Gay marriage: high court hearing on ACT law begins earlier than expected

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/oct/24/gay-marriage-high-court-australian-capital-territory

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The high court will begin hearing the commonwealth’s arguments against the ACT’s landmark same-sex marriage law on Friday, not next week as first thought.

The court has advised that a directions hearing will be held on Friday afternoon in a case determining whether the ACT Legislative Assembly’s new law regulating marriage between adults of the same sex is constitutional.

The ACT argues that the new law has been framed to work concurrently with the federal Marriage Act.

The commonwealth’s position is the ACT law is invalid because it is inconsistent with the Marriage Act and the Family Law Act. The federal Marriage Act specifies that marriage is between a man and a woman, and the Family Law Act regulates issues such as divorce.

The ACT Legislative Assembly passed the new same-sex marriage law on Tuesday, becoming the first jurisdiction in the country to legalise gay unions.

The federal government then sought an expedited hearing in the High Court to test the constitutionality of the law.

In seeking the expedited hearing, the commonwealth argued it wished to establish the legality or otherwise of the new regime in order to spare gay couples any uncertainty.

The prime minister, Tony Abbott, has advised same-sex couples not to use the new laws until the high court makes its determination.

The ACT chief minister, Katy Gallagher, has described those arguments as patronising to same-sex couples, who, under the new law, could marry in Canberra from December.

The Coalition’s official policy is that marriage is between a man and a woman. Abbott has not ruled out allowing his MPs a conscience vote if the issue returns to parliament in the new term.

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