I recognize Australian Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, inherited a dog's breakfast from the odious Tony Abbott, his predecessor. But, at some point, Turnbull has to stand up for the libertarian principles he espouses -- damn the conservatives in his government who want to stand in the way.
The mess in Australia is evidence that any alliance between conservatives and classical liberals leaves the libertarian side at a disadvantage. Conservatives are happy for an alliance as long as no libertarian reforms are actually allowed. In other words, they are happy if the Liberals are liberal in name only.
Turnbull is no bigot, he wants marriage equality. He is also saddled with a split party where some pretty mean-spirited National Party members are adamant to show how much they dislike gays every chance they get.
Abbot praised the heroics of Tori Johnson when a terrorist held him and others hostage at the Lindt Chocolate Café, where Johnson was manager. Abbott called Johnson "good people," but he wasn't good enough to have the same rights as other Australians. He wasn't allowed to marry his partner, though they wanted to marry the moment the government would allow it. Abbott felt morally superior by making sure that never happened.
Johnson wasn't married, at least not legally. The same wasn't true of Marco and David Bulmer-Rizzi. The couple had been together five years when they finally tied the knot in June of last year. The British couple traveled to Australia in December to celebrate that marriage with a dream honeymoon.
Their last stop was Adelaide and there tragedy struck.
Marco had gone up the stairs to bed and David said he'd be up shortly. Marco had drifted to sleep when a noise woke him up. He turned on the lights and saw David lying in a pool of blood at the foot of the stairs. David's skull was cracked and there was severe swelling of his brain.
Marco was told David would not survive. He was told to call "family." In Australia, in spite of their marriage certificate, Marco was not family. He remained a friend, a roommate, even a stranger, but not family. Thanks to Abbott and his small-minded Nationalists another survivor of a tragedy was suffering needlessly.
Marco called David's parents and they immediately left for Australia. They, not David, would be considered family.
David's heart, liver and pancreas were donated to others in need, people who will now live thanks to David. David, like Tori Johnson, was saving others though he was losing his own life and his own love.
Marco said, "David's life gave this gift to three other people, three families who are rejoicing. There's two children who have their daddy, who won't wake up tomorrow and think about whether or not David was gay. That person will wake up knowing they have a chance and can see their kids grow up."
The funeral director told Marco of one more indignity he would have to suffer. The death certificate he'd be handed would list his husband as "never married." It got worse. Every decision had to be approved by David's parents, not Marco. Yes, the director asked Marco what he wanted but each time had to confirm it with David's father, Nigel Bulmer.
Nigel told the director "Marco is David's husband. He is the one." But, they kept turning to Nigel for answers. In spite of being David's legally married spouse, he wasn't family in Australia.
Nigel said, "I flew out here to support my son-in-law. I'm a 60-year-old man, I've been in the fire brigade for many years, I thought was shockproof. But I was horrified and deeply hurt by the words I heard there: that they're going to put on the death certificate 'never married.' It's not acceptable. It's also not true. I was there." In another interview he said: "It's degrading. It demeans my son's memory and denies their relationship."
Malcolm Turnbull supported marriage equality before becoming Prime Minister. Abbott represented the conservative National Party in the coalition but was immensely unpopular and became less and less popular every time he opened his mouth.
Turnbull replaced Abbott and the popularity of the government rose substantially. Marriage equality is widely supported. It is not a minority position, other than in the ranks of the National Party and their Christianist allies.
Turnbull needs to step up and stand by his own principles. He needs to tell the conservatives that they are going to have to cave in on this one. It can't just be the liberals who keep compromising.
It is also time for the Liberals to openly discuss breaking the coalition and opening themselves up to alliances on the Left. If the Right won't compromise on social freedom, maybe it's time to offer the Left a chance to compromise on their opposition to economic freedom. Liberals can't be the only ones throwing principles out the window for the sake of forming a government.