other hand, the ACT Government faces an election later this year with polls showing it could lose its slim majority to the Greens.

What better way to avert that possibility than to stand firm on civil unions?

If the Feds accede to the ACT’s wishes, it will because the threat to Labor locally is seen as more immediate and tangible than the threat nationally.

In the meantime, if you’d like to take a stand for civil partnerships there will be a rally outside the ACT Legislative Assembly this Saturday at 1pm.

Speakers include openly-gay Labor MLA, Andrew Barr, Greens MLA, Deb Foskey, and ACT Attorney-General, Simon Corbell.

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In other big-event news,

The 1st Asia Pacific Outgames begins in Melbourne today.

Such an important event is an appropriate curtain-raiser for what will inevitably be a pivotal year in LGBT human rights, both in Victoria and nationally.

Best wishes to all competitors and conference-goers.