Comments on: Tasmania to vote on marriage equality /news/tasmanian-parliament-to-vote-on-marriage-equality/61925 Setting Australia’s LGBTI agenda since 1979 Tue, 20 Sep 2011 01:03:00 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.5.5 By: Baz /news/tasmanian-parliament-to-vote-on-marriage-equality/61925#comment-79844 Tue, 20 Sep 2011 01:03:00 +0000 https://starobserver.com.au/?p=61925#comment-79844 Professor George Williams, an expert in Constitutional law, claims it is possible for the states to pass their own marriage laws. This article was a year ago. If the link doesn’t work you can look up all the Professor’s columns in the opinion section of the Sydney Morning Herald.

]]> By: rob1966 /news/tasmanian-parliament-to-vote-on-marriage-equality/61925#comment-79763 Mon, 19 Sep 2011 01:33:17 +0000 https://starobserver.com.au/?p=61925#comment-79763 @Joh .. under the Australian Constituion it is the Federal Government that had legislative powers around marriage, not the States.

The States may well vote in favour of marriage equality, but it has no effect in law because the Federal legislation overrides the States.

]]> By: Joh /news/tasmanian-parliament-to-vote-on-marriage-equality/61925#comment-79730 Sun, 18 Sep 2011 12:13:48 +0000 https://starobserver.com.au/?p=61925#comment-79730 I think we should stop expecting the federal government to legislate marriage equality. They simply won’t. While it would be great to pass it in one fell swoop, its not going to happen in a long time. All of the states labor parties endorsed a motion to support marriage equality, and they have the power to make it law under state law. So why not just do it? All the states legislating separately does the same as the federal doing it. I think it would happen faster if we did it state by state. And besides, if one state makes it legal, it is MUCH easier for people from other states to go there, get marriage and return home (as opposed to going overseas to do it). I am not certain, but I think this would dodge the CNI issue also!

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