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George Brandis says marriage equality 'a final act of acceptance' – politics live George Brandis says marriage equality 'a final act of acceptance' – politics live
(35 minutes later)
Labor’s Penny Wong has warned against amendments for conscientious objection. Those amendments would protect those who conscientiously object to participating in same-sex marriage.
This is a very big concept to introduce, to suggest that we should actually have different treatment of Australians, not on the basis of an identified religious belief... but we should somehow in this debate about marriage equality introduce a new notion of conscientious objection as a basis for not applying the law universally. That is a very unorthodox step and I agree it is an illiberal step.
Moderate Liberal senator Dean Smith is in the Senate arguing against the amendments. He says his bill has been in the public sphere for months.
It is responsible, it is sensible, it has the support of the community.
Smith then slams the amendments proposed by Liberal senators James Paterson and David Fawcett.
Beware the Paterson bill was unorthodox, it was illiberal. The Paterson-Fawcett amendments are born of that same ilk. Illiberal, unorthodox.
We’re right into the debate on same-sex marriage bill amendments here.
The Senate is discussing an amendment that would give civil celebrants protections for refusing to marry same-sex couples.
The Greens senator Janet Rice is asking what that would mean, in practice, for her and her partner, who is a trans woman.
[Would they be able] to blatantly and quite discriminatingly be able to say, ‘No, we’re not able to marry you’?
Rice, as with many on the yes side, has urged against introducing one form of discrimination to replace another.
The resources minister, Matt Canavan, a no voter, said the argument works the other way, too. He said without the protections people who held traditional views about same-sex marriage would be discriminated against.
It would be “incredibly discriminatory” to people who want to pursue a career as a civil celebrant but don’t agree with same-sex marriage, he said.
I think it’s unfortunate therefore that in trying to remove one form of discrimination we would be establishing another form.
He said there has been a lack of engagement and consideration for those who do not agree with same-sex marriage.
A bit earlier, one of the more vocal Liberal no campaigners, Concetta Fierravanti-Wells, accused Labor of abandoning its base in western Sydney by refusing to support amendments to the bill. You’ll remember western Sydney voted strongly against same-sex marriage, including in many Labor seats.
I have to say to those opposite you have well and truly forgotten your heartland. You have well and truly forgotten particularly all those people in western Sydney.
What is so wrong to afford them now the opportunity of having an equal say?
QLD Nationals senator Barry O'Sullivan as the senate begins to move amendments to the bill to amend the marriage act @knausc @GuardianAus @murpharoo @Paul_Karp #auspol #politicslive https://t.co/NdPIu52fyz pic.twitter.com/fHY2rhwuuWQLD Nationals senator Barry O'Sullivan as the senate begins to move amendments to the bill to amend the marriage act @knausc @GuardianAus @murpharoo @Paul_Karp #auspol #politicslive https://t.co/NdPIu52fyz pic.twitter.com/fHY2rhwuuW
We’ve just heard from another Nationals MP on the banking inquiry. The party is divided over the plan. Two Nationals – senator Barry O’Sullivan and lower house MP Llew O’Brien – are supporting a banking inquiry. The Nationals leader, Barnaby Joyce, has left open the door to the party supporting the inquiry.We’ve just heard from another Nationals MP on the banking inquiry. The party is divided over the plan. Two Nationals – senator Barry O’Sullivan and lower house MP Llew O’Brien – are supporting a banking inquiry. The Nationals leader, Barnaby Joyce, has left open the door to the party supporting the inquiry.
Others are not so keen.Others are not so keen.
The transport minister, Darren Chester, is the latest to express his displeasure. He’s told Sky News that the inquiry would be an $150m “lawyers’ picnic”.The transport minister, Darren Chester, is the latest to express his displeasure. He’s told Sky News that the inquiry would be an $150m “lawyers’ picnic”.
That $150m could be building better, safer roads in regional communities. It could be saving lives in my community.That $150m could be building better, safer roads in regional communities. It could be saving lives in my community.
Kristina Keneally has just appeared in Bennelong alongside the opposition leader, Bill Shorten. Early voting began in the byelection today.Kristina Keneally has just appeared in Bennelong alongside the opposition leader, Bill Shorten. Early voting began in the byelection today.
Keneally’s opponent, the Liberal MP John Alexander, and the prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, appeared in Bennelong earlier today.Keneally’s opponent, the Liberal MP John Alexander, and the prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, appeared in Bennelong earlier today.
They promised $100m to build a major transport hub in the electorate, designed to relieve congestion.They promised $100m to build a major transport hub in the electorate, designed to relieve congestion.
Keneally and Shorten matched the promise.Keneally and Shorten matched the promise.
“Does anyone even think he would have visited Bennelong except for Kristina’s determined campaign and Labor’s commitment?” Shorten said. “Kristina Keneally is already paying dividends for the voters of Bennelong and she hasn’t even been elected.”“Does anyone even think he would have visited Bennelong except for Kristina’s determined campaign and Labor’s commitment?” Shorten said. “Kristina Keneally is already paying dividends for the voters of Bennelong and she hasn’t even been elected.”
Labor has continued to put pressure on the government over Medicare, delays to the NBN and internal divisions over the banking inquiry.Labor has continued to put pressure on the government over Medicare, delays to the NBN and internal divisions over the banking inquiry.
Keneally said Alexander is preferencing a One Nation party member ahead of Labor candidates.Keneally said Alexander is preferencing a One Nation party member ahead of Labor candidates.
Alexander earlier today said he was unaware of any such preference arrangement.Alexander earlier today said he was unaware of any such preference arrangement.
The Greens’ party room met earlier this morning.The Greens’ party room met earlier this morning.
They have considering throwing a wildcard into the quickly changing saga of the banking commission of inquiry.They have considering throwing a wildcard into the quickly changing saga of the banking commission of inquiry.
They are increasingly of the view that the Liberal National senator Barry O’Sullivan is not serious about pursuing a proper parliamentary inquiry into the banks.They are increasingly of the view that the Liberal National senator Barry O’Sullivan is not serious about pursuing a proper parliamentary inquiry into the banks.
At this stage, they say they are unlikely to support his private member’s bill in the Senate. They say the Senate has already passed a bill to establish a commission of inquiry (co-sponsored by the Greens, Labor, the Nick Xenophon Team, and others) and they are thinking of introducing that bill to the House of Representatives next week.At this stage, they say they are unlikely to support his private member’s bill in the Senate. They say the Senate has already passed a bill to establish a commission of inquiry (co-sponsored by the Greens, Labor, the Nick Xenophon Team, and others) and they are thinking of introducing that bill to the House of Representatives next week.
They say if the LNP backbencher George Christensen, and his colleague Llew O’Brien, are serious about crossing the floor to support a banking inquiry then they will have the opportunity to do so with the Greens bill.They say if the LNP backbencher George Christensen, and his colleague Llew O’Brien, are serious about crossing the floor to support a banking inquiry then they will have the opportunity to do so with the Greens bill.
They acknowledge there’s a chance that such a tactic could upset the momentum for an inquiry. So watch this space.They acknowledge there’s a chance that such a tactic could upset the momentum for an inquiry. So watch this space.
On Milo Yiannopoulos:On Milo Yiannopoulos:
Apart from the banks, they’re still angry about Liberal Democrat senator David Leyonhjelm inviting the alt-right poster boy Milo Yiannopoulos to Parliament House next month.Apart from the banks, they’re still angry about Liberal Democrat senator David Leyonhjelm inviting the alt-right poster boy Milo Yiannopoulos to Parliament House next month.
The Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young said one thing people need to realise is that the publicist for Leyonhjelm’s book is the same publicist for Yiannopoulos’s book.The Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young said one thing people need to realise is that the publicist for Leyonhjelm’s book is the same publicist for Yiannopoulos’s book.
But the Greens leader, Richard Di Natale, is going to write to the presiding officers in Parliament House to ask them why they have granted access to Yiannopoulos in the first place and to ask them to rescind the offer.But the Greens leader, Richard Di Natale, is going to write to the presiding officers in Parliament House to ask them why they have granted access to Yiannopoulos in the first place and to ask them to rescind the offer.
On Don Burke:On Don Burke:
The Greens say they are so disturbed by the allegations about Don Burke, and revelations that Channel Nine executives were aware of his behaviour for years, that they have started investigating what types of penalties could be put in place for media executives – and boards – that don’t act on allegations of sexual harassment and assault.The Greens say they are so disturbed by the allegations about Don Burke, and revelations that Channel Nine executives were aware of his behaviour for years, that they have started investigating what types of penalties could be put in place for media executives – and boards – that don’t act on allegations of sexual harassment and assault.
They say television broadcasters and radio stations are allowed to access the public airwaves, with regulations and restrictions governing that access.They say television broadcasters and radio stations are allowed to access the public airwaves, with regulations and restrictions governing that access.
“Stay tuned for that,” Sarah Hanson-Young said.“Stay tuned for that,” Sarah Hanson-Young said.
Right, folks. Some progress with the same-sex marriage bill. We’re now into debating the amendments in the Senate.Right, folks. Some progress with the same-sex marriage bill. We’re now into debating the amendments in the Senate.
So #marriageequality bill passed second reading stage with no contrary voices. No vote necessary. Into committee stage. #auspolSo #marriageequality bill passed second reading stage with no contrary voices. No vote necessary. Into committee stage. #auspol
The attorney general, George Brandis, has really claimed the mantle of removing discriminatory laws for the Liberal party and conservatives.The attorney general, George Brandis, has really claimed the mantle of removing discriminatory laws for the Liberal party and conservatives.
He starts in 1972 when Murray Hill moved a bill to decriminalise gay sex in South Australia and takes us through Here Comes the Groom, an article published in 1989 that he says shows gay marriage originated from the conservative side of politics.He starts in 1972 when Murray Hill moved a bill to decriminalise gay sex in South Australia and takes us through Here Comes the Groom, an article published in 1989 that he says shows gay marriage originated from the conservative side of politics.
Brandis says that same-sex marriage will finally give gay people full equality and access to marriage but its significance is far greater:Brandis says that same-sex marriage will finally give gay people full equality and access to marriage but its significance is far greater:
“After centuries of prejudice, discrimination rejection and ridicule, it is an expiation of past wrongs and a final act of acceptance and embrace.”“After centuries of prejudice, discrimination rejection and ridicule, it is an expiation of past wrongs and a final act of acceptance and embrace.”
The message it sends to young people is potent:The message it sends to young people is potent:
“You are a normal person and like every other normal person you have a need to love ... Who you love is for you to decide and others to respect.”“You are a normal person and like every other normal person you have a need to love ... Who you love is for you to decide and others to respect.”
Brandis credits Malcolm Turnbull for being the first prime minister to have advocated and prosecuted this cause and says it will be a signature achievement and “imperishable legacy” of his prime ministership.Brandis credits Malcolm Turnbull for being the first prime minister to have advocated and prosecuted this cause and says it will be a signature achievement and “imperishable legacy” of his prime ministership.
The attorney general, George Brandis, is currently making a powerful speech on same-sex marriage in the Senate.The attorney general, George Brandis, is currently making a powerful speech on same-sex marriage in the Senate.
It’s the standout of the various contributions today.It’s the standout of the various contributions today.
My colleague Paul Karp is in the chamber and will bring you a more comprehensive report on his words. But here’s a flavour:My colleague Paul Karp is in the chamber and will bring you a more comprehensive report on his words. But here’s a flavour:
This decision by the Australian people – enabled by their government and enacted by their parliament – will come to be seen as one of those occasional shining moments which stand out in our nation’s history. About which people will still speak with admiration in decades, indeed centuries to come. One of those breakthroughs which have, as the wheel of history turns, defined us as a people.This decision by the Australian people – enabled by their government and enacted by their parliament – will come to be seen as one of those occasional shining moments which stand out in our nation’s history. About which people will still speak with admiration in decades, indeed centuries to come. One of those breakthroughs which have, as the wheel of history turns, defined us as a people.
Success has many fathers. And although this achievement was brought to fulfilment by a Liberal government and a Liberal prime minister, it would be churlish not to acknowledge so many in the Labor party in also promoting this cause. I can well imagine their frustration during the six years of the Rudd and Gillard governments, when the cause was delayed, because it is the same frustration I have felt at times with leaders on my own side of politics.Success has many fathers. And although this achievement was brought to fulfilment by a Liberal government and a Liberal prime minister, it would be churlish not to acknowledge so many in the Labor party in also promoting this cause. I can well imagine their frustration during the six years of the Rudd and Gillard governments, when the cause was delayed, because it is the same frustration I have felt at times with leaders on my own side of politics.
But in the end, through long years and many false steps on both sides of politics, through many stops and starts, we have come, at last, to this end.But in the end, through long years and many false steps on both sides of politics, through many stops and starts, we have come, at last, to this end.
As Martin Luther King famously said, the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends towards justice.As Martin Luther King famously said, the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends towards justice.
George Brandis talks to yes vote advocates Alex Greenwich and Tom Snow during debate on the bill to change the marriage act in the #Senate @knausc @murpharoo @GuardianAus #politicslive https://t.co/NdPIu52fyz pic.twitter.com/1M8uLXEq92George Brandis talks to yes vote advocates Alex Greenwich and Tom Snow during debate on the bill to change the marriage act in the #Senate @knausc @murpharoo @GuardianAus #politicslive https://t.co/NdPIu52fyz pic.twitter.com/1M8uLXEq92
An interesting story is emerging from Barnaby Joyce’s electorate of New England.
Barnaby Joyce has reportedly claimed he is being stalked, according to the Northern Daily Leader.
The paper reports that Joyce was confronted and questioned about family matters in the Graman Hotel, near Inverell, on Monday night.
Joyce told the paper he’s had “death threats and now we’ve got stalkers”. He didn’t deny flicking the man’s hat off during a heated exchange.
The Labor senator Jacinta Collins has dropped a small bomb by saying that Labor MPs and senators are not bound to vote against substantive marriage amendments.
But she’s said that nobody intends to exercise their conscience vote on the amendments, so she is still substantially in line with Labor Senate leader Penny Wong and shadow attorney general, Mark Dreyfus who have said Labor will vote down all substantive amendments.
Collins said on the final bill she would exercise her conscience - and vote no. She said she last expressed the view in 2012 and “that view has not changed”. She will vote no by pairing her vote to senator Gavin Marshall, who is in New York.
Collins accused some unnamed Coalition senators of being “quite partisan” by suggesting Labor senators who shared their views about traditional marriage were “gutless”.
Communications minister, Mitch Fifield, told the Senate he previously opposed same-sex marriage but had changed his mind. He said there were “some cogent arguments for some additional protections” but reserved his position.
Shadow communications minister Michelle Rowland offers a rather succinct response to Mitch Fifield's intervention on @triplej #hottest100 pic.twitter.com/vhM6b2EYTr
Still in the Senate, we heard a little earlier from the One Nation senator Brian Burston. Burston reveals he didn’t vote in the poll because he didn’t receive his form.
There are many who did not receive their forms and so were deprived of their right of participating in this survey. I was one of those Australians robbed and denied the opportunity of expressing my democratic right.
The Australian bureau of statistics did make a number of options available for those who didn’t receive their form. That included requesting a new form. It appears Burston did not take up those options.
He adds that he would have voted no, in case you were wondering.
A note on Pauline Hanson’s speech on same-sex marriage. The Labor senator Sam Dastyari made his way across the Senate to speak with Hanson after she had finished.
If only Mike Bowers could lip read ...
The justice minister, Michael Keenan, has just spoken on the foiled alleged terror plot in Victoria. A 20-year-old man was arrested in Melbourne this morning. It is alleged he planned a terror plot on new year’s eve.
Keenan dismisses any notion that Australia has been lucky to avoid an attack.
This is the 14th time that our authorities have stopped an attack from occurring in Australia since 2014. That hasn’t happened because of luck, that’s happened because our agencies are very, very good at what they do.
Back to the prime minister ruling out a royal commission into the banks for a moment.
As Chris has noted, Malcolm Turnbull has not actually ruled out the live option – which is a commission of inquiry into the banks.
Julie Bishop this morning also had a slightly hedged statement on the question, making an in-principle argument against an inquiry (they don’t provide immediate solutions to problems), but leaving the issue of whether the government might ultimately support one, open.
“This is a matter for cabinet and the party room to discuss,” Bishop told reporters.
These utterances may prove to be a distinction without a difference but, given the cabinet has already had one discussion about whether or not to flip on the banking inquiry, and Barnaby Joyce has signalled the Nationals might flip when they meet next Monday, it pays to watch the various words and formulations very closely.
We’re back in the Senate on the same-sex marriage debate.
In a remarkable feat of logic, the One Nation leader, Pauline Hanson, has used what she says is “reverse racism” against white Australians to argue against same-sex marriage.
Bear with me here. I’ll do my best to get to the bottom of that.
She has likened the same-sex marriage postal survey to the 1967 referendum on including Indigenous Australians in the census. Hanson says people thought they were voting to give Indigenous Australian equality. But, alas, we were all tricked and Indigenous Australians now have it better than white Australians. Now white Australians face reverse racism, she says.
We have now made laws that is giving them more rights than other Australians. There is a division in Australia, there is reverse racism.
People did not vote for that. Hence my concerns about this plebiscite. People say they want equality, they want the right to marry. I have no problem with that ... if it was to be called a civil ceremony, Australians would not worry about that. But why is it that this push for people where the last census in 2011 there was 33,700 gay couples. And I can tell you all those gay couples don’t want to get married.
So ... yeah.
Make what you will from that.
Also, the children. What happens when they’re asked to draw a picture of mum and dad?
What do we do as a society when these going to school ... so the kid’s there saying ‘well what do I do, I don’t have a mum or a dad, it’s Peter and Sam, or it’s Elizabeth and Amanda. They’re not known as mum and dad’. So are we then going to say well we can’t discriminate against these children, so we must call that person by their real names. Is this the impact it’s going to have on our educational system, in our school rooms. What about grandma and granddad, it’s alright for this generation, but what about the next generation?
Just as a postscript. Hanson asks why we are being “dictated to by the minority”. It’s a good question. One that the 61% of Australians who voted for same-sex marriage may well ask of One Nation.
One Nation leader Pauline Hanson continues her contribution to debate on the bill to change the marriage act claiming that the 67 referendum has caused reverse racism #Senate #SSM @knausc @murpharoo @GuardianAus #politicslive https://t.co/NdPIu52fyz pic.twitter.com/em5cFxRqK9
Labor Senate leader, Penny Wong, and shadow attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, have just announced that Labor has reached a party position to vote down all substantive amendments to the marriage bill - both those advanced by conservatives, and those released by the Greens.
Dreyfus said that no Labor MPs and Senators had sought a conscience vote on amendments, although they have a conscience vote on the final vote on a marriage bill.
It is significant that this is a binding decision - because votes from half a dozen or so Labor MPs who had reserved their position would have been necessary for Coalition conservatives to get any of their changes approved.Last night Labor senator Helen Polley told the Senate she was in favour of more protections for religious freedom, freedom of speech and parental rights, but she also said it’s time to move on and get same-sex marriage done.
Wong thanked her colleagues for the collegiate, collective approach to the issue. So obviously Polley and others with concerns have agreed to raise them through the religious freedom inquiry and will not be voting for conservative amendments and imperilling the same-sex marriage bill.
Pleased to update my office window from “Vote Yes” to “Said Yes”. Now, let’s get this done (without winding back discrimination laws) #auspol pic.twitter.com/FPPRn7bbnq
Malcolm Turnbull has just spoken in Bennelong, alongside his candidate, John Alexander, and the New South Wales premier, Gladys Berejiklian. It’s the first time Turnbull has appeared in Bennelong alongside Alexander, despite the importance of the byelection campaign for the Coalition.
The questions quickly turn to the banking inquiry. Can Turnbull categorically rule out an inquiry into the banks? After a few questions, he eventually says the government will not establish a royal commission. He makes no specific mention of his position on another form of inquiry, a parliamentary inquiry, which is a live option.
We have made it clear we are not going to establish a royal commission and the reason for that is simply because we want to get on with the job now. Let me tell you, if we had set up a royal commission into banks two years ago, up in of the reforms that we have undertaken would have been able to be achieved.
John Alexander is thrown a curly question on a tennis trip he took to South Africa during apartheid. Why did he choose to play tennis in the country, at a time when many sportspeople refused to do so?
Alexander said he had played there with Arthur Ashe, an African-American tennis champion. The pair had played at a time when South Africa first made its grandstands available to both black and white fans.
I think that was the commencement of the breaking down of apartheid. I think that Arthur was a great champion as a tennis player and he was very instrumental with what then happened in South Africa.
I thought we were doing, as a group of tennis players, we were demonstrating how we, who came from every country on the earth, that we had a great mix of people and we went to South Africa with our champion Arthur Ashe.