''They lose nothing from this change,'' Mr Newman said today of LGBT community members who had fought hard for the right to register their relationships. Shelley Argent of the PFAG said she was pleasantly surprised by the Newman government's decision on same-sex civil unions. Credit:Daniel Hurst Mr Newman said state-sanctioned ceremonies were what offended Christian groups opposed to civil unions, beause they appeared to mimic marriage. Today's decision showed ''good faith'' to the Christian groups who lobbied on the issue, he said, while stressing that the changes involved ''minimal amendments''. Couples who had already entered into civil unions would not be affected by the changes, he said.

''All those people have the same legal status; [this] doesn’t change anything at all.’’ Attorney-General Jarrod Bleijie said of the 609 civil unions that had been registered in Queensland as of late May, just 21 had also held declaration ceremonies. ‘‘I was conscious when the government won the election ... that we did not want to leave people in any legal limbo,'' he said. Mr Newman was today reluctant to restate his personal views in support of same-sex marriage. ''You know my views ... Yes, I've said them before,'' he said.

Wendy Francis, the Queensland state director of the Australian Christian Lobby, today praised the amendments, saying homosexuals already had all the rights they needed before the bill was passed. ‘‘The main thing the ACL wanted was to take out the mimicking parts of the acts so that was the ceremony and the civil celebrant so I’ll be glad that’s gone,’’ she told brisbanetimes.com.au this afternoon. Shelley Argent, of the Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays organisation, said she wanted to ‘‘say thank you to Campbell Newman for seeing sense’’. ‘'I must say I’m pleasantly surprised,’’ she said. ‘'Little disappointing that they have removed the ceremony; still, that’s OK, we can get along with that.’’

Mrs Argent said Mr Newman had tried to placate both sides of the debate.



‘‘I am relieved. We were expecting the worst.’’ Mrs Francis said it was a ‘‘good day’’ for herself and the Australian Christian Lobby but she would wait to see the complete amendments before saying if they went far enough. She said she had hoped the civil union legislation would be repealed but was happy the ‘‘marriage mimicking’’ parts were being repealed. ‘‘The gay community already did have all of the rights that they needed to not be discriminated against so I’m interested to see what [the government] have changed,’’ she said. ‘‘But certainly if they have taken out the celebrants and ceremonies then they have taken out what’s mimicking marriage so I’ll be happy.’’

Mrs Francis said she hadn't met with Mr Newman since the state election, but had lobbied the Attorney-General on the issue. Mr Newman said the changes to legislation were likely to come before Parliament within the next few sitting weeks. He said the changes represented ''the best outcome for everyone and now it’s time to move on’’. Opposition Leader Annastacia Palaszczuk called on Mr Newman to grant his MPs a free vote on the matter, arguing it was only fair electors knew where their local member stood. “It is small minded to deny opposite-sex and same-sex couples a ceremony when entering a civil union,” she said in a statement.

“Even if only a minority of people have a ceremony in front of family and friends it is still important to them.” The change reflects comments made in March by former Queensland Law Society president Bruce Doyle, who told brisbanetimes.com.au an LNP government might change the civil union legislation into a relationships register that did not allow the option of a ceremony. That option would rebrand the legislation “with a new name, but without symbols that mimic marriage”, he said at the time. Liberal National Party MPs voted against the civil union legislation when it was introduced to Parliament last year, arguing it mimicked marriage and the party was opposed to changing the definition of marriage. In December, Mr Newman told brisbanetimes.com.au the LNP would look at repealing the law if it was elected, but said it may not be possible to do so.

In the interview, Mr Newman suggested repealing the civil union legislation after people had already entered into civil unions would be an “unacceptable and intolerable situation” for those people. “So in that scenario we wouldn't be doing anything,” he said in the interview recorded days after Parliament passed the civil unions legislation. During the formal election campaign, Mr Newman said the party was implacably opposed to civil unions and would look at repealing the law, but added he did not want to leave people in legal limbo. The civil union legislation, which came into effect in February, allows same-sex and heterosexual couples to register their relationship with the Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages and have a ceremony if they wish to do so. Two e-petitions on the topic are currently active on the Queensland Parliament website.

One anti-civil-unions petition, “Defending marriage in Queensland”, has so far attracted 4954 signatures. Another petition calling on the government not to repeal the law, titled “Defending civil unions in Queensland”, has 4009 signatures. Mr Newman has previously voiced his personal support for allowing same-sex marriage. He has said the matter should be dealt with at a federal level. As of last month, 518 couples had formally registered their civil partnerships with the Queensland Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, the majority of these being same-sex couples. Australian Medical Association Queensland president Richard Kidd and the dean of Brisbane's St John's Anglican Cathedral, Peter Catt, had both urged the Newman government to consider the psychological impact of repealing civil unions. Australian Marriage Equality national convener Alex Greenwich, who is lobbying for a change to the federal marriage act to allow same-sex couples to wed, said today’s decision was “a good example of why allowing same-sex marriages is the only way to deliver true equality for same-sex couples”.

“Civil unions can be tampered with and watered down but marriage will always provide full recognition,” he said in a statement. Mr Greenwich said he was “deeply troubled” by Mr Newman's statement that state-sanctioned ceremonies would be removed because they offended some Christians. Loading “Religious values, however deeply held, can never be a reason to take away people's rights,” he said. - with Bridie Jabour