AUSTRALIAN PM PUSHES AGAIN FOR SSM BAN: From The Age

Prime Minister John Howard called on Labor and the minor parties to back a ban on gay marriage in the next two weeks to make sure marriage did not become an issue in the election.

Mr Howard told the National Marriage Coalition forum in Canberra he had not made up his mind on the timing of the election, but his comments indicate he is keeping open the option of a September 18 poll.

Parliament is sitting for the next two weeks but Mr Howard could name the date at the end of next week, on the eve of the Olympic Games.

Mr Howard said the coalition would reintroduce proposed changes to the Marriage Act to confirm marriage was a union between a man and a woman, to the exclusion of all others.

"I'm therefore saying to my colleagues in the other political parties in the Senate, if we really want to ... divorce this issue from the political debate let's put it through, let's vote in favour of it, let's put it into law within the next two weeks," he said.

"In putting it into law in the next two weeks nobody can say it's being used as a wedge, nobody can say it's a diversion, everybody can say it's a united expression of the national parliament and therefore of the will of the Australian people."

The government's original bill, coupling the marriage changes with a ban on gay couples adopting children overseas, has been sent to a Senate inquiry to report by October 7.

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posted by Eve at 3:29 PM VOTE

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