Source: The Age and  News.com.au
NEW Liberal leader Brendan Nelson has backed equal legal rights for same-sex couples in a dramatic move that immediately distances him from the Howard era.

While opposition leader says his stand on gay rights is a personal view and he will consult colleagues on any formal policy shift, he told The Sunday Mail he believes it is a change in law that's overdue.

"I don't support gay marriage, adoption or IVF," Dr Nelson said. "But I believe in addressing the social and economic injustices affecting homosexuals the length and breadth of this country."

According to The Age, Nelson has pledged to the Australian people that he will bring "inspirational" politics back to the Liberal Party.

The opposition leader agreed that the party needed a fundamental ideological rethink and promised to travel the "width and breadth" of the country seeking the views of ordinary Australians.

"I say to all Australians . to the men and women of Australia in every walk of life: My commitment to you is to provide you with an inspiring alternative government and a liberalism you can identify with," he said.

"I will work my damndest to see that I and my colleagues have earned your vote in three years' time."

Dr Nelson will spearhead a sweeping post-mortem of the Coalition's loss last Saturday, which ended in John Howard losing his seat and his natural leadership successor, Peter Costello, refusing to take up the reins.

Dr Nelson's younger brother Philip died of AIDS aged 34 in 1990. He kept his condition secret from his family out of shame. Dr Nelson, along with his Treasury spokesman Malcolm Turnbull, is understood to have argued unsuccessfully inside the Howard Cabinet for legal rights of gay couples to be recognised.

He has used his ascension to the Liberal leadership to re-emphasise social as well as economic goals.

Dr Nelson foreshadowed a period of soul-searching about the party's philosophical direction, saying he would drive reform but build on some of the achievements made in government.

The reform and post-mortem process would cover everything from WorkChoices to "complex environmental and social policy issues" that contributed significantly to the November 24 result.

But he said his overriding emphasis would be on "putting Australians first".

"We may be the Opposition, but we're also the alternative government. The closer we get to the next election, the more I'll emphasise that".

In a self-deprecating crack, Dr Nelson said his colleagues from time to time had described him as being different, "and not in a complimentary sense".

While he said that a strong economy was fundamental to his policy outlook, the Coalition also needed to better explain the impact of its economic policy on people's lives.

Dr Nelson cited as an example the welfare-to-work reforms, widely seen as punitive and aimed solely at punishing single mothers.

The aim, he said, was to ensure children were brought up in homes where their parents had training and a job.

The "single mum" vote was seen to contribute to the loss of several Liberal seats at last weekend's election.

Full articles: Liberal backflip on gay rights | The Courier-Mail
The Age: Doc Nelson big on consultation