Same-sex marriage fair: MP

Member for Throsby Stephen Jones supports changes to Labor Party policy to allow MPs a conscience vote on gay marriage.The ALP member has been an advocate of gay marriage, at odds with his own party.But Prime Minister Julia Gillard is now pushing to change Labor Party policy to give MPs a conscience vote on the issue.The matter will be put to ALP members next month at the party's annual conference.Ms Gillard is opposed to any change to the Marriage Act, but wants to free MPs from voting along party lines.In a speech to Parliament last December, Mr Jones said there was a case for a change in the law."Having focused on the issue and applied the core Labor values of equality, fairness and dignity, I believe there is a case for change," he said.Yesterday he said his view hadn't changed and he would support a conscience vote.Gilmore Liberal MP Joanna Gash would not be drawn yesterday on whether she would like to see a conscience vote, but said she would not like to see changes to the Marriage Act to allow for gay marriage.The Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) has warned Labor that adopting same-sex marriage as policy could cost the party seats in western Sydney and south-east Queensland.The ACL said Ms Gillard had clearly tried to deal with the political reality of a section of Labor that seemed "hell-bent" on losing a huge proportion of the population."The party giving its parliamentarians a conscience vote on the issue will give less confidence to Christians than the party position taken by the Coalition," ACL managing director Jim Wallace said.Mr Wallace said Labor's Left faction had forced wiser heads in the party into an equivocal position, passing the advantage to the Coalition, which opposes same-sex unions.