in the events of this case, on 20 November 2024 a wedding celebrant had been retained over a month before the respondent had even proposed to the applicant or given her consent.
92 On the balance of probabilities, in my view it is more probable than not that the applicant believed she was acting in a social media event on the day of the alleged ceremony, rather than freely participating at a legally sanctioned wedding ceremony. I find it impossible to accept that the respondent seriously intended to marry the applicant within less than two days of the applicant accepting his proposal of marriage. The applicant did not have a single family member or friend present at the alleged wedding ceremony. She was religious. Precisely why she would participate in a civil marriage and not in a church marriage ceremony went unexplored. It made no sense to me that she would.
93 I take the view that on the balance of probabilities the applicant participated in the events in late December 2023 at the venue, after being told by the respondent, a social media influencer, that the video was being made for publication on social media and that it was an act. I find that it was not a legally valid marriage ceremony.
SECTION 23B OF THE MARRIAGE ACT
94 The applicant relied on there being no real consent from her within the contemplation of s 23B(1)(d) of the Marriage Act. That section provides as follows –
"(1) A marriage to which this Division applies that takes place after the commencement of section 13 of the Marriage Amendment Act 1985 is void where:
- (a) either of the parties is, at the time of the marriage, lawfully married to some other person;
- (b) the parties are within a prohibited relationship;
- (c) by reason of section 48 the marriage is not a valid marriage;
- (d) the consent of either of the parties is not a real consent because:
- (i) it was obtained by duress or fraud;
- (ii) that party is mistaken as to the identity of the other party or as to the nature of the ceremony performed; or
- (iii) that party did not understand the nature and effect of the marriage ceremony; or
- (e) either of the parties is not of marriageable age;
