The Wire

Federal Labor party has said that it will support a move to grant more autonomy to Australia’s territories, raising hopes among gay and lesbian couples that the ACT might move to legalise gay marriage. Some legal experts are warning that the reforms shouldn’t be linked just to the marriage issue. They say that territories should be able to legislate without threat of their laws being arbitrarily overridden by the federal government. But advocates of same sex marriage are frustrated that the ACT isn’t seizing the moment and taking advantage of the slightly bigger wriggle room that might be coming their way.