Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has said he will continue to uphold his country's ban on gay marriage, despite moves within his Labour Party to have it overturned.Labour policy also opposes civil unions.
Mr Rudd was speaking ahead of a push at a Party conference last week to allow same-sex marriages.
Australia's ABC News reported that Mr Rudd, who considers himself a moderate Christian, won the 2007 election on a platform that supported the former Liberal government's legal definition of marriage as a union between a man and a woman.
The Labour Party in the Australian state of Tasmania has called for the Government to amend the Marriage Act to allow same-sex couples to marry. “We are consistent with the policy we took to the last election,” Mr Rudd told public broadcaster ABC.
"We went to the last election being very clear-cut about our position on marriage under the Marriage Act being between a man and a woman," he said.
Mr Rudd has stood by his election plank, which banned same-sex marriage but endorsed a national “relationships register” provided it did not “mimic” marriage or undermine existing laws. “I fully respect the integrity of other same-sex relationships ... but in terms of the policy, it's a matter to which we have been committed for some time,” Rudd said. “I fully accept it's a matter of controversy, and there'll be debate, and there should be. This is an open society where we can debate and discuss these matters.”
Rudd said his government had moved rapidly to remove the “other discriminations” in national law against same-sex couples in areas such as pensions, tax and employment.
The issue came up for debate at the conference yesterday. Advocates of same-sex marriage staged rallies across the country.
However, the Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) warned the Government it would be a test of faith. ACL managing director Jim Wallace said any move to water down the ALP platform on marriage would break faith with the government's election promise.
"That commitment was made for the life of the Rudd government and that is what we would expect to be honoured, Mr Wallace said.
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