Wed 29 Apr 2009 In: International News View at Wayback View at NDHA
The Australian government has officially rejected calls for Civil Union legislation, but has confirmed it intends to support same-sex families through anti-discrimination initiatives. The Sydney Star-Observer reports that the Rudd government equates civil unions with same-sex marriage equality, which it states goes against "the widely held view in the community that marriage is between a man and a woman". The government will instead encourage Australian States to implement a relationship register system, saying that "One step towards eliminating discrimination against same-sex couples is for their relationships to be legally recognised." Australian Marriage Equality advocates spokesman Peter Furness has responded saying the Government's view of same-sex unions was out of step with public opinion. "Opinion polls consistently show that a majority of Australians support same-sex marriage, making a nonsense of the Government's stated belief that its policy 'reflects a widely held view in the community'," he explained. "The Rudd government has shown that its vision for the future is blinkered by prejudices from the past."
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News Staff
First published: Wednesday, 29th April 2009 - 12:18pm