When John Howard closed the door on gay marriage in 2004, he may have opened a window for state based unions.
Moves by some members of state parliaments across Australia to introduce and support gay marriage Bills (including Ian Hunter and Tammy Franks in South Australia) have left some people scratching their heads and asking, “isn’t marriage a commonwealth issue?”
But the argument that the states have the power to legalise gay marriage has formidable backing.
In late 2010, Professor George Williams of the University of NSW, who quite literally wrote the textbook on Constitutional Law, wrote an Opinion widely published in the press which concluded that such laws were likely to withstand a High Court challenge.
State parliaments can pass laws on anything they see fit, heterosexual and homosexual marriage included. But are they ruled out by federal laws?
Commonwealth laws can either work hand in hand with state laws, or take over the issue to such an extent that the relating state laws become invalid.
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For more on state same-sex marriage laws, click here