In a rare appearance since she was toppled from her Prime Ministership by Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard faced a big question asked by a small boy.

At a Q&A style forum last night at Sydney Opera House, the kid needed a little boost to reach the microphone so he could ask his question: “How come you didn’t let gay people get married?”

The former PM initially laughed as the audience cheered the boy’s question.

“It’s a politician in the making there I think,” she smiled.

“I do understand that the position I took on gay marriage perplexed many people,” she then answered, “given who I am and so many of my beliefs.

“I’ve actually had lots of conversations with many of my old friends about this – some of them have got a different view than me.

“I do understand that the position I took on gay marriage perplexed many people.”

“But I’m a lot older than you, and when I went to university and started forming my political views of the world, we weren’t talking about gay marriage. As feminists, we were critiquing marriage.”

Getting into a white dress to symbolise virginity and getting ‘given away’ to a man by her father were traditions she found puzzling, she explained. “What on earth would I do that for?”

“I’m conscious that these views are dated and that the way people interpret marriage now is different,” she then reflected.

But: “I think marriage in our society could play its traditional role, and we could come up with other institutions which value partnerships, value love, value lifetime commitment.

“I have a valuable lifetime commitment and haven’t felt the need at any point to make that into a marriage.”

Gillard then stressed that for marriage equality to happen in this current parliament, a conscience vote needs to take place from all parties, so that every MP’s view is heard.

Watch Gillard’s reply to the little boy’s marriage equality question below.

Then-PM Kevin Rudd’s outspoken support for marriage equality in the run-up to the 2013 election was in stark contrast to Gillard’s long-held view against it – and now the two men vying for future leadership of the Labor party are also speaking out in favour of Marriage Act reform.

Asked about it on the ABC’s Q&A last night, Anthony Albanese was the first to pledge his support, saying “whoever people love is a matter for them. When this is done, people will wonder what the fuss is about.”

Bill Shorten expressed similar sentiments. “Who you choose to love is your business,” he said. “I voted for marriage equality.”

He also called on the Liberals to allow a conscience vote on the issue when it next comes up in Parliament.

Albanese then added: “If you’re a supporter of the institution of marriage, it’s beyond me why you wouldn’t want more people to be part of it.”

Author: Matt Akersten
Publication: SameSame
Date: 1 October 2011