Gees I hope the ACT gets their Marriage Bill through...

[i-need-a-martini]

Seriously is Abbott feral or what?

So after spending 3 years telling us all the economics is in a shambles, instead of concentrating on that, he goes after issues like this - fighting the ACT over marriage equality. How much federal money is it going to cost to seek out the legality of this? It seems to me that the ACT has already gone through the legalities with a fine tooth comb so does that mean we are going to see Abbott fight the issue in the High Court? Talk about wasteful...

And the look on his face when he talked about it today was telling - does he seriously think it is a big joke?

The federal government is considering whether it should block the ACT's proposed same-sex marriage legislation.

The ACT government introduced a bill to permit same-sex marriages into the Legislative Assembly on Thursday morning. It is expected to pass the 17-member Assembly with the support of all eight Labor and the only Greens member.

Mr Abbott later said the Commonwealth had constitutional responsibility for marriage and Attorney-General George Brandis would seek advice on the ACT bill.

Read more: http://www.canberratimes.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/prime-minister-tony-abbott-flags-cha...

[grandmoon]

If he does challenge it, we will see if the Bill that the Greens had passed is able to stop him.

[vampire-teddy]

i hope it gets through too because if it does my partner and I will be holidaying in Canberra 

[izabsmiling]

Martini, I wonder if Tony Abbott heard Pope Francis's messages in which he urged 'mercy' for homosexuals, divorced people and women who have abortions, saying the Catholic Church had to show understanding for the real conditions of people's lives ?

Pope Francis stressed that the Church's official position had not changed, but said that it should "always keep in mind the individual" and  declared that it was not his place to judge homosexuals and said they should not be marginalised.

[izabsmiling]

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@vampire-teddy wrote:

i hope it gets through too because if it does my partner and I will be holidaying in Canberra 

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I so hope that one day you have the same legal right to me married in our Country as I do 

[izabsmiling]

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@poddster wrote:

Has the world gone completely koo koo??

Heterosexual marriage is on a decline and homosexual marriage is on the rise.

Is this some safety valve that nature has devised to stem over population.

When will nature wake up to the fact that 'practicing' does no bear fruit all the time and the population explosion will only lead to a small bang

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people don't 'start' being homosexual just because homosexual marriage is being permitted more and more.Homosexuality is as natural and has been around as long as heterosexuality .

homosexual people just like heterosexual people can be a couple without marriage and both can have children with/without marriage....either naturally,with medical assistance, by adoption ect...and couples ,be they heterosexual and homosexual may not have any children by choice or by nature or a combination of both .

The difference is that so far ,in our Country homosexual couples are denied the right to be legally married.

I could go on to explain bi gender attracted ....lol 

[mainecoon1]

Vampire I also hope they pass this bill but the sad thing is that even if you and your partner get married in Canberra the rest of Australia will not acknowledge your marriage, this bill needs to be passed in all states and territories.

We have got gay friends that went to the UK a couple of years ago to get married but the minute they returned to Australia all theri rights as a couple where gone.  I have been married for nearly 27 years and have gay friends that have been in a relationship for longer than that, they are oobviously committed to the relationship so why cant they get married? 

[catsnknots]

I was listening to a Constitutional lawyer today on radio... seems that it is more about legalities than anything else... not Abbott's personal opinion. 

Abbott is our PM and must ensure that the Constitution is followed. 

[the_great_she_elephant]

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@poddster wrote:

Has the world gone completely koo koo??

Heterosexual marriage is on a decline and homosexual marriage is on the rise.

Is this some safety valve that nature has devised to stem over population.

When will nature wake up to the fact that 'practicing' does no bear fruit all the time and the population explosion will only lead to a small bang

I know that you believe you understand what you think I said, but I'm not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant.

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I know that you believe you understand what you thought you said, but I'm not sure you realize that what you said was actually gobbledigook.

[i-need-a-martini]

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@catmad*2013 wrote:

I was listening to a Constitutional lawyer today on radio... seems that it is more about legalities than anything else... not Abbott's personal opinion. 

Abbott is our PM and must ensure that the Constitution is followed. 

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Rubbish

The Consitution isn't wriiten in stone. Marriage comes under Section 51 of our Constitution and amendments can be made and have been made in recent years to include defactos and EXCLUDE same sex marriage.

In 2008 (I think) amendments were made to include defacto relationships as part of the Federal Marriage Act. That was after all of the states adopted legislation one by one even though at the time it was disputed that the states could do this legally as it conflicted with the Constitution. They did it anyway and it allowed the Federal Government to change the Constitution.

The Constitution was also amended by the Howard government in 2004 specifically EXCLUDING same sex marriage from the wording of the Marriage and Divorce Act.

I can't recall all the details (if Crikey is around she can do the legal checks for me) but essentially changes were made.

All it needs is one state to be close enough to change their laws (ACT is just about their  with Tasmania and NSW not far behind) and then it is simply a case of all the other states getting off their behinds to resolve this. Then the Federal Govt has no choice but to amend the Constitution to include same sex marriage.

The fact is that the states do not have any restrictions relating to changes in law relating to marriage so it can pass the Bill tomorrow. It gets tricky only because Federal law DOES have restrictions and the Constitution has the final say. However, my understanding of the law is that if the Federal Government minds it's own business on the issues and does not challenge it in the High Court, then there is no issue. Section 51 gives the Federal Govt the ability to provide the states with some leeway.

All Abbott has to do is sit back and let the legislation take its course in the ACT and not interfere. If he interferes by challenging the ACTs decision in the High Court, his ONLY reason would be personal opinion. 

[siggie-reported-by-alarmists]

Thanks elephant......I just spilt my coffee laughing........kudos to you!!