Most say ‘Yes’ to gay marriage

MOST Australians will vote “Yes” in the coming postal vote on whether to legalise gay marriage, a new poll shows.

Less than a month out from the national postal plebiscite, a special Newspoll conducted for The Australian shows 63% of Aussies plan to vote “Yes”.

The poll also shows 67% of Australians are “definitely” going to vote, putting to rest fears a low response to the plebiscite could jeopardise the result.

A further 15% said they “probably” would vote in the poll.

The poll also shows most Australians (62%) want parliament to include protections for religious freedoms in any legislation to legalise same-sex marriage.

Lobby groups, MPs and church leaders urging Australians to vote “No” in the upcoming plebiscite have made this a central issue.

There was strong support for same-sex marriage across the political spectrum – 55% of Liberal voters, 75% of Labor voters and 82% of Greens voters.

Former Liberal prime minister Tony Abbott warned yesterday that the plebiscite “isn’t just about marriage”.

“There are lots and lots of implications here and we’ve got to think them through before we take this big leap into what I think is the dark,” he told Sydney radio 2GB.

He said religious schools in Britain and Canada had been impacted, along with Catholic adoption agencies, by gay marriage being legalised.

He also warned curriculum programs such as Safe Schools would follow if same-sex marriage was introduced here.

“The best way of standing up for traditional values, the best way of saying that you don’t like the direction our country is heading in right now is to get that ballot paper out and vote ‘No’,” Mr Abbott said.