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7 February 2007 - Federal government blocks the path to equal rights |
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The Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby is extremely disappointed, but not surprised, by the Federal Government’s moves to veto the formal recognition of gay and lesbian relationships in the ACT for the second time.
According to media spokesperson, May Miller-Dawkins, “The ACT bill is a good step towards equal rights for gay and lesbian couples. Vetoing this bill is another example of the Federal Government discriminating against same sex relationships. The Federal Government should not interfere in progress towards equality at a state level and should respect the wishes of the people of the ACT.” There is currently no comprehensive recognition of same-sex couples, which means that same-sex couples are denied rights and benefits in areas such as superannuation, taxation, Medicare, immigration, veteran’s entitlements and social security. The Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby is also shocked by comments by the Attorney-General, Philip Ruddock that this Bill may open the door to bigamy, when the Act explicitly precludes multiple partnership. According to media spokesperson, May Miller-Dawkins, “The fact that when the Attorney-General looks at this legislation, he thinks of bigamy shows how out of touch he is with the Australian people’.
In this Federal Election year, the Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby calls on all political parties to commit to full equality for gay and lesbian couples.
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