Recognition of gay marriage paves way for child marriage: Australian senator

An Australian senator warned parliament on Thursday that recognizing gay marriages could pave the way to recognizing marriage between children.

David Fawcett, a Liberal senator for South Australia, claimed that recognizing gay marriages performed overseas would force Australia to also recognize marriages between children.

"If we start making changes against our sovereign law in the interests of one group then why not the other groups," Fawcett said.

"If we're going to be consistent ... then we need to start recognizing things like child marriage, which I think clearly Australians would reject."

Fawcett's sensational claim came as the Senate debated a bill proposed by Greens Senator, Sarah Hanson-Young, that would recognize overseas gay marriage.

Fellow Greens senator Robert Simms said that passing the bill into law would end the cruel inconsistencies that currently exist between states on the issue.

South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill, for example, recently apologized to the husband of British man David Bulmer-Rizzi after he was killed in a freak accident while the couple was honeymooning in Adelaide.

Bulmer-Rizzi's death certificate was stamped "never married" because South Australia does not recognize gay marriage and his husband Marco was not recognized as his next-of-kin when making funeral arrangements.

South Australian Liberal senator Cory Bernardi, however, showed little sympathy for the Greens' position in parliament on Wednesday when he refused to support Hanson-Young's bill, comparing gay marriage to polygamy.

"At the heart of this bill is a challenge to our sovereignty," Bernardi said. "We have to stand up for our national sovereignty and our self determination ... it does circumvent our law," he said.

"What about some countries where you can have four wives?"

Tasmania, New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland all recognize overseas same-sex marriage in state law, leaving only South Australia and Western Australia as the only states that do not. Enditem