Senator Smith said a plebiscite on same-sex marriage would set a risky precedent for other controversial issues such as euthanasia to be decided by a popular vote rather than the Parliament.
Advertisement
Bendigo MP Lisa Chesters has demanded Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull “grow up” and scrap his government’s planned plebiscite on marriage equality, saying Labor and cross-bench MPs are waiting for an opportunity to push their own legislation through Parliament.
Analysis – Australia’s Federal Cabinet has signed off on plans to hold a same-sex marriage plebiscite on 11 February 2017.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s inability to convince all his colleagues to vote for the plebiscite is likely to further harden Labor’s opposition to a national vote.
Turnbull’s conservative Liberal Party does not have a majority in the Senate, which means he will need the support of the opposition Labor party in order to pass the bill.
However Labor leader Bill Shorten is expected to recommend to his Party’s caucus that they vote against the Coalition’s plebiscite legislation – a move which would mean the vote cannot go ahead.
During the live show, McKenzie was surprised to field a question from a gay Australian in favor of marriage equality, who also happened to be her brother.
Mr Turnbull told the half-empty chamber the views of same-sex marriage opponents needed to be respected.
To that end, deputy Labor leader Tanya Plibersek said the leaked details had worsened Labor’s concerns about the proposed plebiscite rather than allayed them. “I believe it is a conscience issue, and that the definition of marriage is between a man and a woman”.
Australia, where several states allow civil union, was criticised by several organisations for being slow in legalisation of marriages between same sex couples.
Mr Shorten said that Australia was lagging behind the rest of the world on the issue of same-sex marriage, citing 21 comparable countries where same-sex marriage has already legalised.
Most marriage equality campaigners are trying to stop the plebiscite from going ahead because it’s expensive (it has a $170 million price tag), won’t actually force MPs to vote for marriage equality in parliament and could have a damaging impact on the mental health of young LGBTI Australians.
They caution that public debate on same-sex marriage would legitimize discriminatory views, giving bigots a wider platform for spreading homophobia.
Although it’s widely cited that 70 percent of Australians support a plebiscite on marriage equality, a poll earlier this year found-once voters are aware of the costs-support drops below half.
Labor is strongly opposed to public funding on the grounds that taxpayer money could be used to promote homophobia and bigotry in an anti-same sex marriage campaign.
‘We took a plebiscite to the people, ‘ Bridget continued.
The bill was introduced on the one-year anniversary of Mr Abbott’s ousting from the leadership – noteworthy because the plebiscite is Abbott-era policy, originally opposed by Mr Turnbull but agreed at a marathon party room meeting in August last year.
Advertisement
Labor would kill off the plebiscite if it blocks the bill in the Senate, with the Greens, the Nick Xenophon Team and Derryn Hinch all committed to voting it down.
