(Hobart, Tasmania) The Australian state of Tasmania could be the first area in the country to legalize same-sex marriage.  The opposition Greens Party announced plans Friday to introduce a marriage equality bill in the state Parliament when it resumes sitting on July 1.

Tasmania in 2004 became the first state in Australia to create a domestic partner registry for same-sex couples.  But Greens Party deputy leader Nick Mckim said that it’s time to give gay and lesbian couples all of the rights of marriage – including the name.

“Marriage is an institution that should be open to opposite-sex and same-sex couples,” McKim told a Hobart news conference.

And he challenged Premier David Bartlett to allow his party members a free vote.

“We believe that this matter should have a conscience vote,” McKim said.

Bartlett held his own press conference later to denounce the proposed legislation saying that marriage is a federal responsibility and under a 2004 law marriage is limited to opposite-sex couples.

“The Greens clearly don’t understand the Australian constitution, because marriage comes under the purview of the federal parliament, not the state parliament, so this is an impossibility,” Bartlett said.

McKim though believes he is on solid ground, saying he has legal advice from constitutional expert George Williams, a professor at the University of New South Wales, that says there is no constitutional barrier to a state legislating to create a same-sex marriage system.

The Australian Capital Territory ran into trouble with the federal government when it tried to enact civil unions in 2006. The Liberal government of then-prime Minister John Howard vetoed it saying it violated the marriage ban.

A revised bill again ran into a roadblock this year with the new federal Labor government over a provision that would have allowed couples entering into partnerships to hold ceremonies.

The legislation was amended to remove the ceremonies provision and and went into effect last month. (story) 

ACT Attorney-General Simon Corbell on Friday said there is a fundamental difference between the problems faced by his government and the Tasmanian proposal.

“The big difference between Tasmania and the ACT is that if the state parliament passes these laws the only way they can be overturned by the federal government is by a High Court challenge,” Corbell told the AAP news service.

“Whereas in the ACT, because we are a territory, it can just be overturned by the governor-general.”

While the federal Labor government, like its Liberal predecessor opposes gay marriage it is moving to amend about 100 laws to provide benefits to same-sex couples mainly in the areas of pension laws.