Two Newcastle men who will make history as the first Australian same-sex couple to marry in New Zealand, say they were surprised and excited by Kevin Rudd’s comments on gay marriage during the election debate.
Twitter activity peaked during the leaders’ debate on Sunday night when the Prime Minister promised to introduce a Bill allowing gay marriage within the first 100 days if his government is re-elected, and permit a conscience vote for MPs.
Local vet Paul McCarthy will next week marry his partner of 11 years, Trent Kandler, in New Zealand, which has officially recognised same-sex marriage.
The couple won the wedding in a contest run by Tourism New Zealand.
Paul told 1233 ABC Newcastle’s Jill Emberson the pair were both surprised and excited by Mr Rudd’s commitment to marriage equality.
However, they are still going ahead with plans for their trans-Tasman nuptials.
“We ideally would love to be married at home and we hope that after last night’s debate that may be more of a possible thing now,” Paul says.
“But New Zealand were first and we’ve been waiting many, many years now to be able to say ‘I Do’ to each other and have our family and friends present.
“Next Monday, I’ll be a married man!”
Paul and Trent weren’t expecting Kevin Rudd to make such a strong statement on gay marriage, let alone set a time frame and allow a conscience vote.
“We were very, very suprised, to be honest,” Paul says.
“We would like to think that the groundswell of pressure is reaching the powers-that-be, and that people are aware that there are so many people out there waiting for this legislation to come through.
“We were excited about the result.”
Paul says he realises the nation is dealing with many important issues, but adds “for a lot of Australians, this is an important issue.”
As for his own approaching wedding, the details have already been finalised.
“The suits have been chosen, the colour codes have been chosen, after much debate,” Paul says.
“My partner has become a bit of a bridezilla, but we’re working through that one!”
Author: Jeannette McMahon
Publication: ABC News
Date: 12 August 2013