I’ve heard some pretty, shall we say, bizarre arguments against marriage equality over the years. But possibly the most bizarre one I’ve heard yet doesn’t come from the mouth of an American, but an Australian. A high-ranking cabinet minister thinks Australia should think twice about legalizing same-sex marriage because it could potentially cripple the country’s cattle trade with Asia.
Agriculture minister Barnaby Joyce dropped by “Insiders,” the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s version of our Sunday morning talk shows, this past Sunday. The conversation quickly turned to marriage equality, an issue that has touched off something of an internal war within the center-right government of Prime Minister Tony Abbott.
For those who don’t know, Australian politics are split between the social democratic Labor Party on the left and a coalition of the urban-based Liberals and rural-based Nationals on the right. Despite their name, most of Australia’s Liberals, who are the senior partner in the coalition, would be Republicans in this country–including Abbott. However, there are a small number of “small-l liberals” who would be Democrats here.
Joyce, who is also the deputy leader of the Nationals, let it be known he opposes a plan by Liberal backbencher Warren Entsch to introduce a private member’s bill that would legalize same-sex marriage in Australia. Watch here. He agrees with the government leader in the Senate, Eric Abetz, who argued that since no country in Asia has legalized same-sex marriage, Australia shouldn’t make that leap either. Joyce contended that Australia should take the views of its Asian trade partners into account on this issue because “that’s where our cattle go.”
When host Barrie Cassidy mused that Malaysia wasn’t exactly the best role model, Joyce replied that when any Australian products go to Malaysia or any other Asian country, “there are judgments, whether you like it or not, that are made about us.” Inevitably, Joyce argued, those judgments will creep into trade negotiations–such as whether “they see us as decadent.” Cassidy pressed him, asking whether Australia’s Asian trade partners would see Australia as decadent if if legalized same-sex marriage. Joyce replied that “in some instances, they would, yeah.”
Well, that’s interesting. By the “logic” Joyce is using, the Supreme Court’s landmark decision on marriage equality should have triggered angry calls to the White House from Asian officials threatening to block American goods. After all, if Australia’s trade partners think legalizing same-sex marriage is an act of decadence, wouldn’t our trade partners think the same?
Joyce has mostly remained silent since then. It may be because he knows he’d be forced to answer for it in parliament if he opened his mouth again. Australia, like most other parliamentary democracies modeled on the UK, has daily “Question Time” in which ministers are subjected to questions from the opposition. Australian MPs don’t suffer fools; any outright crazy and stupid statements during Question Time get loudly shouted down. Contrast that with the United States, where it seems that these days wingnuttery gets you a place at the leadership table.
While it’s more than likely Joyce is keeping quiet to keep from looking like a fool on the floor of parliament, I have to hope someone called from Washington to let him know that our trade with Asia hasn’t suffered at all since last week.
