Australian Prime Minister John Howard may not be down with gay unions (he did, after all, just help squash civil union-related legislation), but it seems he’s ready to accept queers into the political fold. The conservative PM – not to be confused with BM – has said that he’s looking into offering gay couples the same benefits as straight couples. The Australian reports:
The Prime Minister’s office is preparing a cabinet submission on the issue after a concerted campaign by Liberal MPs.
But news of the plan is expected to trigger a backlash among conservative members of the Coalition.
The departments of Prime Minister and Cabinet and Treasury are costing proposals to end discrimination under welfare, tax and superannuation laws.
Under current law, hetero couples can apply for governmental health assistance after spending $716 of their own money, while the poor homo couples can’t apply until they’ve spent nearly twice that amount.
Conservative critics claim that the proposed measure will cost tax payers millions of dollars, which it will, but that’s a small price to pay for equality, don’t you think?
