Senator HANSON-YOUNG(South Australia)(3.40 pm)—I move:

That the Senate—

(a)

notes:

(i)

the first same-sex marriages were celebrated in Mexico City in the week beginning 7 March 2010, following the recent passage of legislation removing discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, under that city’s Marriage Act, and

(ii)

Mexico City joins Portugal, Canada, the Netherlands, Sweden, Belgium, Norway, Spain, South Africa and many states in the United States of America that already recognise same-sex marriage as a reality;

(b)

recognises that all Australians deserve to be treated fairly and equally, regardless of their sexual orientation and that Australia is becoming increasingly isolated internationally, by refusing to remove discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation from the Marriage Act 1961 (the Act); and

(c)

calls on the Australian Government to remove all discrimination from the Act on the basis of sexuality and gender identity and extend the legal right to marry to all.