Civil partnerships could be a reality for Western Australians, providing official relationship recognition to gay and lesbian couples following the news of a civil partnerships bill under consideration by the WA Nationals.
But Perth MLA John Hyde said WA Labor had been working on marriage-equivalent legislation for some time now. Hyde revealed Labor had delayed the introduction of a civil partnerships bill to gain the imperative support of the WA Nationals.
‘The reality is that while Labor has more MPs than any other party in the Assembly, we don’t have a majority and need the five Nationals MPs to vote with us to achieve change in WA. While the Nationals may not support marriage-equivalent legislation they may support some civil relationships recognition legislation,’ Hyde said.
‘Last year when some Nationals MPs indicated they may be preparing a civil relationships bill, at GALE’s [Gay and Lesbian Equality] request I suggested that the Labor Party should hold off introducing its own legislation as the best chance to get any legislation through the Parliament was with the support of the Nationals.
‘I sincerely hope the Nationals are dinkum and not flying a kite on this important issue – the Nationals MPs as a group has yet to endorse a bill.
‘Any WA bill should be as strong as the best parts of the ACT and Tasmanian legislation.’
A spokesperson for Nationals leader Brendan Grylls confirmed the bill was under preparation by Nationals MLC Mia Davies but no timeline had been set.
The draft bill would recognise a civil partnership as a relationship between two adults, regardless of their gender, according to the West Australian Newspaper.
Couples, both heterosexual and homosexual, could apply to the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages with a statutory declaration that the couple was not related and was not already married or in a civil partnership.
In 2006, the Young Nationals passed a motion at the state conference that was in support of civil partnerships.
GALE convener Kitty Hawkins told OUTinPerth this bill would be the ‘first significant step toward having civil partnerships in WA’.
Hawkins and the GALE team have remained cautious though since the Nationals’ as a whole were yet to confirm their position.
‘It is still up in the air, (the bill) is not a definite thing,’ Hawkins said.
In a media release, Hawkins said the legislation could provide couples of any sex or orientation with official recognition outside of marriage.
‘A civil partnerships bill would be a valuable step towards the legal recognition of loving same-sex couples and families in Western Australia,’ she said.
Greens MLC Lynn MacLaren said the WA Greens supported civil unions and the bill was ‘most likely’ to pass if it was introduced – even without the Liberals.
‘We look forward to a Parliament debate on ending relationship discrimination. It’s a debate we can win,’ MacLaren said.
‘The Liberal party is the only party without a policy which supports civil unions.
‘They may have a conscience vote, in which case, some elected members are likely to support civil unions.
‘Most Australians now support marriage equality, so why wouldn’t most elected Members of Parliament?’
Acting Labor leader Roger Cook agreed with the Greens that a state relationships register would help gay and lesbian couples ‘exercise their rights under WA law’.
‘WA Labor is proud of our record of extending equal rights to gay and lesbian Western Australians,’ he said.
‘While the question of marriage is a federal issue, the Barnett Government should, and can, establish this register to reflect the changing attitudes of our community.’
A WA Liberal spokesperson told OUTinPerth that the party would not take a position until they had seen the proposed bill.
While news of this legislation has been generally praised, at least one advocacy group remained wary of the impact this bill may have on the same-sex marriage campaign.
Australian Marriage Equality spokesperson Alex Greenwich told OUTinPerth that any same-sex relationships register should be treated as an ‘interim’ measure.
‘In Victoria and Tasmania, they have been able … to provide some protection to same-sex couples, who wish to enter into a civil partnership,’ Greenwich said.
‘Obviously, nobody is under the illusion that partnerships or civil unions are a substitute for marriage, they wouldn’t provide the same protection or recognition, even within other states.
‘But it is something that could act as an interim measure to provide some protection for same-sex couples.
‘I think we see (marriage and civil partnerships) as completely different and achieve completely different things.
‘Gay and lesbian couples, and the general public know that differential is not equal; we don’t have different driver’s licenses because we’re gay, so we shouldn’t have different forms of relationship recognition.’
Four states and territories already have same-sex relationship registers in place, dating back from 1994.
The Australian Capital Territory was the first state or territory to officially recognise same-sex relationships with the Domestic Relationships Act 1994, followed by Tasmania in 2003, Victoria in 2008 and NSW last year.
Benn Dorrington
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