10th August, 2015
Thousands of flowers have been laid out in front of Australia’s Parliament House in Canberra today in a gesture which was reportedly made to give thanks to Prime Minister Tony Abbott for the "leadership" he has shown in supporting the traditional marriage as being between a man and a woman.
The call to send flowers was made by the Christian Federation, a coalition of Pentecostal Christian groups which is chaired by former tennis great turned pastor Margaret Court.
Peter Kentley, executive director of the federation, told ABC radio that many people he was connected with were "very appreciative of the leadership the Prime Minister has shown on retain(ing) the traditional view of marriage".
He said it was "civil and right" that both sides of the debate over the same-sex marriage have the opportunity to express their opinion. Mr Kentley said people, including himself, who have supported the traditional view of marriage are being told they are "bigots" and "haters". "So the response is not to argue but just to bring these flowers and say, ‘Hey, this is our view, our position’, and we just want to thank the Prime Minister for his stand."
Mr Kentley told the ABC’s Fran Kelly that the flowers weren’t laid to debate the issue of same-sex marriage "because that takes place in the parliament". "We just represent a wide body of tens of thousands, perhaps millions, of Aussies who don’t want to see the definitions change and their flowers (are) an expression of their opinion and I think that needs to be equally respected along with the opinion of gay and lesbians."
The move came as the owners of Canberra’s airport lit the building up in rainbow colours to show their support for same-sex marriage to politicians arriving back in the capital for the resumption of Federal Parliament.
Meanwhile, the Australian Marriage Forum ran a full page ad in The Australian newspaper today in which they said while "all relationships matter", not all relationships are marriage and urged people to contact their local MP to retain the current definition of marriage in the Marriage Act.
A cross-party private members’ bill aimed at legalising same-sex marriage is expected to be introduced into the Australian Parliament in this sitting fortnight.
– DAVID ADAMS
