Howard to decide?
It’s been about two weeks now, but still there has been no news as to what the Federal Government is going to do to respond to the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission report about how Commonwealth law discriminates against same sex couples on financial and personal affairs.
About two weeks ago, Federal Cabinet (which was reportedly split on the issue) decided that the PM could decide whether or not the Government would make changes.
Attorney-General Phillip Ruddock apparently came to Cabinet supporting a comprehensive change, but others, such as Tony Abbott and Kevin Andrews opposed it, on the grounds that the time was not right.
The day after the Cabinet meeting, Howard went to meet members of the anti-gay sect the Exclusive Brethren, one of whom was a prominent donor to the PM’s election campaign.
In the meantime, Labor and the minor parties support the changes.
