Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Climate Change and Water) Share this | Hansard source

Can I indicate the government’s response. The government has taken the approach of making extensive amendments with the intention of not only removing discrimination but also expediting this without requiring a major rewrite of a substantial amount of Commonwealth legislation. Utilisation of the term ‘couple relationship’, such as is proposed in the Greens’ amendment, would require much more extensive amendment to legislation—far more than is proposed now—and would inevitably ensure that this matter is further delayed. The Greens’ amendment notes that the Same Sex Relationships (Equal Treatment in Commonwealth Laws—General Law Reform Bill) 2008 will require consequential amendment to omit ‘de facto partner’ and to substitute ‘partner of a couple relationship’. Again, this would require extensive amendment of many pieces of government legislation. I am advised that this would create a number of implementation problems, particularly in relation to tax legislation, where the term ‘partner’ is used in another context. I am also advised that using a term other than ‘de facto relationship’ would be inconsistent with the terms used in the Family Law Amendment (De Facto Financial Matters and Other Measures) Bill 2008.