NCC President Consents To Daughter Marrying Female Partner In New Zealand Despite Anti-Gay Marriage Stance

A crusader of the Catholic lobby group that campaigns against same-sex marriage in Australia has given his blessing to his daughter who married another woman in New Zealand. Peter Westmore, president of the conservative National Civic Council and the successor of the BA Santamaria, has confirmed that he attended the wedding of his daughter despite his opposition to same-sex marriage.

NCC is one of the Christian groups against the Freedom to Marry bill, which will be up for debate in the Senate this week. The religious organisation has been urging its supporters to use their email accounts to campaign against the bill. The Age reports that NCC remains an important political influence. The same group was behind the “Save Tony” email at the height of Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s leadership challenge.

The religious group believes in upholding family values and rejects lifestyles that undermine them. Westmore has been active in rallying against the legalisation of same-sex marriage in Australia. He also questioned the New Zealand government for legalising gay marriage in 2013. Westmore has condemned a bill in 2014 for Australia to recognise the same-sex marriages outside outside of the country.

Last Mar. 24, Westmore confirmed that he went to the wedding of his daughter, Trish, in November. He said his daughter had always had his blessing “in everything she does.” When reporters asked if he still believed in NCC’s position on same-sex marriage, he immediately answered in the affirmative. However, he asked Fairfax Media to respect the privacy of his family and declined to comment on his conflicting personal and political views on same-sex marriage.

Meanwhile, the momentum for the free vote on same-sex marriage has been delayed. Liberal MPs had reportedly missed the chance to discuss same-sex marriage during their last meeting before the budget break. SMH reports that supporters of the Freedom To Marry bill were put off by other issues on their agenda like the budget.

Leyonhjelm had challenged Mr Abbott after the meeting to keep his word before the federal election that the Liberal party will be able to talk about the issue of a free vote. He said in a statement that the prime minister had several months to think about the matter. The senator described the meeting as “disappointing” since there was no discussion of a free vote.

He believes Australia is ready and “on the road to marriage equality.” Leyonhjelm cited the poll that showed 72 percent of Australians have expressed their support for same-sex marriage.

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