'The Greens welcome this bill as an important step forward toward full equality, which unhappily, we still do not have,' said Greens MP Sue Pennicuik.

'The law continues to discriminate against same sex couples by offering them a lesser level of recognition than marriage.'

'While marriage is within Federal jurisdiction and so the bill cannot create a right to marry, we moved an amendment which would allow couples to hold a formal ceremony in conjunction with the relationship register registration if they want to.'

'We also proposed an amendment providing that only one person in the relationship needs to reside in Victoria to be eligible for registration.'

'In response to pressure from the Greens, the Victorian Government has promised to address the issue of mutual recognition of corresponding schemes in state such as Tasmania.'

'Federal law reform is overdue and urgent. While Federal Labor is committed to providing practical equality for same sex couples in areas such as taxation, superannuation, social security and so on, they oppose gay marriage.'

'This is regrettable. It is not good enough to only partially remove discrimination, to make things a bit more equal but not fully equal. People are equal and the law should reflect that and not be watered down to appease groups who advocate for inequality.'

'State and Federal Labor governments should work together to introduce a nationally consistent scheme to immediately purge all discriminatory clauses from state and commonwealth legislation, including the Marriage Act, so that same sex couples have all the same rights as heterosexual couples.'

Further information: Sue Pennicuik 0407 000 270