The 2011 Australian Labor Party National Conference was the 46th triennial National Conference of the

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms the f ...

. It was held on 3 December 2011 at the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre at

Darling Harbour Darling Harbour is a harbour adjacent to the city centre of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia that is made up of a large recreational and pedestrian precinct that is situated on western outskirts of the Sydney central business district. Origin ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

Events

Same sex marriage

On 3 December 2011, the party voted in favour of recognising same-sex marriage in Australia. Party leader and Prime Minister

Julia Gillard Julia Eileen Gillard (born 29 September 1961) is an Australian former politician who served as the 27th prime minister of Australia from 2010 to 2013, holding office as leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). She is the first and only ...

opposed the legalisation of

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same Legal sex and gender, sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being ...

, but endorsed bringing the issue to a vote. Previously, over 140,000 Australian citizens signed a petition to Gillard urging her to reconsider her opposition. At the same time, openly lesbian Finance Minister Senator

Penny Wong Penelope Ying-Yen Wong (born 5 November 1968) is an Australian politician who has been Minister for Foreign Affairs and Leader of the Government in the Senate in the Albanese Government since 2022. A member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), ...

vocally endorsed same-sex marriage becoming Labor policy. The party, however, also formally endorsed a motion, which Gillard supported, to allow Labor members of parliament a

conscience vote A conscience vote or free vote is a type of vote in a legislative body where legislators are allowed to vote according to their own personal conscience rather than according to an official line set down by their political party. In a parliamenta ...

on the issue, on a vote of 208 to 184. The party's endorsement of same-sex marriage was also supported outside of Australia. Boris Dittrich, current LGBTI Program Director for

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...

and former member of the ''Tweede Kamer'' in the Netherlands (Dittrich voted in favour of the Netherlands becoming the first modern nation to legalise same-sex marriage in 2001), sent an open letter to the Labor Party urging delegates to endorse same-sex marriage. On 19 September 2012, a private members' bill by Labor MP Stephen Jones to legislate same-sex marriage was defeated 98-42 in the

Australian House of Representatives The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the upper house being the Senate. Its composition and powers are established in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia. The term of members of the ...

. 26 of the 73 Labor MPs voted against the measure. Legalisation would not come until January 2018, after the Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey.

Reactions

The Union for Progressive Judaism, the largest denomination of Jewish rabbis in Australia, welcomed the conference vote.

Uranium mining

References

{{Australian Labor Party Australian Labor Party conferences Labor Party National Conference Australian Labor Party National Conference 2010s in Sydney