Former Prime Minister John Howard has told SKY NEWS that decision about marriage should be made by politicians not judges.
Mr Howard said changes to the Marriage Act made while he was Prime Minister were made to stop the courts from making alterations to the definition of marriage.
Mr Howard would not be drawn on his thoughts regarding the cross party private members bill to be introduced in August.
Mr Howard said the reason his government changed the marriage act was to ensure the courts could not alter the meaning of marriage.
“It was done to ensure if there were to be change from the centuries-old approach then it should be changed by the parliament, not by the courts.” Mr Howard said.
“Issues that relate to our attitude towards relationships that should be a matter for the people or the people’s representatives,’ Mr Howard said. The former Prime Minister said that it was disapointing when these issues were decided by judges.
Mr Howard said that some of the language used by people calling for a change to the act was very superficial. “Polls change,” Mr Howard said when present with the propostion that the community had moved on over the last decade. Mr Howard said his position on marriage had not changed.
Watch the interview at SKY News.
