It’s not every day a pair of butchers from Werribee get to bend the ear of a prime minister, but that’s exactly what happened when John Dini, 29, and his partner of nine years, Steve Russell, 51, joined two lesbian couples for dinner at the Lodge.
As reported in CW last month, the couple were invited to meet Prime Minister Julia Gillard by lobby group GetUp! whose members donated $31,000 in order to secure the dinner for six in a charity bid. They were there to discuss Ms Gillard’s stance on gay marriage.
Mr Dini’s first impression was that the Lodge, despite having massive, well-kept grounds, was smaller than he had assumed it would be. “It is very nice inside, but not as big as you might expect for the Prime Minister’s residence. Lots of wood, nice carpets, and there were fresh flowers, silverware and glasses laid out on the table.”
Ms Gillard’s partner Tim Mathieson was interstate but she was flanked by two advisors.
According to Mr Dini she appeared relaxed. During pre-dinner drinks, the conversation initially focused on her dog, Reuben, who was an enthusiastic host.
There was some inadvertent humour as the butchers sat down to dinner, with one of the other couples being vegan. Apparently, they didn’t hold it against the butchers.
Mr Dini and Mr Russell had Roquefort mousse to start, but Ms Gillard’s entree had a special garnish.
As constituents from Ms Gillard's Lalor electorate, Mr Dini and Mr Russell had a very specific perspective. “We pointed out that we’ve had nothing but support, so we would like her to vote in favour of marriage equality.”
All at the table said they were perplexed by her opposition to marriage equality; after all, she is an unmarried atheist.
The PM aimed to clarify her stance.
“She said that the Labor government had changed the laws so that same-sex couples are treated the same as de facto couples, and effectively have equality under the law in everything apart from marriage,” Mr Dini said.
Ms Gillard said she was obviously not opposed on religious grounds, and was not homophobic. She explained this over the main course of smoked trout with prosciutto-wrapped scallops. “She said she knows we’re all a bit dumbfounded, and that it’s not about actively discriminating against gay people. She said her political ideologies were formed in the era of feminism and that to her, actually getting married isn’t the important part of it; it’s making sure that we’re equal under the law,’’ said Mr Dini.
‘‘She basically said we’re all getting hung up on the formality and missing that in all the practical ways, we’re already equal.”
He pointed out that this was Ms Gillard’s viewpoint and that the formality is, indeed, important to he and Mr Russell.
“I asked if she thought it was fair, just because she has this philosophical opposition to marriage as a whole, that it’s right to discriminate against our choice? For us, the ceremony, standing up in front of your family and friends and making that public commitment, that declaration of love, that is important.”
There were no heated words exchanged, and Mr Dini said he saw a glimpse of the “real Julia Gillard,” finding her friendly and attentive and genuinely engaging with her guests. She also acknowledged that the winds of change meant that marriage equality was, eventually, inevitable.
With no promises made, and therefore none to break, the PM and her guests had dessert. The liquorice allsorts ice-cream was Mr Dini’s ‘‘highlight’’.
“Once dessert came around it was pretty light-hearted again,” he said. “No one got tipsy, but we all had a few glasses of wine. We had coffee at the table, then the PM wished us all luck and said goodbye at the door, and we caught a cab back to the hotel by 9.30pm.”
CW asked GetUp! communications director Rohan Wenn if the $31,000 was money well spent. “Our members certainly thought it was value for money, because they made the donations that allowed us to bid, and the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive,” he said.
And was the dinner a success? “We certainly think it’s had an impact, not only in the prime minister’s mind, but in the minds of many Australians. It’s brought a lot of attention to the issue and showed that this isn’t about politics, it’s about people.”
Mr Dini and his partner are looking forward to returning to Melbourne, escaping the media storm that’s followed them for months, and focusing on running their business. “You don’t get to meet the prime minister very often, and it was worth putting our view across,” he said. “But now we just want to get back to a normal life.”
The prime minister’s office confirmed Mr Mathieson’s non-attendance but declined to comment further for this story.
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