Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I also rise to speak on the Marriage Amendment Bill 2012. My views and opinions on this matter are on the public record. Last week I made abundantly clear that I support marriage equality and outlined my reasons for that support. Today, I thought I would share with the House, and particularly with my electorate, the different views regarding marriage equality in the many emails and letters that I have received in my office—certainly the ones that are printable. I can say with absolute certainty that, and this reflects the view of the earlier speakers, marriage equality is a very divisive issue for many. People have come out of the woodwork—not the closet but the woodwork—in support of their opposition to same-sex marriage and have offered a variety of reasons for their position. However, I would suggest that there is a vast, untapped middle group of Australians who are not particularly passionately for or against same-sex marriage; perhaps they are indifferent or even supportive of change. Certainly, the random surveys have suggested consistently that across Australia about 65 per cent of people are in favour of allowing same-sex-attracted people to marry.

I received letters from a number of churches, one organisation and quite a few individuals. I will give one example, from many in the Greek Orthodox community of St George in Brisbane who passed their view on to me. I am respectful of the views of the Greek Orthodox community of St George—I have been to one of their services. I know that this is a deeply held belief for many people in that community. Other people have written to me, saying that they have a particular problem with the idea of children being raised by either two mothers or two fathers. One individual—I will not name names—goes on to quote studies and give statistics about children who go through their whole life never experiencing a bond with a father or the nurturing characteristics of a mother and the effect this has on children emotionally, mentally and physically.

The reality is that there are many single-parent households in Australia where people do manage to become good, responsible citizens who go about their day-to-day lives. Despite the absence of a mother or father, which might be sad and might even create some emotional baggage for them, they nevertheless get on and do what they can.

We know that Australia is changing. I see in the latest ABS data, which was released late last week, that for the first time the actual number of people in a registered marriage fell below 50 per cent. Even in those modern-day marriages that are occurring, only around 30 per cent—and it is heading south—occur in a church, a mosque, a temple or in some other religious establishment.

Obviously, religious beliefs play a large role in individuals' views, particularly surrounding same-sex marriage. I have received many emails and letters from around the country from people who believe that the Bible and Christianity recognise that marriage is only between a man and a woman and that because marriage has been between a man and a women for centuries it ought to continue in this way. None of these people actually advocated that we should give our leaders the right to have 700 wives, like Solomon, but I do not think that any of our leaders would be willing to take on the challenge anyway. One of the correspondents referred to Genesis 2:18:

Then the Lord God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is just right for him."

On the other hand, I have received emails from constituents in my electorate of Moreton who believe same-sex partners should be equal before the law and should be able to marry if they so choose. They ask that the government keep pace with society's expectation of the natural progression of equal opportunity for gay and lesbian couples and urge parliamentarians to achieve this historic reform as soon as possible.

As I have mentioned in this House before, last year I conducted my own survey, receiving 2,270 survey responses. The breakdown from the survey was: 44 per cent supported the current definition of marriage, 53 per cent supported change and three per cent were unsure. This is a challenging topic, and I look forward to engaging with my constituents for as long as possible before it is changed.

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