Sydney
7 September 2003
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Tasmania accused on same-sex adoption and ‘marriage’
By Chris Lindsay
The Archbishop of Hobart, Archbishop Adrian Doyle, has questioned the Tasmanian State Government’s commitment to traditional marriage and the procreation of children “by the usual means” following the passing of laws relating to same sex relationships.
He says he believes the “real agenda” behind the changes to legislation is the formal recognition of same sex marriage.
Dr Warwick Neville, research fellow of the Australian Catholic Bish-ops Conference, says the legislation is “the death of traditional marriage by a thousand cuts”.
Dr Neville said the legislation was made up of two Bills, The Relationships Bill 2003, which proposes formal recognition of same sex relationships, and the Relationships (Consequential Amendments) Bill, which extends a range of benefits “currently available to a spouse to what is now known as a partner”.
“A third aspect of the legislation is that it establishes a register of relationships,” he said.
“There is no requirement to use it, but it is regarded as conclusive proof of a relationship. This register takes the Tasmanian legislation further than that in any other jurisdiction.”
The traditionally conservative Upper House passed the legislation 7-5. It will allow same-sex couples to register their relationships, adopt their partner’s children and have access to their partner’s superannuation, inheritances and medical authority rights.
Archbishop Doyle said that Tasmanian Attorney- General Judy Jackson had proposed “the establishment of a parallel universe, equivalent to marriage, for same-sex couples, including some adoption rights”.
He asked members of the Legislative Council to insert a preamble to both Bills so that they are to be interpreted subject to the provisions of the Commonwealth Marriage Act where marriage is defined as between [only] “a man and a woman”, but this was not done before the legislation was passed on August 28.
Archbishop Doyle also wondered where the evidence was of the need for the legislation con-sidering that the Anti-Discrimination Act “provides extensive protection against discrimination on the basis of a person’s sexual orientation or lawful sexual activity”.
“The only answer is that the real agenda, confirmed by prominent gay activists, is the formal recognition of same-sex marriage,” he said.
“The establishment of a ‘relationships register’ under the legislation constitutes formal recognition of same-sex relationships. In the absence of protection of ‘traditional marriage’, same-sex marriage is just around the corner.”
Dr Neville says overseas studies have shown that very few gay and lesbian couples use relationship registers “because it is part of the gay and lesbian ethos not to use things that are part of the establishment; they do not want homosexual society to ‘mirror’ straight societies”.
“This is all appeasement stuff by the politicians,” he said. “The main game is the formal recognition of same sex marriage.”
The passage of the two Bills was secured after the five Labor members in the Upper House agreed to an amendment to strike out the provision for the rights of females to be automatically deemed the parent of a child conceived through artificial fertilisation of their partner.
The three independents who voted for the laws had threatened to change their votes if the amendment was not passed.
An earlier push by Ms Jackson to have same-sex couples eligible to apply to adopt children through general placement was not included in the legislation which went to the Upper House.
Several opponents to the reforms expressed concern that the incremental changes to the law were the slippery slope” that would see even more reforms placed on the agenda.
Two MPs who spoke against the Bills were Colin Rattray, who said it deg-raded the values of traditional marriage, and Tony Fletcher, who said that the “traditional union of man and woman begetting children is fundamental to our future”.
The legislation could be in place by January.