Tasmanian Anglicans urge rejection of Same-Sex Marriage bill

Posted on August 29, 2012 
Filed under Australia

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ANGLICANS URGE PARLIAMENT TO REJECT SAME-SEX MARRIAGE BILL

The Anglican Church in Tasmania has today urged Members of Parliament to reject the Premier’s same-sex marriage Bill, which was tabled in Parliament yesterday.

Assistant Bishop Ross Nicholson, said, “We are very disappointed that The Premier, Lara Giddings, has gone ahead with this legislation. It is a clear break of Labor’s promise made to Tasmanians before the 2010 election not to do this.” 

Bishop Nicholson said, “The State of Tasmania already has an excellent tool that recognises diversity. Bishop John Harrower and the Anglican Church have always supported the existence of the Significant Relationships Register, but strongly reject this redefinition of marriage.

“The Premier’s proposal is not about equality, it is about the redefinition of marriage itself. Such redefinition does not extend rights to a minority, it only imposes a novel and unnecessary view onto everyone. In an attempt to avoid the constraints of the Australian Constitution, the Premier is inventing an institution.

“The Bill attempts to deny the real distinction between two categories of relationship. The Government has failed to provide sufficient reasons as to why such a divisive and radical change in society should be rushed through Parliament without consulting the Tasmanian people.”

“This Bill, if it is passed, will increase the burden on our State. It will put a load on our bureaucracy and our judicial system. It reveals misplaced Government priorities at this time in Tasmania. The Premier’s increasingly radical social agenda is not only ill-advised, but bewildering.”

– from the Diocese of Tasmania. (PDF file.)