As a new law banning gay marriage raced through the Senate yesterday, Andrew Bartlett stood on the floor
of the chamber choking back tears.
Overcome as he tried to read speech notes contemplating how he would have felt if he had been banned from
marrying his wife, Julie, the Democrats leader spoke instead of how the new laws might hurt gay teenagers contemplating suicide.
"It offends me so much - it is so disgusting, this legislation," he said. "It can not only be hurtful -
it can be fatal."
Emotions were just as strong on the other side, with Nationals senator Ron Boswell saying the overwhelming
majority of Australians wanted marriage preserved as an institution between a man and a woman.
"The people that elected me feel very strongly about this issue," he said.
The emotional debate came after the Government reversed its bid to prioritise a ban on gay marriage above
new terrorism laws. After The Age asked on Thursday whether the Government thought gay couples were a greater threat to Australia
than terrorists, tacticians reorganised the Senate agenda yesterday to pass the anti-terrorism laws first.
But the Government and Labor cut debate on the bills, sparking outrage from the minor parties.
Greens senator Bob Brown said the day's events marked it as "Black Friday".
Senator Bartlett was also scathing, saying the terror and marriage bills could have been debated fully when
Parliament returned in two weeks.
"This is just an absolute disgrace . . . (you are saying) we have to do it now, otherwise society will crumble
and the world will end," he said.
"You are saying, 'It is urgent that we take away as many freedoms and rights from people as possible and
do it really quickly before they notice and get a chance to be upset about it'."
But Government senators rejected the criticisms as rank hypocrisy. The manager of Government business, Senator
Ian Campbell, issued a news release saying the Democrats had voted to guillotine debate on 176 bills since 1990.
The new terror laws give Australian authorities the power to seize foreign passports from terror suspects,
and to create a national DNA database to identify victims of a terror attack.
They also make it a criminal offence, punishable by up to three years in jail, for people to consort with
members of a terrorist group.
As the laws passed with Labor's support, Senator Brown launched an attack on Labor leader Mark Latham, whom
he had hailed as the "prime minister in waiting" earlier this year.
Senator Brown said that after yesterday's events "he might want to prolong the waiting time".
The bill preventing gay marriages passed by 38 votes to six.
