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Australian Labour Candidates Support Gay Marriage
Two more Australian Labour candidates have bucked the party line by coming out in support of gay marriage, including Malcolm Turnbull’s opponent in the seat of Wentworth.
Their responses came quickly after Australia's first openly gay
federal government minister, Senator Penny Wong (pictured), refused to support legalising
gay marriage during a TV appearance.
The Labour candidate for the seat of Wentworth, Steven Lewis said: "My
personal view is that I support gay marriage. I believe that those who are in a
loving relationship of the same sex should have the same rights as heterosexual
couples”.
He added, "I understand that this view might not be shared by the majority
of the people of Australia,
but that doesn’t mean we can’t work towards achieving that goal”.
A spokesman for Mr Turnbull reported that while he did not support gay marriage
and he believed marriage was a union between a man and a woman, he supported
same-sex civil unions and has worked hard to eliminate discrimination against
same-sex couples.
The statement was: "In achieving progress on equality, a track record
of achievement speaks far louder than campaign rhetoric. Malcolm is
deeply committed to equal economic and legal rights for same-sex couples and
was able to bring his entire party to this view, paving the way for Parliament
to legislate for equality”.
The comments come as gay rights activists accused Senator Wong of "selling
out" because of her support for Labour's policy rejecting gay marriage.
Senator Wong (Minister for Climate Change) commented on the topic last night on
ABC’s Q&A program: "On the issue of marriage I think the reality is
there is a cultural, religious, historical view around that which we have to
respect”.
Finally, after being endorsed to run for the seat that is currently held by
retiring Finance Minister, Lindsay Tanner, Labour candidate for the seat of
Melbourne, Cath Botwell announced her support for marriage equality as well.