Governor-General Quentin Bryce has spoken out in support of gay marriage.
When speaking about her hope for the future of Australia, Bryce said that she hoped Australia might become a country where “people are free to love and marry whom they choose.”
In an interesting move for the Queen’s representative, the Governor General also put her support behind the Australian republican movement, saying: “Perhaps, my friends, one day, one young girl or boy may even grow up to be our nation’s first head of state.”
The comments were made during Bryce’s fourth and final Boyer Lecture. The Boyer Lecture series is an ABC initiative in which lectures are given by prominent Australians. The lectures are then broadcast on Radio National and available online. Over the past 54 years, lectures have been given by Australians such as Eva Cox, Rupert Murdoch and Michael Kirby.
Today we’re saying: Bravo, Quentin Bryce.
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Top Comments
“Perhaps, my friends, one day, one young girl or boy may even grow up to be our nation’s first head of state.” This one sentence is not a ringing republican endorsement. It's simply acknowledges the likelihood that the British monarch du jour will cease to be our titular head of state at some future time,
The GG's equally brief words about same-sex marriage dovetail with the her "ethic of care" argument. Basically, she promotes a secular, tolerant, equitable Australia with a sense of community. This is not a provocative idea.
She spoke with tact and did not put the Queen, the government or the country in a difficult position.
Bit rich for her to be pushing the policies of the Opposition.