PORT HEDLAND council is planning to follow Vincent’s lead in instituting a relationships declaration register, where any couple (straight, gay or elsewise) can declare their relationship.
Port Hedland mayor Kelly Howlett got the idea when visiting Vincent last week and her council’s now asking the public what they think about the idea. It’d be the first regional council in WA to bring in the register.
More than 100 couples have registered in Vincent, and mayor John Carey says it’s an important symbolic measure to show same-sex couples they’re supported. When he first proposed the idea he said it was in part because the federal government wasn’t doing anything—a position firmly entrenched this week with the Abbott government announcing it wouldn’t allow its MPs a conscience vote on same-sex marriage, effectively dooming it. It also has some practical purposes as it can be used as evidence to establish a relationship for legal purposes.
However the immigration and border protection department told the city it does not recognise the register as a legal document for an Australian visa.
by DAVID BELL
Perth Voice Interactive 
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