Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on Wednesday said his government's position on same-sex marriage remained unchanged despite moves within his centre-left Labor Party to have the ban overturned.
PM Kevin Rudd
His comments come as same-sex marriage supporters have planned a 7-city rally on Aug 1 with the focus being in Sydney where the Labor Party’s national conference begins on Thursday.
"We are consistent with the policy we took to the last election," Rudd told public broadcaster ABC on Wednesday. Rudd, who defeated John Howard in the 2007 election, had said then that he supported the former conservative government's legal definition of marriage as a union between a man and a woman.
This week, the Labor Party in the state of Tasmania voted for the Marriage Act to be amended to allow for same-sex unions.
"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," said Rudd who endorses a national "relationships register" provided it did not "mimic" marriage or undermine existing laws.
"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.
A survey conducted for Australian Marriage Equality found 60 per cent of Australians were in favour of same-sex marriage. The poll of 1,100 respondents found that women were more likely to support gay marriage, with 65 per cent of them in favour compared with 51 per cent of men. Support for gay marriage was strongest among Australians aged 16 to 24, with 74 per cent in favour, compared with 45 per cent for those aged over 50.