Some couples who took the first opportunity to marry at the weekend were reportedly in the court room and cried as the verdict was put down to effectively annul their unions.
The unanimous verdict read by Chief Justice Robert French found the ACT’s law was at odds with federal marriage legislation and said only federal law could adjudicate on same-sex marriage.
The federal Marriage Act doesn’t allow for gay couples to marry and the ACT act attempted to put same-sex unions on level pegging, rather than call it something different.
“Because the ACT act does not validly provide for the formation of same sex marriages, its provisions about the rights of parties to such marriages and the dissolution of such marriages cannot have separate operation and are also of no effect,” the judges’ statement read.
“The court held that the whole of the ACT act is of no effect.”
ACT Chief Minister Katy Gallagher vowed to keep taking the fight for marriage equality to Tony Abbott, who is against it.
“This is not a campaign he can avoid,” Gallagher told reporters.
“Over to you, Mr Abbott”.
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