Senate Committee will Review Government's Deeply Flawed Bill

This afternoon (Wednesday 30 November), the Senate voted to establish a Select Committee to inquire into the Government’s deeply flawed Marriage Amendment (Same-Sex Marriage) Bill. This was the Exposure Draft Bill that Prime Minister Turnbull and Attorney-General Brandis released in October, and would have been introduced into Commonwealth Parliament had the proposed plebiscite on marriage equality been held, and been successful. As this post (https://alastairlawrie.net/2016/10/17/the-marriage-amendment-same-sex-marriage-bill-is-unacceptable/ ) makes clear, the Bill contains a number of incredibly broad, and unjustified, exceptions allowing discrimination against same-sex couples simply because of who they are. The Senate has specifically asked that the Committee examine these religious exceptions, and report on the Bill by 13 February 2017. We will provide information on how you can make a submission – and let the Senate know that these exceptions are unacceptable to you, and to the LGBTI community – when more details become available. In the meantime, please continue to share the petition (https://www.change.org/p/prime-minister-malcolm-turnbull-equal-love-should-not-be-treated-unequally ) to your networks and across social media, so that the Senate, and the Government, hear the message that Equal Love Should Not Be Treated Unequally.