Hon LYNN MacLAREN (Thursday, 29 November 2012): Thank you, Mr President. The bill before us is, on our advice from the eminent George Williams, not in breach of the Constitution in that it is related to same-sex marriage, and the federal Marriage Act is related to marriage between a man and a woman. This bill and similar bills have been read in other jurisdictions; I know that is not the most important thing, but other states in Australia have also heard this bill and it has not been ruled out of order on that basis. But, of course, we would be very keen to hear your ruling at some point.
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