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BILL SHORTEN
LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION
MEMBER FOR MARIBYRNONG
SPEECH TO THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARRIAGE AMENDMENT (MARRIAGE EQUALITY) BILL 2015
MONDAY, 1 JUNE 2015
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I move that the bill be read a second time.
The laws of our nation should give us hope.
Our laws should tell our children what we believe.
Our laws should tell strangers who Australians are.
Our laws should be a mirrorreflecting our great and generous country and our free,
inclusive society.
And our Parliament should be a place where we make things happen rather than sit
back and let them happen.
On marriage equality, for too long we in this Parliament have been following, not
leading.
It is within our power to change this.
This Parliament can change a law that no longer describes modern Australiaand pass
a law of which we can all be proud.
Let us delay no more.
Let us embrace a definition of marriage that respects, values and includes every
Australian.
Let us declare, in the house of the Australian people it is time.
The right time to make marriage equality, a reality.
This is a moment bigger than politics.
This moment does not distract the nation it complements our hopes for the future.
I know all members of Parliament will engage in a respectful and considered debate,
and I hope will be able to exercise a free vote.
I pay tribute to the Member for Sydney, for offering her place on this bill to a member of
the Government.
Tanya, thank you.
Your actions, the advocacy of Senator Penny Wong and the goodwill of many across
the Parliament, prove that bipartisanship is not the problem here.
What matters is the outcome, not who owns it.
Madam Speaker
For decades, the march to equality has been led by remarkable Australians from every
part of our country and all walks of life.
Governments from both sides of politics have delivered real progress too.
The Fraser Government passed Whitlam law, decriminalising homosexuality in
Commonwealth territories, following Don Dunstans lead in South Australia.
Paul Keating lifted the ban on Australians who identified as gay serving in our military.
The Rudd and Gillard governments removed discrimination against same-sex couples
from more than 80 laws.
In Victoria, the Napthine Government expunged the records of people who were
charged under long-repealed homosexuality offences.
Changing the Marriage Act is the next, overdue step in the path to true equality.
Madam Speaker
Im a twin its a special thing, growing up, an inseparable bond.
But for other twins where one twin is gay and the other is not, the Marriage Act is the
only Australian law that separates siblings.
Its a double standard which divides families, and our country.
Its not fair and its not who we are.
And it should change.
Currently, marriage is defined as:
the union of a man and a woman
Those eight words maintain a fiction that any other relationship is somehow inferior.
Our legislation proposes a new definition:
the union of two people
And it allows celebrants the choice of referring to partners, as well as husband and
wife.
To some, this may seem a small gesture.
In truth, this means so much, to so many.
To all lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex Australians, we offer change that
says: your relationship is equal under the law.
To the parents, children, friends and families of same-sex partners, just as the people
you love are equal and valuable in your eyes, their relationship should be equal and
valuable in the eyes of our law.
To same-sex couples, we offer the right to celebrate your love with the public measure
of devotion: marriage.
When someone has found not just another person they can live with, but a person they
cant live without, then they should have the same right to the true qualities of a bond
that runs deeper than any law.
The same joy and sacrifice.
The same care and compassion.
The same rights and responsibilities.