Nuptial woes...

Phillip Ruddock’s office welcomed the New Year by spreading their conservative policies overseas…

I wonder how the Attorney General celebrated New Years Eve? Might he have soaked up the electric atmosphere in Adelaide? Might he have snuck on to a cruiser on Sydney Harbour? I can just picture it now – Ruddock, wife in one arm, with a cigar and a glass of champers, gazing at the heart symbol shown on the Harbour Bridge at midnight. How cold a New Years Resolution he must have pondered…

The Federal Government has officially moved to obstruct gay couples wanting to get married in countries that recognise same-sex nuptials (i.e. England etc). The Attorney-General's Department last year told at least two of Australia's embassies in Europe to refuse help to citizens requiring proof of their single status for a same-sex marriage.

The Age reported that:

The Age learnt of the policy through the case of an Australian man whose bid to marry his gay partner in the Netherlands was blocked by authorities.
The Australian embassy in Vienna refused Peter Kakucska, originally from Melbourne, a certificate confirming his single status once it was clear he needed it to marry Markus Muehlmann, an Austrian.

This issue raises interesting questions about countries insituting their own laws in other countries. Is it hypocrisy in ethics for a coutnry like Australia to be able to jurisdict over a person hoping to marry someone of the same sex, when they may bemore reticent to make a value judgement when it comes to more pressing ethical issues like the death penalty?

Why is it that gender issues, like same-sex marriage are allowed to cross over in other coutnries jurisdictions, but not other issues? Would this mean that the Government could also make further value judgements on gender issues in other countries? If abortion were legal in another country, would the Australian government ensure that no Australians would be able to take part in any abortions?

Elton John must be counting himself lucky that he didn't marry an Aussie...