Australian MP: 'I love my kids, why can't I marry them?'

An Australian MP has asked whether he should be able to marry his own children if same-sex marriage is introduced in the country.

Speaking in Parliament yesterday (June 29) at a debate over Australia’s proposed marriage equality bill, Liberal party back-bencher Dennis Jensen compared same-sex marriage to incest, polygamy and – somewhat confusingly – communism.

“The fact is there is no inexorable march of history,” he said. “Consider communism – once seen as inevitable, but now consigned to the dustbin of history.”

He continued: “I love my siblings, I love my children, I love my parents, but does that mean that I should marry them?

“How about the love of, say, two sisters who have lived together for most of their lives? Should that be called marriage?”

The 53-year-old MP for Tangey added that if same-sex marriage was legalised, then “why not polygamy, polyandry?”

He argued: “Apart from the yuck factor, that is our natural genetic predisposition of these sorts of relationships due to our innate knowledge of the genetic problems they’d cause, why not allow incestuous marriage if one or both parties agree to be sterilised?”

Same-sex couples are prevented from marrying in Australia due to a ban on same-sex marriage contained within the federal Marriage Act (1961), amended in 2004. Many states grant same-sex couples rights through domestic and civil partnerhsip laws.

Last month, Australian opposition leader Bill Shorten said he would introduce the current private members’ bill to allow equal marriage following Ireland’s historic referendum result.

The move by the Labor Party leader came shortly after Prime Minister Tony Abbott ruled out Australia holding its own referendum on the issue, despite public polls indicating that a large majority of Australians are in favour of marriage equality.

Watch Mr Jensen’s family love-in speech below:

Australian MP: ‘I love my kids, why can’t I marry them?’

In This Article: