Howard's Way

The Australian Capital Territory, a small piece of land surrounding the capital Canberra, recently voted to introduce civil unions for same-sex partners throughout their tiny region. All well and good, you might think.

Step up Australian Prime Minister John Howard. He doesn't like it. "The fundamental difficulty I have with the ACT legislation is the clause which says that a civil union is different from marriage but has the same entitlements," he says.

(This puts him firmly to the right of George Bush who, while opposed to gay marriage, supports "leaving the state legislatures free to make their own choices in defining legal arrangements other than marriage.")

Now, I'm a little murky on the mechanics of Australian politics, but apparently because the ACT is a "territory" rather than a "state", the Prime Minister can overrule it. And overrule it he did, by sending the Attorney General to the Governor-General to get his signature on behalf of the Commonwealth.

In another ingenious step, Howard swapped his usual suit for a ridiculous slim-fit Australia tracksuit and invited a breakfast television programme to film him cheering on the Socceroos (the Australian football team) from the comfort of the prime-ministerial living room.

Both moves seem designed purely to increase his popularity.

Both, I trust, will turn out to have backfired.