Hi Margo, I take it that John Howard's most recent excursion/diversion into wedge politics - attempting to enshrine homophobia in our constitution - came too late for inclusion in 'Not Happy, John!'. I was wondering if you'd care to share your views on Howard's plan to ban gay marriage and if future editions of your book will include a chapter on this issue?

I also just wanted to congratulate you and thank you for the book. I've long felt that Australia needs to become more politicised. Thankfully, I feel that this is starting to happen - and it's because of the efforts of people like you!

Margo: Hi Peter. Gay marriage has never been a significant issue in Australia - what gay politics is about here is giving gay partners equal rights re superannuation, tax concessions etc. Howard's change to the law is meaningless - it is already clear in our Marriage Act that marriage is the union of a man and a woman. Therefore it's a classic wedge to split the Labor side's strong Catholic presence. Funny thing is, the backlash of its symbolism - Howard's continuing view of homosexuals as people to be 'tolerated' not 'endorsed' - could hurt him in some tight Liberal seats. So what happens? He pledges - at long bloody last - to give same sex partners the same supernanuation rights as straight partners. This is classic Liberalism - who could endorse, for example, a gay person getting 4 percent interest on his or her bank deposit, and a straight person getting 5 percent? These wedges often have their blow back. The most famous one was when Howard was all set to go to a race election on Wik, only to find, in the 1998 Queensalnd election, that Hanson stormed home with a pledge to abolish native title altogether! That was unconstitutional, for starters - the federal government can only take away someone's property rights with just compensation - but it meant his wedge had turned on him big time and he had to give in. Rural seats deserted the Nats for ON, and Brisbane Liberals put in Labor members. Labor won office on native title!! I think Latham's gay solution - to support a meaningless change to the Marriage Act while opposing the ban on gay adoptions of overseas kids - was the best he could do in the circumstances. One of Howard's many other attmepted wedges this year was to positively discriminate in favour of male teacher trainees, only to find that the Catholic Church, which had unsucessfully sought an exemption from the law against sex discrimination from the Human Rights Commission, ran a mile when Howard proposed a change to the law, and came to a compromise with the HRC. These obvious wedges just ain't working any more, which is why he's gone the big one - the American Alliance That's his Tampa 2004. For a send up of Howard's gay bashing, see Webdiary columnist Polly Bush's Keeping it queer.