George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Attorney-General) Share this | Hansard source

The opposition does not say that. That is not our position. But it is our position that marriage, as I said earlier, is a unique and privileged relationship in our society. We respect and demand equal treatment for other domestic relationships, both opposite-sex and same-sex, but one cannot, at the same time, say that marriage is a unique and privileged institution and that it is the same thing as other domestic relationships, both opposite-sex and same-sex, which we respect. This has nothing to do with the way in which this bears on children because, as I also said earlier, one of the principles that guide the opposition’s approach to this is to ensure that there is no differential treatment of children whatsoever, regardless of the nature of the household to which they belong.