1997 - Hope For A New Life!

We lived on the edge of the bush, the last suburb in Western Australia before the wilderness took hold. Ellenbrook was newly built in 1997 and was a shiny, new example of ambition and aspiration in the fast growing city of Perth. I had been living in Australia for four long months and if I am honest, not having a great time. The heat, arrogance of those who lived there and difficulties getting a job, in a city of few opportunities for British Ex-Pats like me, were all taking their toll on my rash decision to move to the other side of the World with my partner of just two years. However, with circumstances the way they were back home in the UK, it was likely I would be living down under for a while yet. Darrell’s Australian nationality was a stumbling block to our relationship. The Conservative Government at the time refused to acknowledge our commitment to one another and made it clear Darrell wasn’t welcome in Britain. This was the second time we had journeyed away from Britain, a place we both called home and tried to make the best of our precarious situation!

The election of 2nd May 1997 was our only hope of a future together away from Australia. As the day approached I became ever more anxious, believing the then Prime Minister John Major, would win another term in office, putting pay to our desire to return, firmly in its tracks. This was the first time Darrell and I really began to argue, as once again our life seemed uncertain. I was living in a Country I couldn’t stand, missing home and looking for a way out. If Tony Blair won, he had already indicated his wish to change the law, legitimising de-facto relationships like ours in law, allowing us both to live happily ever after, well as near as damn it anyway!

It was 10pm in Britain, 5am in Perth, and I was up, waiting to follow the General Election to its conclusion. There was no live coverage from the BBC, but we did have access to a rather antiquarian computer and the wonders of Telstra Dial Up internet. Needless to say the service was intermittent at best, non-existent at worst. I did my best to catch the results as they came in, as I had done during every election before. I was a bit of a political animal, having studied politics and social policy at University and always supported my Father standing in local elections in the past; as a staunch supporter of New Labour, politics ran through my veins and despite my fears, I always remained positive for the future. This election was the most important one in my lifetime and it would decide mine and Darrell’s future for many years to come!

As the results came in, it was clear Tony Blair and New Labour were heading for power in a landslide victory; finally I began to relax and immediately make plans in my head for a future back home, living legally as a couple, in a country that had turned a corner and become part of the modern World. The relief I felt on Friday 3rd May 1997 was like nothing else I have felt before. Maybe, just maybe this could be the beginning of a new chapter together, settled and happy, secure and content in a life we so craved, at a time of change and upheaval in Britain itself.

Within a few months we had left Australia to start a new life back home. It would be another four years before we would both be able to relax, as Darrell received his indefinite leave to remain. We became the second same sex couple in the country to be granted permission to stay together, after years of fighting to be the partnership we are today. There were many more battles along the way, we were mentioned in Parliament, received deportation orders and campaigned tirelessly for others like us, to be accorded the same rights as our heterosexual friends. The election of Tony Blair in 1997 signalled our Australian departure and ushered in the next twenty-three years of our life together, a turning point that marked the end of an antipodean dream!

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