Political Blog
Thursday, June 15, 2006
Labor's Family First Senator helps ban ACT civil unions
While the Labor party eventually voted with the Greens and Democrats in an attempt to overturn the Howard-Ruddock ban on gay and lesbian civil unions in the ACT they are also to blame for the motion failing.Yes Labor.
The voted was lost 32-30 even though ACT Liberal Senator Humphries crossed to floor.
Steven Fielding’s (Family First) vote was crucial in helping the Government gain the momentum to win them the vote.
Let’s remember Steven Fielding is only in the Senate because Labor put him there. The Family First Senator, who only got 2% of the vote in Victoria, gained his Senate place because the ALP preferenced him. While the Greens candidate David Risstrom secured 8%, he lost out because of the ALP’s decision to preference the Christian right.
So if, as it should have been, a Greens rather than Family First Senator from Victoria was in the chamber today, the vote would have notionally been 31-31. While this would have been one vote shy of what was required (tied votes are lost), I am sure that with so much on the line there would have been another Liberal who would have at least abstained allowing the Greens-Democrat-ALP disallowance motion to pass. The ACT civil unions law would have been reinstated.
Let’s remember all this when it comes to the Senate battle in 2007. The great challenge will be to rescue the Senate and the 2004 election experience in Victoria shows Labor can not be trusted.
For more information on the campaign to rescue the Senate see here.
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I hope you enjoy some of my ideas and analysis. I am unashamedly Green and much of what you will find here relates to Green politics however I write about a range of current state and national political issues that might have wider appeal.
