In a new interview former Prime Minister John Howard has defended his government’s decision to ban same sex marriage in Australia.
The start of the year saw the release of cabinet papers from 2004 which saw the Howard Liberal government adjust the Australian marriage act to include a declaration that marriage could only between a man and a woman.
The laws remained in place until 2017 when the Liberal government lead by Malcolm Turnbull introduced a national postal survey that showed that the majority of Australians wanted marriage equality, and the laws were changed.
Speaking to News Corp Prime Minister Howard said he had no regrets about the moves he made to stop marriage equality from progressing.
“We put it in there because we knew if we left it unsaid some judge somewhere in Australia would say ‘I think a marriage is between a man and a man or a woman and a woman.'”
The cabinet papers released today show that the government of the day was concerned that the laws would be forced to change via a court decision, so they pre-empted the move by bringing in specific wording.
The papers show that then Attorney General Phillip Rudock, South Australian senator Amanda Vanstone and Victorian MP Kevin Andrews were given the task of formulating the government’s plan to stop any changes to marriages laws.
John Howard has denied the action was driven by prejudice, arguing that it was to ensure that changes to the laws were made by politicians and not judges.
Speaking to Katina Curtis from The West Australian he said it was about following the correct process.
“I completely oppose the American system where you leave such issues to the courts,” he said. The former PM said he maintained “the strongest possible view” that decisions on moral and social issues should be made by elected representatives.
