Howard V's Savage

Australian Singer Darren Hayes has hit out at John Howard's stance on gay marriage and urged his fans to not vote for him. Hayes married Briton Richard Cullen in London last year, but his husband has to travel with him to Australia on a tourist visa. "It makes me angry and frustrated," the former Savage Garden frontman said yesterday. "I'm Australian and the way the law sits I can't bring my partner home as my partner. That to me is an infringement of my civil rights -- a very un-Australian thing. I would never have voted for John Howard and I encourage people not to. I don't think he speaks for this country in the same way I don't think George Bush speaks for the US." Hayes is in Melbourne to promote his new single On the Verge of Something Wonderful, which made its debut at No. 29 in Australia this week and is No. 10 on the UK midweek chart. [credit]