The 2011 Australian Labor Party National Conference was the 46th triennial National Conference of the

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also known as the Labor Party or simply Labor, is the major Centre-left politics, centre-left List of political parties in Australia, political party in Australia and one of two Major party, major parties in Po ...

. It was held on 3 December 2011 at the

Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre The Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre was a convention, exhibition and entertainment complex in Darling Harbour, Sydney. The Exhibition Centre was designed by architect Philip Cox and the Convention Centre by John Andrews (architect), John ...

Darling Harbour Darling Harbour is a harbour and neighborhood adjacent to the city centre of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, that is made up of a large recreational and pedestrian precinct that is situated on western outskirts of the Sydney central busines ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

Events

Same sex marriage

On 3 December 2011, the party voted in favour of recognising

same-sex marriage in Australia Same-sex marriage has been legal in Australia since 9 December 2017. Legislation permitting same-sex marriage, the '' Marriage Amendment (Definition and Religious Freedoms) Act 2017'', became law on 8 December 2017 and came into effect the nex ...

. Party leader and Prime Minister

Julia Gillard Julia Eileen Gillard (born 29 September 1961) is an Australian former politician who served as the 27th prime minister of Australia from 2010 to 2013. She held office as the leader of the Labor Party (ALP), having previously served as the ...

opposed the legalisation of

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal Legal sex and gender, sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 ...

, but endorsed bringing the issue to a vote. Previously, over 140,000 Australian citizens signed a petition to Gillard urging her to reconsider her opposition. At the same time, openly lesbian Finance Minister Senator

Penny Wong Penelope Ying-Yen Wong (born 5 November 1968) is an Australian politician who is serving as the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Leader of the Government in the Senate in the Albanese government since 2022. A member of the Australian Labor Pa ...

vocally endorsed same-sex marriage becoming Labor policy. The party, however, also formally endorsed a motion, which Gillard supported, to allow Labor members of parliament a

conscience vote A conscience vote or free vote is a type of vote in a legislative body where legislators are allowed to vote according to their own personal conscience rather than according to an official line set down by their political party. In a parliamenta ...

on the issue, on a vote of 208 to 184. The party's endorsement of same-sex marriage was also supported outside of Australia. Boris Dittrich, current LGBTI Program Director for

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Headquartered in New York City, the group investigates and reports on issues including War crime, war crimes, crim ...

and former member of the ''Tweede Kamer'' in the Netherlands (Dittrich voted in favour of the Netherlands becoming the first modern nation to legalise same-sex marriage in 2001), sent an open letter to the Labor Party urging delegates to endorse same-sex marriage. On 19 September 2012, a private members' bill by Labor MP Stephen Jones to legislate same-sex marriage was defeated 98-42 in the

Australian House of Representatives The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Australia, the upper house being the Australian Senate, Senate. Its composition and powers are set out in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia. ...

. 26 of the 73 Labor MPs voted against the measure. Legalisation would not come until January 2018, after the

Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey The Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey was a national survey by the Australian Government designed to gauge support for legalising same-sex marriage in Australia. The survey was held via the Australia Post, postal service between 12 Septe ...

Reactions

The Union for Progressive Judaism, the largest denomination of Jewish rabbis in Australia, welcomed the conference vote.

Uranium mining

References

{{Australian Labor Party Australian Labor Party conferences Labor Party National Conference Labor Party National Conference

Australian Labor Party National Conference The Australian Labor Party National Conference, sometimes referred to as the National Party Conference or the Federal Conference, is the highest representative and decision-making body of the Australian Labor Party, incorporating all of the party ...

2010s in Sydney