SECULAR PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

 

The following response has been received from the Secular Party of Australia.

AUSTRALIAN MARRIAGE EQUALITY
PARTY SURVEY FOR THE 2010 FEDERAL ELECTION

 

Does your party support an amendment to the Marriage Act to allow same sex couples to marry?

The Secular Party of Australia strongly supports just such an amendment.  Please see below.

 

If so, what will your party do in the next term of government to ensure this reform occurs?

In consultation with GLBTI groups draft changes to the Act, including (but not limited to) the removal of the definition of marriage as being between a man and a woman.

 

If not, what are your specific reasons for denying same-sex partners full legal equality?

 

In 2009 the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee inquiry into marriage equality made the following two recommendation. Does your party support the implementation of these recommendations in the next term of government?

The committee recommends that the Government review (by reference to the Australian Law Reform Commission, or some other appropriate mechanism) relationship recognition arrangements with the aim of developing a nationally consistent framework to provide official recognition for same sex couples and equal rights under federal and state laws.

The committee recommends that the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade issue Certificates of Non-Impediment to couples of the same sex on the same basis as they are issued for couples of different sexes.

The Secular Party of Australia fully supports both recommendations.

 

What else would you like to add?

Marriage in Australian law is a secular and civil institution and, like all secular and civil institutions, must be governed by the principles of equality and non-discrimination.

For this reason the Secular Party of Australia strongly supports amendments to the Marriage Act allowing same-sex couples to marry.

Furthermore, the Secular Party of Australia opposes attempts to legally recognise same-sex relationships that fall short of marriage equality. While we support alternative schemes for the recognition of partners who do not wish to marry, we do not support these alternative schemes as a substitute for allowing same-sex couples to marry. There is no substitute for the right to marry one's partner. In the absence of marriage equality, the enactment of a national scheme for the recognition of same-sex and other relationships would a) reinforce the separate, second-class status of same-sex relationships, b) reinforce the myth that marriage is a religious institution that same-sex couples should not be a part of, and c) delay the achievement of full marriage equality for many years. This has already been the case in the UK and New Zealand. Australia must not make the same mistake.

Therefore the Secular Party of Australia makes the following commitment to Australia's GLBTI community and all those Australians who support full legal equality: we do not support a national scheme for the formal recognition of personal relationships, such as civil unions, civil partnerships or registered relationships, before same-sex couples are allowed to marry.

We will seriously consider supporting such schemes when or after marriage equality is achieved, and at a state and territory level. But marriage equality must be the highest priority for all those who support an egalitarian, inclusive and secular Australia.