Marriage equality advocates have called for LGBTI couples across Australia to send in submissions to the NSW parliament’s inquiry into proposed state same-sex marriage legislation as the current draft bill will preclude such couples from interstate marrying in the state.

It’s well and truly now a race to the altar to see which state or territory will become the first to have equal marriage laws after a cross parliamentary group of MPs in NSW gave notice yesterday of their intentions to introduce a marriage equality bill by early next year.

LGBTI people across Australia will be forced to wait some time longer for same-sex marriage laws after Tasmania’s Upper House last night scuttled a bill that would have allowed same-sex couples to enter into marriages recognised by the state.

It could soon be a race to the altar for the first state or territory in Australia to introduce marriage equality, with Tasmania’s Government over the weekend signalling it would bring in same-sex marriage laws during its current term of office, leading to calls by the ACT Government that it too may follow suit.

HOBART: Tasmania’s Greens leader Nick McKim yesterday signalled that he will push for a state-based same-sex marriage framework by introducing already-tabled Bills into the Tasmanian Parliament next year, on the grounds that a conscience vote in Federal Parliament on the issue “is doomed to fail”.