“Everyone has a view on marriage equality”, Dr Liz Van Acker of the Griffith Business School said. Even if most Australians voted for same-sex marriage, conservative government lawmakers could still block the reform in Parliament, the party said.
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A small but influential centrist party on Monday joined the country’s third-biggest political force, the Australian Greens, in opposing a popular vote despite backing legalization of marriage equality.
An opponent of same-sex marriage, Senator Lambie pledged to vote “according to the will of the Tasmanian people” in the Parliament vote required to endorse any plebiscite result.
A plan to hold a popular vote on whether Australia should allow same-sex marriage has suffered a setback after a political party announced it would not support the proposed public vote.
THE Nick Xenophon Team will move to block the Turnbull led government’s planned plebiscite on marriage equality meaning the issue will not be decided by a popular in the next term. They include Tony Abbott, a former seminarian who reluctantly agreed a year ago to a popular vote before being ousted as prime minister by Mr. Turnbull.
He says Mr Turnbull is showing a lack of leadership in agreeing to a national vote which would be divisive, costly and unleash hate.
‘The plebiscite, which in any event could be disregarded by the Parliament, could be in the order of $160 million or more, ‘ the party said in a statement.
Cabinet minister Mathias Cormann said MPs who wanted the issue dealt with swiftly should support the plebiscite bill when it comes to parliament.
Though many criticized the idea of holding a federal referendum on same-sex marriage, Prime Minister Malcom Turnbull and his Coalition party argued that it was the only democratic way to resolve the matter and set forth to use their majority in Parliament to legitimize the national vote.
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“I’m anxious Malcolm Turnbull will just stuff it up”, he stated.
