The Rudd Government’s announcement that it will overturn discrimination against same-sex couples in federal law has collided with the Australian Capital Territory’s relationship recognition laws and ignited a “gay marriage” fire.

Immediately following the news that over 100 laws would be changed to end discrimination as recommended by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commision (HREOC), the Government found itself in the embarrassing position of threatening to override another Labor government on the issue of civil partnerships.

Same-sex couples will soon have access to a relationship register in the ACT comparable to those operating in Victoria and Tasmania.

But the ACT was browbeaten into dropping same-sex ceremonies from its intended scheme – the Territory’s third attempt to introduce partnership recognition reforms –  as the spectre of "gay marriage" raised its head once again in conservative circles and the media.

The ACT’s Attorney-General, Simon Corbell, pointed the finger at Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, blaming him directly for watering down the Territory’s proposed scheme by threatened to veto the legislation

Mr Rudd described the ceremonial aspect of the scheme as an “effective amendment of the Marriage Act”. 

During the dispute with the ACT, federal Attorney General Robert McClelland endorsed Tasmania’s registry as his preferable model, claiming it "registers existing relationships" rather than "creating new ones through a ceremony" and raising the ire of Tasmanian activists who say he is dead wrong.

Australian National University Senior Law Lecturer Wayne Morgan, a consultant on the drafting of the Tasmanian registry, said the registry confers on couples a new legal status with new legal rights. 

"The only relevant difference between the ACT’s law and that in Tasmania, and soon Victoria, is that the ACT law requires a ceremony whilst the others leave this up to the choice of the couples involved", he said.

"All these schemes are effectively civil unions, but Mr McClelland is exaggerating and misrepresenting the differences between them to justify his Government's opposition to the ACT's proposal." 

Tasmanian Gay and Lesbian Rights Group (TGLRG) spokesperson, Rodney Croome, accused Mr McClelland of using existing or proposed state relationship schemes as a shield to dodge hard questions on same-sex marriage.

"The Tasmanian, Victorian and ACT relationship schemes are not designed as substitutes for marriage but to exist alongside it, as a way for couples who can't or don't wish to marry to formalise and solemnise their unions", Mr Croome said. 

"Mr McClelland must stop hiding behind the Tasmanian scheme and attacking the proposed ACT scheme, and address the key issue: why shouldn't same-sex partners marry?"

Same-sex couples in the ACT later this year will have access to a relationship register comparable to those operating in Victoria and Tasmania, but NSW couples will not be able to take advantage of the scheme unless one partner is a Territory resident.

Mr Corbell plans to amend the bill to remove any mention of official ceremonies and ensure it is passed before the ACT election due in October.

“It’s hypocritical and a position that I’m completely unable to understand. I am angry and disappointed, as is the ACT Government,” Corbell told the Sydney Star Observer this week.

“It’s a 180-degree reversal from the Prime Minister’s position in December, and the position Federal Labor took in the Senate when the Howard Government overturned our civil union law in 2006.”

The ACT Government is now urging its counterparts in the States to defy the Prime Minister and legislate for same-sex ceremonies.

Western Australia is unlikely to heed the call to action, however, with WA Attorney-General Jim McGinty stating there were no plans to introduce a partnership recognition scheme of any kind in the State.

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