Barry O'Sullivan (Queensland, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I quite deliberately did not prepare the framework of my contribution this afternoon because this issue is so important that I wanted it to be delivered by me as naturally as possibly. I respect the remarks made by the previous speaker and I acknowledge that there are large numbers of people in our community who are anxious in relation to this question. I too had a long and successful marriage—32 years—until I lost my wife. We were blessed with four children from our union, and I can say to this chamber that the institution of marriage was significantly important to us from the very beginning. We entered into a married relationship on the basis that it was a commitment given from each to the other, as a man and a woman, with the primary intention of being blessed, as we were, with the four children that we have and, subsequently, many grandchildren. The quest of marriage as an institution allows a belief that has to do with much more than just the union of the man and the woman. It is naturally accepted that, from there, efforts would be made by that man and woman to have children to celebrate their love and commitment. It does not matter whether you are persuaded by an article of faith, which is the case in my circumstance, or whether you are driven by an argument of nature, a child cannot be delivered without the union of a man and a woman—perhaps through modern techniques. I do not want any inference drawn on those who struggle with issues of fertility in the development of their families.

I said to someone not long ago that, just as I became good and competent at being a father, my children had left home. Just as my wife and I, in different ways, became competent at looking after our children in their formative years, they got a year older. Then, as we nurtured them through to their teens and became competent at dealing with children of that age—in my case, we were blessed with two boys and two girls—they grew into the next phase of their lives, and so on and so forth until they left the comfort of our home to make their own lives. Indeed, they went on to be married and have children of their own, in the case of three of my children. So as we discuss this, I accept, Senator Rice, the importance of the feelings and the aspirations of same-gender couples who also want to make a commitment of this nature. I urge people making a contribution to this debate to understand that there are other stakeholders in the question. It is not just about the two grown-ups; it is about the children. Again, I do not want anybody to suggest that I am reflecting upon—

An honourable senator: You are! That is exactly what you are doing.