The first Australian same-sex weddings can happen in January next year

[Stonecold]

The Governor-General gave the marriage equality Bill the Royal Assent, enshrining it into Australian law

The first Australian same-sex weddings can happen in January next year

8 December 2017
Shannon Power

Marriage equality has officially been signed into law in Australia after the Governor-General Peter Cosgrove gave Royal Assent to the same-sex marriage Bill that was successfully passed in parliament on Thursday.

Same-sex couples will be able to marry from 9 January, 2018. Australian law requires couple to give a one month notice of intention to marry before being able to tie the knot.

After 23 attempts and 13 years of campaigning, Australia final made same-sex marriage legal when the House of Representatives voted in favour of the Marriage Amendment (Definition and Religious Freedoms) Bill 2017 on Thursday afternoon.

That Bill was introduced into the Senate on the same day the results of a postal survey on the issue revealed the majority of Australians supported same-sex marriage.

The final step to making marriage equality enshrined in Australian law was to get Royal Assent from the Governor-General which happened on Friday.
Assent, enshrining it into Australian law
The first Australian same-sex weddings can happen in January next year




Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Attorney-General George Brandis delivered the legislation to the Governor-General Peter Cosgrove for his approval.

The Governor-General represents Queen Elizabeth II who is the monarch of Australia and has a wide range powers, including signing off on legislation that has passed parliament. That process is known as Royal Assent. In rare cases, the Bill is assented to by the Queen.

 

[jeansGuyOZ]

Thanks - but you have doubled up in your post, you may wish ti fix it.

 

[Stonecold]

Thanks for pointing out my error.

 

[jeansGuyOZ]

I imagine there will be a rush of applications, and the first same sex couple to get married will be big news. I just hope they take the thing with the appropriate degree of seriousness, rather than just rushing to get their names into the record books and get bragging rights.

Some cynics are saying that now we can go ahead and marry, get the divorce out of the way, then proceed to get on with our lives. Much like heterosexual couples, really.

 

[Stonecold]

John Challis, 89, and Arthur Cheeseman, 85
Hopefully the Gay community in Australia will see these two guys are one of the first to get married. They have waited 50 years.