Bob McMullan (Fraser, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It was my intention to speak today in the adjournment debate on the issue of discrimination against same-sex couples, based on the experience of a couple in my electorate who also happen to be friends of mine. I hope still to get the opportunity to do that, but I want to speak today about my sense of outrage, as a member of the Australian parliament, as a citizen of Canberra and as an Australian, on hearing that the Attorney-General, Mr Ruddock, is contemplating overriding the ACT civil unions legislation.

The first thing I want to say, before I go to the detail, is that the key question everybody in Canberra will be asking is: what is Senator Humphries going to do about this outrageous, high-handed, arrogant, offensive proposal by the Attorney-General? It will require legislation for the Commonwealth to override the ACT measure, and I want to know whether Senator Humphries will vote for that legislation. It is fundamental to the interests of the ACT and to the many citizens who are constituents of his, mine, the member for Canberra and Senator Lundy, that he clearly indicates now that he will vote against any legislation that will override this measure.

I am outraged on the question of the undermining of the rights of the ACT government to make decisions like this. I accept without qualification the constitutional situation—that the Commonwealth has power to make laws for the governance of the Territory, and that it can make laws about this matter as well. But this is not an issue on which I believe that power should be exercised. I do not want to hide behind that constitutional nicety or territory rights, because I am not a great states rights person. I want to say unequivocally that I support the civil unions legislation. I welcome the fact that the ACT government has introduced it. I am delighted that it is going to be passed through the assembly, and I hope that we can find a way for the legislation to be effected in the ACT, notwithstanding the outrageous and offensive objections of the Attorney-General.

It is very hard to actually make sense of what the Attorney-General’s concern is. It is particularly hard for the Chief Minister to make sense of it, because he still has not received the letter, a copy of which the Attorney-General has given to the Canberra Times. It appeared on the front page of the Canberra Times, and the Chief Minister knows about it because the Canberra Times gave him a copy of the letter that had been given to them by the Attorney-General. But the Chief Minister has not received it yet. How arrogant, high handed and darned incompetent can you get. It is no wonder the immigration portfolio was left in such a mess by this arrogant, high-handed, incompetent individual.

The Attorney-General is saying that in some way the ACT government is saying that civil unions are the equivalent of marriages. Let me quote from the second reading speech by the Chief Minister:

A civil union is not marriage but will be treated in the same way as marriage ... It will give couples functional equality under ACT law with married couples but does not replace or duplicate marriage.

It is different. If the Attorney-General’s only concern is that civil celebrants are going to be used to perform these civil union ceremonies, that is a ridiculous, narrow-minded concern, but one that is easily overcome. The Chief Minister simply has to duplicate the process by setting up an ACT register of civil union celebrants. That would be very simple. I have not discussed it with the Chief Minister, but it is obvious that he would be prepared to do that to achieve the bigger purpose.

I will come back on another occasion to speak about the outrageous, ongoing federal discrimination against gay couples. Everything where the recognition of the relationship would work to their advantage is not recognised. Where it works to their disadvantage, it is recognised. I will have something to say about that on another occasion. Today I just want to say—on behalf of not just all the gay and lesbian couples in my electorate but all the people that I represent—that this is arrogant, high-handed, offensive behaviour by the Attorney-General. I hope Senator Humphries does not support it. I hope the parliament does not support it. I hope it never happens. I support the civil union legislation and I hope that it can have effect as soon as possible.

Annette Ellis (Canberra, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I also want to speak on the issue of the ACT civil union legislation. It is my pleasure to completely endorse the words of the member for Fraser, who just spoke on this matter. The ACT government is a democratically elected government. In its work, it has made a decision—a decision I happen to agree with wholeheartedly—to introduce the ACT civil union bill allowing civil unions to occur between people of the same sex within the ACT. We now know that Mr Ruddock has made a public declaration that he is completely against this and will use his powers to override the ACT government’s decision and if necessary legislate to change it so that any law passed by the ACT will be overridden by Mr Ruddock’s proposed legislation in this place.

I am outraged for two reasons. First, I am outraged because it is a democratically elected government in this Territory and should be allowed to govern in its own right for the people. The people in the ACT make the decision as to whether governments stand or fall within their own territory. Secondly, on the issue itself—the issue of the ACT civil union bill—I happen to also support that, and I endorse entirely the remarks made just a moment ago by the member for Fraser.

The member for Fraser has brought up a very interesting question, and I think it is the most vital question in this debate: what role will Senator Humphries play in this debate within the parliament? Senator Humphries is the government senator in the ACT. We all understand very clearly the balance of power in the Senate. It is incumbent upon Senator Humphries to make his decision known now. We in Canberra need to know right now what his view is in relation to this issue and what his decision will be—how he will vote in the Senate—should Mr Ruddock go ahead with this mad idea of bringing in legislation to override a law-making process within the ACT.

This is not the first time that I have had to stand up in this parliament and comment on the fact that the ACT government is sometimes affected by rules and laws made by this place. The government cannot do it here if it is a state, but it can if it is a territory. I repeat my remarks. The ACT people have had self-government since 1989. There is a current government in place—a majority government, for the first time in the ACT—duly elected by the people of this territory. The ACT government acts accordingly. It has made a decision to bring in this legislation—the civil union bill. It is something that I believe will be very popular within this community but something that the ACT government itself should stand or fall on. I happen to agree with it, and I am very pleased to think that the Chief Minister has had the foresight to bring this piece of legislation before the ACT Assembly.

As I said, Senator Humphries is the man who really should be coming out today and stating very clearly what his position is in relation to this particular debate. I vehemently disagree with Mr Ruddock’s action. I do not understand the logic of it other than that he does not like what they are doing so he is going to stamp on it. But that is not a very good reason for doing something. At the end of the day the ACT people should have their views known and have the ability to carry out their decision-making process unfettered. I disagree very strongly. I find it arrogant beyond belief that Mr Ruddock is going to choose to go down this path. He stands absolutely condemned for that, in my view. Senator Humphries, come out and tell us what you are planning to do. Do not dilly-dally around for the next few weeks. I think the community needs to know right now what your intention is. As far as I am concerned, I will be doing all I can to support democracy within the ACT and to ensure that they are allowed to govern in their own right and represent their own community into the future.