In a landmark decision in Australian politics, the Labor party has formally voted to block Malcolm Turnbull’s proposal for a same-sex marriage plebiscite.
MPs and Senators met at Parliament House on Tuesday morning, where they unanimously voted to block the bill put forward by the Coalition for a public vote on marriage equality.
At this stage, the Coalition is still expected to introduce the legislation. Yet, they lack the numbers in the Senate, with Greens and other crossbenchers also pledging to block the plebiscite. The bill, therefore, will not pass Parliament.
The widely contested Australia-wide ballot on same-sex marriage was set to take place in February 2017. As an alternative, Labor are expected to push for a vote in Parliament to allow same-sex couples to marry.
A number of senior ministers, however, have said this will not happen.
In the wake of today’s news , Twitter erupted with support.
More details as they emerge.
Top Comments
ok, devils advocate here... I think the libs are breathing a sigh of relief at not having to go through with the plebiscite. This way they can be seen to be fully supporting ssm (whether they truly do or not, and I think there would definitely be some dissension in the ranks), but don't actually have to do anything. They can also score some political points off the opposition in the process.
Think about this - if the plebiscite had gone through, the vote could go either way (polls are only ever an indication of the public mood and are never 100% correct - they obviously don't ask every single person who will be voting. That's what a plebiscite is supposed to do) and the vote had come back as a 'no' what on earth would have happened then? The plebiscite was non binding anyway so they would have found themselves in the unenviable position of either going against the public's opinion, or of accepting it in this very PC world where it is apparently extremely unacceptable to be a 'no' voting country.
In Ireland recently when they voted 'yes' only 60% of the country turned out to vote. Of those who voted, 39% voted 'no'. In a country where it is compulsory to vote (like ours) people might be shocked to find out what the majority of people think as the polls never really capture what people think when they are forced to speak up by voting (there have been plenty of 'shock' election results over the years). I don't pretend to know what 'everyone' thinks - I know the media tells us that the majority support ssm, but just because the media says it is so does not make it so. Every other article reports a different percentage of supporters or naysayers. I am genuinely curious to know what the majority of the Australian public thinks - I have no idea if it would be a 'yes' or 'no' vote, but I do know that it is not as cut and dried as the media suggests. I think the pollies know that, and are understandably concerned about putting a foot wrong.
I DO think however that the plebiscite is a very dangerous idea - I think if they are going to hold one they should make the decision to do it and then hold it ASAP (within a week or so) to minimise the opportunity for all sorts of damage to be done. To call one for months away is just asking for trouble, and a whole lot of heartache and damage. I would love to know what the majority of compulsory voters actually think, and harm minimisation of finding this out should be of the highest priority. This should not be trial by media (who are having a field day with both sides of this!).
Australia is a great nation burdened by lacklustre, impotent and weak leaders...can somebody just lead already?!?!? Pass the legislation and stop making us the laughingstock of the free world please.