Tensions are simmering in the rocky civil union between Julia Gillard and Bob Brown.
The two principle irritants in the relationship are Tasmanian forests and gay marriage. The Prime Minister is due in Tasmania this weekend where she will be confronted on both issues.
She is visiting the state to speak at the state Labor Party’s conference, as she has done for other branches, excluding the ACT.
The conference will re-affirm its support for gay marriage, ratcheting up momentum within Labor ranks before the ALP national conference to be held in Sydney in the first weekend of December.
Labor’s current policy is to oppose same-sex marriage but Gillard has brought the conference forward to keep any fall-out well away from the election in late 2013.
Her view – shared by Kevin Rudd and Tony Abbott – is that marriage is between a man and a woman. Her decision not to marry is irrelevant to this national debate, although it is still causing indignation among die-hard National Party supporters.
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