Now that Malcolm Turnbull is our PM, will he deliver marriage equality?

Let’s vote for politicians who support marriage equality.

The hopes of millions of marriage equality supporters were raised by the election of Malcolm Turnbull as Prime Minister, but they were dashed almost as quickly.

Turnbull is a long-time marriage equality supporter and the first to become Liberal leader.

From Mia Freedman: ‘I support marriage equality and I vote.’

But instead of seizing the opportunity to deliver marriage equality through a parliamentary free vote before the election, he has said the issue should be decided through a vote of the people after the election.

WATCH: Malcolm Turnbull says he supports “all of our policies” including, it seems, his party’s current stance on same-sex marriage.

Sadly, this means a cross-party marriage equality bill brought forward by Warren Entsch and others is likely to languish, despite having a good chance of passing.

The silver lining is that the proposal from Scott Morrison for a constitutional referendum on marriage equality now seems dead. This is a good thing because the High Court has already resolved that there is no need for a referendum.

The other plus is that Turnbull’s support for marriage equality, and his experience of the republic referendum, mean any plebiscite that happens under his watch will be fairly-framed, have a neutral question and be implemented quickly.

I have no doubt Australians would vote ‘yes’ in a fairly-framed plebiscite.

The focus for marriage equality supporters will now be on the next election.

Our job should be to ensure that a majority of MPs in the next parliament support marriage equality, regardless of which party they belong to or which party takes power.

Our message should be “vote for politicians who will vote for marriage equality”.

An important first step is to ensure marriage equality supporters, particularly young voters, are enrolled so they can cast a vote for reform.

If you’re not sure about your enrolment visit the Electoral Commission website.

Please share this link with as many friends and family members as possible.

Rodney Croome is the National Direector of Australian Marriage Equality and the author of “From This Day Forward: marriage equality in Australia”.