Terri Butler (Griffith, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am going to tell a love story. One night, my old friend Emma went to dinner at a friend's house and she met Cate, and they hit it off immediately. As time went on, they found that they really liked each other. Not everyone wants the stress and difficulty of a long-distance relationship, but they each flew from Brisbane to Sydney, and vice versa, just to see each other. Eventually, they realised that they needed to be together, so Cate took the big step and moved to Brisbane. Nine years later, they faced a new chapter together; Isobel was born in 2009 and Tom came along in 2011. Tom has been sick for a lot of his life. They have had a lot of scares and they have faced them together as a family.

Emma says that their kids see them as married, and that is how Isobel describes her parents: married. But there is something missing. It is the right to make a public declaration of love and permanency, recognised at law. Emma told me tonight that she wants the Vera Wang, she wants the Tiffany and she wants the world to see her marriage as equal—not as something illegitimate or lesser. She wants to know for the kids' sake that, if something happened to her, Cate would be recognised as a widow, no questions asked, no doubt.

Emma is one of the millions of Australians who support marriage equality; and, in the wake of the Irish referendum, where 62 per cent voted yes, Australians are rightly looking to this parliament and telling us to get our act together. The Liberal Party pollsters Crosby Textor know that Australians support marriage equality. Their research says nearly three-quarters of Australians support it, an overwhelming majority. And why wouldn't they?

In May, Lee Bransden, who has a terminal illness, travelled to New Zealand to marry Sandra Yates. They had known each other 30 years and had been a couple for eight of them. Why shouldn't they have been able to get married here?

Marriage is not for everyone. Some see it as a patriarchal, oppressive institution that is conservative by nature and they do not support it. But even if you do not believe in marriage as an institution, it is hard to argue that, while marriage is available to the majority, it should be denied to someone on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity. This form of discrimination, made compulsory by the Marriage Act, should end. Emma and Kate cannot themselves change the law to make this happen in Australia, nor can Lee and Sandra. Neither couple could marry in front of their friends and family in Australia and have that marriage recognised as being equal to others in the eyes of the law and the community.

But we can make it happen. The members of this parliament have the power to change the Marriage Act to remove this inequality. We can do it if the Prime Minister stops requiring Liberal and National members and senators to vote against marriage equality. There is a great movement for change within Labor. In 2008 we changed our platform to support marriage equality. Speeches from Tanya Plibersek, Penny Wong and many others moved me to tears when Labor made this change. Today, more and more Labor parliamentarians are coming out in favour of marriage equality. I congratulate them. I want to thank in particular Bill Shorten, the Leader of the Opposition. Not only is he a strong supporter of marriage equality; he went to the Australian Christian Lobby last year and respectfully told them why they were wrong on this issue. He said:

I am a Christian and a supporter of marriage equality under the law. At its heart, marriage equality is a question of legal recognition and legal support for couples committed to each other regardless of their gender. That's why my reasons for voting for change are based upon the broad ideal of equality—an Australia that includes everyone. However, our current law excludes some individuals. It says to them: 'Your relationships are not equally valued by the state, your love is less equal under the law.'

That is what Bill said to the Australian Christian lobby—and he gave the marriage equality sign as he left. I thank him for his support for same-sex marriage, I thank every Labor parliamentarian who has stated publicly that they will support marriage equality and I thank every Liberal, National, minor party and Independent member and senator who has expressed their consent to and support for marriage equality. Labor cannot change the law alone. We need the coalition to get on board. The Prime Minister must genuinely and unequivocally make it clear to his colleagues that they may vote as they choose on this issue without fear of recrimination. I have said it before: it is well past time, Prime Minister. It is well past time for couples like Emma and Kate to be able to get married in public. It is well past time for couples like Lee and Sandra to be able to get married here at home and not have to travel to New Zealand, Canada, Britain or anywhere else. Maybe we will soon have the equality that those couples deserve. I hope that the Prime Minister will make that change.

House adjourned at 21:25