No Civil Ceremonies in Australia

Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd, responding to demands from conservatives, may move to stop civil union ceremonies in his country's capital territory.

The Australian Capital Territory started allowing gay couples to hold public, legally binding ceremonies for civil unions last week, after the local government approved a bill sanctioning such ceremonies. Gay and lesbian ACT residents have been able to register as civil partners since 2008 but could not have a legally binding service.

Many conservatives, including Catholic archbishop of Canberra Mark Coleridge, demanded that the federal government overturn the law. ACT chief minister Jon Stanhope, who met Monday with Robert McClelland, attorney general under Rudd, said the national government is indeed poised to end the ceremonies, according to The Australian. McClelland told the paper only that the government was committed to equality but its "government's position is that the most appropriate way to achieve this is through the development of a nationally consistent framework for relationship recognition."