Local residents may have heard recently the Prime Minister talking about the institution of marriage and how the Marriage Act should be amended to give formal definition to what has always been known – that marriage is the accepted bond between a man and a woman.
Marriage is a bedrock institution worthy of protection. There should be no doubt about what the word marriage means, however there is growing evidence to suggest that the commonly accepted definition of "the union of a man and a woman to the exclusion of all others" is under threat.
Amazingly, there is no definition of marriage in the Marriage Act 1961, the Family Law Act 1975 or the Constitution.
During late March I and 30 of my Parliamentary colleagues wrote to the Prime Minister to bring this fact to his attention.
The issue of the meaning of marriage has been raised in Australia recently in a number of ways, including in the Family Court case of Kevin and Jennifer. In this case the court was asked to declare that the couple's marriage was valid, even though Kevin was born a woman. The trial judge found that Kevin was a man at the time of his marriage – a decision upheld by the full bench of the Federal Court when challenged by the Attorney-General.
In addition, same sex couples married in overseas jurisdictions such as Canada, the Netherlands, Belgium or Denmark may seek judicial recognition of their marriage in Australia. A notice of intent to do just this was made in February this year by a male couple from Melbourne, who had earlier flown to Canada to be married.
It is my belief that moving away from this traditional definition of marriage would be to the detriment of our society. Marriage provides stability and is a solidly built roof under which children can be nurtured and grow.
The Australian Family Association has strongly supported this view, as has the Australian Christian Lobby.
I think we, as Australians, still hold dear the traditional family values that marriage implies and would like to see those values maintained and protected well into the future.
Grants support stronger families and communities
You should hurry if you're interested in applying for a grant under the Government's new Local Answers initiative. Local Answers is designed to help communities develop their own solutions to local problems.
It could be a project that needs funding to kick it off, or one that has been running successfully and needs funding to keep it going.
The main aim of the initiative is to support ideas that give families and children opportunities for a better future and to live in an environment where they are involved in the community and supported in times of need.
Local Answers is also about early intervention and prevention – targeting and responding to social problems before they become entrenched and serious.
This includes implementing programs that strengthen family and community relationships, that offer training and mentoring services and help communities utilise existing skills and resources to deal with social issues.
An application form and guidelines are available at www.facs.gov.au/sfcs or on 1800 050 044. Applications close on Friday, May 14.
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