ENDEAVOUR FORUM NEWSLETTER No. 116, OCTOBER 2004

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In the forthcoming Federal elections in the USA and Australia, which this year are due about the same time, the policies of the sitting Governments and the respective Oppositions are very clearly differentiated so that there should be no doubts in the minds of pro-family voters about whom they should support. The US Senate defeated moves for a constitutional amendment to protect marriage as a union of a man and a woman. President Bush had supported the amendment, but Senators Kerry and Edwards, the Democrat candidates for President and Vic-President in the November elections, did not vote. They were not going to rile their homosexual constituency, but nor did they want to be on the record as opposing traditional marriage as that might lose them Christian votes. 

A similar game is being played in Australia. The Labor Party allowed the Marriage Legislation Amendment Bill 2004 to be passed in the House of Representatives, but in the Senate supported the Democrats in sending the Bill to an Inquiry. The ALP did not even allow  the simplified Marriage Amendment Bill 2004 (which omitted the sections dealing with adoption by same-sex couples) to be passed by the Senate. 

As National Party Senator Ron Boswell (Queensland) stated: "Labor and the Democrats can’t even make up their mind on marriage. You shouldn’t need a lengthy committee and inquiry process to tell you what constitutes a marriage. The legislation makes it quite clear. There is no stronger union and no stronger bond than that between a man and a woman in marriage. It is a sacred union, and one in which children can be created and brought up in a loving secure environment. 

“This attempt by the Democrats and Labor to stymie this legislation is appalling and yet another effort by minority groups to ambush the institution of marriage. However, it shouldn’t come as a surprise given the Democrats’ previous support for homosexual rights. The Nationals support this marriage legislation and we share the disappointment of the majority of Australians who see marriage as a union of a man and a woman to the exclusion of all others, entered into for life. 

“That is what this legislation would have enunciated, but it has now been hijacked by the personal agendas of a minority. The Nationals will continue to support this bill and will not be stared down in our efforts to protect the institution of marriage. Through this bill, the Government is reconfirming society’s commitment to marriage, its commitment to families and its commitment to our children and our grandchildren. 

“I urge the other parties to stop stalling and come clean to the people of Australia as to why they’re seeking to desecrate marriage. This appears to be a subterfuge to prolong debate until after the election. One has to wonder how the Labor Party ever hopes to run the country, given its indecision on such a basic and fundamental issue as marriage. 

 “And I pose the question - if Australians want to know that marriage is secure, how can they vote for Labor? It’s only the Coalition in Government that offers that certainty.”

Member Organisation, World Council for Life and Family

NGO in Special Consultative Status with ECOSOC of the UN