MONSANTO Australia’s leadership team has expressed support for marriage equality to bring Australian laws into line with other nations such as the US and NZ.
Currently subject to one of the biggest-ever mergers in global corporate history - an $88 billion buyout by the German chemical-giant Bayer - the US multinational agribusiness today weighed into the raging debate in Canberra over same sex marriage.
A statement from Monsanto said legalising marriage equality would ensure Australia joined the likes of Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Great Britain, Ireland, Mexico, NZ, South Africa and the US in recognising the human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans-gender and intersex (LGBTI) people.
“In our business, we are proud to cultivate an inclusive work environment where everyone is treated with dignity and respect,” the statement said.
“We work in capital cities and in rural towns and we know this is an issue that touches all communities.
“It’s important for us to show leadership in the agricultural industry on this issue and speak out on marriage equality.
“We want to see this matter dealt with in a respectful manner that recognises the opportunity Australia has to extend marriage equality to our LGBTI friends and family.
“Australia has a long history of proudly building a society that believes in equality.
“We want a society that formally respects the rights of our colleagues, friends and families to be able to live, work and marry - free from discrimination and with all the essential freedoms enjoyed by the wider Australian community.”
The National Farmers’ Federation declined to comment on the Monsanto statement.
Normally a critic of Monsanto - due to its pivotal role in producing Genetically Modified crops and farm chemicals like glyphosate - Greens agriculture spokesperson Janet Rice gave a lukewarm response.,
“We welcome support for marriage equality from any business or company,” she said.
Senator Rice has been championing her party’s push to introduce same sex marriage in Australia amid a High Court challenge against the legality of the Turnbull government’s postal survey, to try to determine the perennial political issue.
Today, Senator Rice said she was “very hopeful” of a good outcome for the High Court hearing in Melbourne.
She said if the High Court challenge was successful then this “ridiculous” plebiscite -whether postal or in parliament - would be “put in the bin” and parliament could “get back to doing its job”.
“If there was a free vote in this parliament we could have legislation for marriage equality go through the parliament next week, she said.
“That’s what needs to happen and it would then give certainty to lesbian, gay, bisexual transgender and inter-sex people, - and enable them to be treated the same and have equality under the law and marry the person they love.”
Greens leader Richard Di Natale said his party was “very proud” to have been leading the charge to ensure that every Australian was able to “marry the partner that they love”.
“Marriage equality is something that should be offered to the entire community,” he said.
He said Mr Turnbull’s political survival as PM was “pushing us towards a postal survey” that was unleashing a “hateful” community debate on same sex marriage - but hoped the High Court would “knock it off” and force the parliament to do its job and conduct a vote on the issue.
Shadow Agriculture Minister Joel Fitzgibbon was asked today if there was any pressure on Labor to support a full plebiscite, if the High Court challenge was successful.
“I am sure there will be pressure on Labor but not sufficient pressure for Labor to change its view on this matter,” he said.
“We don’t need to be spending hundreds of millions of dollars on a plebiscite.
“I think we can be confident in what we know about the community’s view on this issue.
“The last Newspoll had support for the change at more than 60 per cent.
“I was in the Parliament when John Howard inserted the words ‘between a man and a woman- (and) we didn’t need to go to a plebiscite - we had a vote in the Parliament.
“That is why we were elected, that is what we are paid to do, and that is what we should do and we should do it soon.”
Agriculture and Water Resources Minister Barnaby Joyce has said he believes in the current definition of marriage - but if the Australian people expressed a different view to him, via a vote, he would respect their views and vote for it on the floor of parliament.
Senator Rice said the Greens think that the Nationals should be calling on Malcolm Turnbull to allow a free vote in the parliament.