Many politicians appreciate the freedom for debate and personal reflection that comes with conscience votes, but this is exactly why they are so dangerous. For conscience votes have the potential to undermine one of the defining principles of secular liberal democracy: the separation of religion and politics. This is a peril that will be clearly observable in the debate over same-sex marriage at the upcoming ALP conference.

To see this threat to our civic way of life, we need to remember that elected politicians occupy public offices to represent their constituents and to serve the public interest. How though should we understand the link between representation and the public interest?

Political theory offers a few answers to this question. One is that politicians are trustees, appointed by their electors to represent their interests in virtue of their superior legislative and public policy knowledge - because they know better. When prime minister John Howard introduced strict gun laws despite their unpopularity in his rural support base, he was acting as a trustee of the public good.

Another position holds that politicians are elected because the bundle of policies and promises they offered at election time was preferred to those competing bundles that were also on offer. Here the role of organised political parties comes clearly into view, as the source and primary marketing agent of the product on offer.

A further view holds that a politician should cleave to public opinion as closely as possible, and this is the context in which we normally hear that nasty word, "populism".

We know from empirical research that politicians will tend to hold a mix of these views, but the point to underline is that all these visions of politics require the politician to fulfil their public office rather than pursue private interests. This includes personal moral and religious interests. We are perfectly comfortable calling politicians corrupt when they steal from the public purse, but we are inconsistent when we do not decry injecting personal religious belief into legislation that will govern the lives of all Australians, regardless of faith.

To be more specific, the problem with conscience votes is that they obscure the difference between the politician's duty as a public office holder and the personal duties to which they may subscribe as an adherent of a morality, ideology or religion. Unlike a party platform, committee deliberations, or a parliamentary inquiry, conscience doesn't actually inform voting. It tells us only to look inside ourselves but not what we'll find there, which could be all sorts of things: university-student ideologies, religious convictions, moral visions. It is the role of political parties and the ritual of parliamentary process to discipline these private enthusiasms by subjecting them to the duties invested in the public office of a politician.

And here we come upon a paradox, as conscience votes are usually allowed when party leaders calculate that they cannot in fact impose the discipline of the platform on their members. This incapacity is often caused by the religious commitments of a sizeable party faction, as is the case with the resistance to same-sex marriage by the ALP Catholic Right. When it comes to the issues of gay marriage, euthanasia and abortion, the Catholic Right functions as a Trojan horse carrying sectional religious duties into the party and the public office of the politician, robbing them of the capacity to represent a general electorate.

We can bolster this aspect of our political system by coming to see that using a conscience vote to avoid serving a secular public interest is not so different from awarding a public contract to someone because they are a family member. We expect public officers to subject their private attachments to the discipline of the office they hold, by treating the family member as just another prospective employee, and thus to award the contract based on merit.

The merit of same sex-marriage legislation must be weighed according to some mix of public policy criteria, notions of discrimination, and popular support. That the appropriate mix will differ between politicians and be fiercely debated is simply the outcome proper to liberal democracy.

But to judge legislation according to the requirements of religious belief is to avoid the discipline of public life, and we should loudly and clearly call this abuse of office.

Dr Ryan Walter lectures in politics at the School of Politics and International Relations at the Australian National University.

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/conscience-votes-corrupt-our-political-system-20111129-1o4tr.html

Delegates!

From all of us at NSW ALP headquarters, home of the Labor Right, a warm welcome to Sydney and our party's 46th national conference this weekend. To add to the excitement of this historic occasion, our Sussex Street experts have put together a unique collection of gifts and souvenirs to delight every true believer. Place your bids for these must-have items at our silent auction.

A premier four-piece knife and hatchet set

Ideal for deposing a party leader or dispatching a preselection rival, these top-quality stainless steel knives slip easily between the shoulder blades. As used on Morris Iemma, Nathan Rees and Kevin Rudd. Value: $5000.

A night in old Tuscany

Learn the secrets of crunching those big deals as you enjoy a six-course Italian gourmet banquet at Leichhardt's famed Tuscany restaurant with your hosts Ian Macdonald, former NSW energy minister, and businessmen Ron Medich and Lucky Gattellari. Wines include the Henschke Hill of Grace shiraz 2006 at $599 a bottle. Afterwards, be pampered at the five-star Four Seasons hotel with a soothing massage from one of our exquisite Asian beauties. Donated by Rivercorp.

Fabulous Malaysia

Join an Afghan refugee family on the trip of a lifetime with our Malaysian Solution Package. Details TBA, but will include one-way economy class tickets for two to Kuala Lumpur. Donated by Chris Bowen, federal Minister for Immigration and Citizenship.

Health, wealth and happiness package

End those expense account worries forever. Whether it's a big night out, a sizzling private tryst with a glamorous escort or, maybe, that high-tech computer system you've always wanted, our Union Express Platinum Credit Card is welcome everywhere. Nothing to pay and no questions asked. Generously donated by the Health Services Union, NSW branch.

Seachange sun'n'surf opportunity

NSW party colleagues Mark Arbib, Eric Roozendaal and the Obeid family enjoy the year-round delights of an Aussie coastal lifestyle. Now, you can too, in this luxury, developer-designed and decorated, four-bedroom executive townhouse at Sydney's sparkling Maroubra Beach. Value: $1.2 million. The donor has asked to remain anonymous.

Democracy at work

The richest prize of all: get set for life as a member of Sydney's most exclusive private club, the NSW Legislative Council. Traditionally, safe Labor seats in the upper house in Macquarie Street are reserved for top officials of the Sussex Street machine. But, in the new spirit of party reform, we're offering the highest bidder a winnable spot on the ALP ticket at the 2015 state election. With salary and allowances of $187,684 per annum plus perks, guaranteed for eight years, your future's assured. Hurry, this one won't last long.

By all accounts, the hot topics at the ALP conference will be gay marriage and uranium sales to India.

Furious opposition to gays and lesbians enjoying the same marital rights as the rest of us will come from the likes of Joe de Bruyn, secretary of the country's biggest union, the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association. Usually, but inexplicably, referred to as "the influential Joe de Bruyn", he is a devout Catholic renowned for toeing the Vatican line on abortion, IVF, gay rights, euthanasia and all that limp-wristed social policy stuff. Not unlike Tony Abbott, really.

De Bruyn will no doubt claim he has the support of his union's 230,000 members although, as far as I can find out, they've never been given a chance to vote on it. Which says a lot about union bosses throwing their weight around in the ALP as they please. If you want to know why Labor voters are deserting to the Greens in droves, look no further.

The debate should be fast and fierce. As always, I urge compromise. Labor must merge both policies into a seamless whole, with a resolution calling for the export of gay marriage to India. This would put cutting-edge Aussie know-how at the forefront of the drive to slow the global population explosion.

Mike Carlton

Two separate private member's bills to legalise same-sex marriage will be introduced today in a historic move for the gay rights movement.

Labor backbencher Stephen Jones will present his bill to legalise gay marriage while Greens MP Adam Bandt and Tasmanian independent Andrew Wilkie will sponsor a second bill.

Mr Wilkie's bill, however, carries a caveat that religious ministers will not be obliged to perform same-sex ceremonies.

But with Labor MPs allowed a conscience vote on the issue, the twin bills appear doomed to be voted down by the combined forces of its Labor opponents - including Prime Minister Julia Gillard - and the Coalition.

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has refused to allow a conscience vote and warned Liberal MPs last year against crossing the floor in contravention of party policy, which opposes same-sex marriage.

Yet another bill seeking to legalise same-sex marriage will be introduced later this year with the Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young announcing her intentions to seeking to present a bill in the upper house.

Mr Bandt has aired fears Labor and the opposition have colluded to water down Mr Jones' bill to civil unions, which is not expected to go to a vote for several months.

But Mr Jones told ABC radio today that assertion ''was putting the cart before the horse''.

The expected introduction of the backbencher's bill comes after December's national conference voted to reverse the party's long-standing opposition to same-sex marriage.

While Mr Jones will make history as the first ALP member to attempt to legalise same-sex marriage; he will also be the first government MP to introduce a bill that is voted down by his own party.

The member for the blue-collar seat of Throsby in the Illawarra region in NSW, says he has the support of ministers and of the Left but admits he does not expect the bill - which will propose to amend the Marriage Act to include gay and lesbian couples - to pass the House of Representatives.\But he said the prospect of defeat was not a deterrent as the legislation was ''a reflection of the basic Labor Party values of equity and fairness''. ''I have not been a crusader on this issue,'' Mr Jones said. ''I came late but it is about how we treat people and the respect we afford their choices.''

Labor backbencher Andrew Leigh said this morning he intended to support the Jones bill while his Western Sydney MP colleague, David Bradbury. confirmed he would not vote to legalise gay marriage.

Gay Marriage Bills