Local MPs against gay adoption

A NEW bill allowing same-sex couples to adopt children narrowly made it through the NSW Parliament yesterday, without the support of Northern Rivers MPs Don Page, Thomas George and Steve Cansdell.

Mr George was not available last night, but Mr Page and Mr Cansdell said there were strong arguments on both sides of the debate, and their votes had come down to believing a child was better off with a mother and a father than with two mothers or two fathers.

The MPs said the bill was about the welfare of children, not the rights of gay and lesbian couples.

Labor Premier Kristina Keneally and Liberal Leader Barry O'Farrell, who both voted for the bill, and Nationals Leader Andrew Stoner, who voted against it, allowed their MPs a conscience vote on the issue.

The bill, which was put up by Sydney Independent MP Clover Moore, passed after some amendments, with 46 MPs voting for it and 44 against.

Mr Cansdell said his decision to oppose the bill was bolstered by a flood of calls from Clarence constituents urging him to vote against it.

However, he said he would have voted against the bill regardless of feedback from the community.

“When you have a conscience vote you are always going to face some criticism, bit it is a conscience decision and I'm my own person,” Mr Cansdell said.

Another person expecting some criticism after voting against the bill was Ballina MP Don Page.

“I voted against it after a lot of deliberation. There are legitimate arguments on both sides,” he said.

Mr Page said the vote had been ‘a difficult decision for me', but he believed children were better off with a mother and a father.

However, Mr Page also acknowledged ‘it's not an ideal world' and there were plenty of examples of dysfunctional heterosexual families.

He also agreed his electorate included many sole parent families where children might have a mother or a father, but not necessarily both, and said those parents did a good job of raising their children.

“A lot of those single parents have people from the other gender in their children's lives,” he said.