Editorial: Change has to happen

Lee Bransden (left), who has a terminal illness, fulfilled her dying wish on Saturday to marry her partner Sandra Yates.

Today's story about Australian couple Lee Bransden and Sandra Yates is heartwarming.

Thanks to the generosity of friends and strangers, the women were able to come to Rotorua and get married, something they were not legally able to do in their home country.

It was made all the more poignant by the fact Ms Bransden, who had previously lived for 25 years in Rotorua, is terminally ill.

It's approaching two years since the first same sex marriages in New Zealand, with one of the first in the country being held at Rotorua's Bath House.

Yet Australian couples who wish to marry are still forced to cross the ditch to do so - great for our tourism sector but far from ideal for them.

Australian Marriage Equality national director Rodney Croome has congratulated the couple on their marriage, which he says is a reminder that many other Australian couples and families are still waiting.

He has urged the country's lawmakers to make marriage equality a more urgent priority.

It's surely inevitable that - eventually - they will follow New Zealand's lead. Which means other couples like Ms Bransden and Ms Yates will be able to marry in familiar surroundings, with their loved ones, without having to spend thousands for the privilege.

We can only hope it happens sooner, rather than later.

* A big welcome to the hundreds of visitors in town for Trenz, New Zealand's biggest tourism trade show. It's an exciting and hectic few days for all involved and a fantastic chance for Rotorua tourism operators, big and small, to get noticed. The latest visitor statistics make for great reading for the city and hosting Trenz can only build on that.