Greens' gay marriage victory

And the Greens, whose support the Prime Minister relies on to maintain her minority government, are also pressing Labor to facilitate a conscience vote aimed at reversing a 1997 bill that outlawed Northern Territory euthanasia laws.

As the Prime Minister yesterday agreed to back a Greens push to water down the commonwealth's ability to veto laws made by territories, the ACT Greens quickly moved to capitalise on her decision, foreshadowing a fresh campaign to legalise same-sex marriage.

ACT Chief Minister Jon Stanhope said he expected his Labor team would support the Greens in the ACT Legislative Assembly and predicted it would have the numbers to endorse a pro-euthanasia bill, although he would not vote for such a move. The moves came as Ms Gillard, working with the Greens to put a price on carbon by adopting their preferred position of a carbon tax as an interim measure, hardened her resolve on the issue amid continuing opposition accusations that she lied about her intentions before last year's election.

Tony Abbott also dug in, predicting he would win the next election as a referendum on the carbon tax, and would expect the Greens to accept a victory would be a mandate to rescind the tax.

The commonwealth is currently able to override territory laws and former prime ministers Kevin Rudd and John Howard have both relied on the powers to crush or moderate previous ACT attempts to legalise same-sex marriages.

The law also allows the commonwealth, by a resolution of both houses of parliament, to reject territory legislation, as happened in 1997 when a bill sponsored by Liberal MP Kevin Andrews sank an NT euthanasia law. Previously, Ms Gillard backed retention of the veto right and, commenting on same-sex marriage, said she believed marriage could happen only between a man and a woman.

Yesterday, Regional Australia Minister Simon Crean, who has responsibility for the territories, said through a spokesman that Labor would support a Greens bill to be introduced in the Senate tomorrow that strengthens the rights of territories.

The bill, put forward by Greens leader Bob Brown, would abolish the right of commonwealth ministers to have a veto over territory laws, but retain the right of veto through approval of both houses of parliament.

Mr Crean's spokesman said Labor saw the issue as one of "the democratic rights of the citizens".

Senator Brown welcomed Labor's decision, saying citizens of territories deserved the same rights as Australians living in states.

Asked whether he hoped the ACT or the NT would now proceed with the Greens policy of allowing same-sex marriage, Senator Brown said his only concern was with equalising the rights of state and territory legislatures.

It was up to territories to decide what legislation they wanted to pursue, he said.

ACT Greens leader Meredith Hunter moved quickly, saying her party could move on same-sex laws and voluntary euthanasia.

Mr Stanhope, who, like Ms Gillard, relies upon Greens support to govern, had no plan to agitate for full same-sex marriage rights, having agreed last year to federal pressure to provide for "civil partnership" ceremonies. But if the Greens put forward a bill reflecting Labor's original proposals for gay marriage, he would expect his caucus would support the change.

The Chief Minister said restoring territory rights would have enormous symbolic significance.

He opposed euthanasia but judged that such a bill would pass through the assembly on a conscience vote.

The Coalition was examining the bill and was expecting ACT Liberal senator Gary Humphries and possibly his NT Country Liberal Party colleague Nigel Scullion would cross the floor to back the bill to support territory rights.

Mr Andrews, the Liberal MP who sponsored the 1997 euthanasia bill, told The Australian he believed the territory rights bill was a backdoor attempt to re-introduce euthanasia. A spokesman for Tony Abbott said the Coalition was examining Senator Brown's proposals and intended to refer them to a Senate committee for further consideration.

Additional reporting: Dennis Shanahan