Rann told ‘too little, too late’ on gay marriage

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Rann told ‘too little, too late’ on gay marriage

October 10th, 2011

FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda

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The outgoing South Australian premier, Mike Rann has been criticised over his recent support for gay marriage. The premier used a speech at the Adelaide Festival of Ideas last night to call for the Labor Party to review its policy and allow gay people to marry. However, the state’s former deputy Labor leader, Ralph Clarke says Mr Rann should have shown his support for gay marriage when he was in power, not a week out from handing over to new Premier Jay Weatherill.

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ELEANOR HALL: South Australian premier Mike Rann’s support for gay marriage is being labelled too little, too late.

The outgoing premier used his closing speech at the Adelaide Festival of Ideas last night to call for the Labor Party to review policy and allow gay people to marry.

But former state Labor deputy leader Ralph Clarke told Nance Haxton that Mike Rann should have shown his support for gay marriage when he was in power.

RALPH CLARKE: He’s a former national president and he has been party leader here in South Australia for 17 years. A leader’s job is really to lead public opinion, not just to be a follower.

NANCE HAXTON: So is it useful at all really giving this support now before the Labor National Conference in December?

RALPH CLARKE: I think it is useful but the fact of the matter is that the majority vote at the National Conference of the Labor Party in December I think is a foregone conclusion. It will be overwhelmingly in favour of the rights for gay marriage and then it is up to the Government then to decide the timing as to the implementation of that legislation.

So it is not leading the pack, it is well behind the pack. It is not pushing for what is right in the public arena when it is perhaps the public is against you and they need to be educated as to why certain things need to be taken, certain steps need to be taken like Don Dunstan did in the ’70s.

You know, it wasn’t popular in Don Dunstan’s era to call for the end of the White Australia policy or to fight for land rights for Aboriginal Australians back in the ’60s but he did. He led the pack. That is the signs of a leader.

NANCE HAXTON: Would it have been too hard for Mike Rann to give his support to gay marriage before given the support he needed from conservative unions?

RALPH CLARKE: I think that’s probably correct. The Shop Assistants Union, it is no secret in this state is the power broker, the king maker in this state and they are arch conservatives on social issues and they would have been absolutely, as they are now, dead set against the rights of gay couples to be married and Mike depended on his leadership for their support and he obviously didn’t want to buck them at the time.

NANCE HAXTON: But a week or so out from the handover as it were to the new Premier, he can say what he feels a bit more freely?

RALPH CLARKE: I would think so. I think he is entirely a free agent these days.

NANCE HAXTON: Do you think that the support for gay marriage is inevitable at the Labor conference at the end of the year?

RALPH CLARKE: Oh yes, you look at New South Wales state conference which is the heartland of the right wing block within the Labor Party voted solidly to support the rights of gay couples to be married and in every state conference, the South Australian state conference isn’t due until later in October, has supported of the rights of gays to be married.

So, it is a foregone conclusion in my view. It is just a question of timing as to when the Federal Government gets around to doing it.

NANCE HAXTON: That will certainly have far reaching ramifications?

RALPH CLARKE: Uh, yes, yes. I agree but it is right. If there is an injustice, it should be corrected and it is an injustice.

ELEANOR HALL: That was former state Labor deputy leader Ralph Clarke speaking to Nance Haxton in Adelaide.