Both Labor leadership aspirants have backed the continuation of a conscience vote on same-sex marriage, with left-winger Anthony Albanese declaring he does not believe the party’s position should change.

It comes after Bill Shorten disagreed with his friend and factional ally Paul Howes’s call for Labor to embrace a binding vote on gay marriage.

Mr Howes, boss of the Australian Workers Union, was today to declare that Labor should change the party’s rules at its national conference in favour of a binding vote on gay marriage, arguing there is no place in the ALP for those who oppose marriage equality.

Mr Albanese told the Australian a free vote was necessary so that all views were expressed.

”My position on marriage equality has been long standing and consistent. It’s a reform whose time has come and the Parliament should act”.

”But equally, I believe this can best be achieved when all members and senators are given a free vote on any future legislation”.

A spokeswoman for Mr Shorten said he strongly believes a conscience vote is the way to deal with the issue.

“As stated previously, Bill supports a conscience vote on this. He personally supports marriage equality and voted for the legislation in parliament,” said the spokeswoman for Mr Shorten, who is vying with Anthony Albanese for the Labor leadership.

“Bill is respectful of different views and a binding vote would certainly not be consistent with his vision for a diverse, inclusive Labor Party.”

For any legislation to be successful, Tony Abbott would need to permit a conscience vote for Coalition members.

“A binding vote actually lets Mr Abbott off the hook,” the spokeswoman says.

Mr Howes was today to tell a forum organised by the gay marriage movement in Sydney that he made a mistake when he argued at the last ALP conference in 2011 that the party should allow a conscience vote, claiming that a truly progressive party could not allow its MPs the right to vote against equality.

Mr Howes also said today that whoever becomes Labor leader should bind the ALP to oppose any attempt by Mr Abbott to override the ACT’s gay marriage laws.

“We should support states and territories to legislate according to their own wishes.

“If we want to be consistent with the platform of the party, both for respect for self-government in the ACT and our support for marriage equality, we should have a binding vote on this issue.”

Mr Howes’s comments will anger fellow right-wing union leader Joe de Bruyn and other Labor figures who have used their power in the Labor preselection process to block Mr Howes’s entry to the Senate on the basis of his views on gay marriage. Many Labor MPs have told The Australian they are increasingly concerned that Labor powerbrokers such as Mr de Bruyn are using the conscience vote as a way to back only anti-gay marriage candidates to ensure the change to the nation’s marriage laws is never delivered.

Opposition frontbencher Tony Burke said if Mr Howes wanted Labor to get rid of the conscience vote, he understood little about the full breadth of support the party got across the community.

“The conscience vote, on a range of issues, has been an important part of holding together a very broad range of people who are willing to vote Labor,” Mr Burke told ABC radio.

Author: Patricia Karvelas
Publication: The Australian
Date: 2 October 2013