Australia to hold postal vote on same-sex unions

Sydney, Aug. 7: Australia will hold a non-compulsory postal vote on legalising same-sex marriage if a second bid to win political support for a national ballot fails, a minister said on Monday.

The postal vote proposal offers a path for Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to retain the support of both liberals and conservatives in his centre-right coalition, crucial given his one-vote majority in the lower house of Parliament.

Same-sex marriage is supported by 61% of Australians, a 2016 Gallup opinion poll showed, but the issue has fractured the government and damaged Turnbull’s standing with voters.

Late last year, the upper house Senate rejected a government proposal on the matter, with opponents saying that they believed it was best dealt with by a free vote in Parliament. On Monday, Finance Minister Mathias Cormann said the government would re-introduce the same legislation, but accompanied by a contingency plan to counter any

If that (plebiscite) were to fail, the government believes that we have a legal and constitutional way forward that gives the Australian people a say on whether or not the definition of marriage should be changed

Mathias Cormann Finance minister of Australia

rejection by the upper house, where the government does not have a majority. “Our preference is to have a compulsory attendance plebiscite,” Cormann told reporters in Canberra, Australia’s capital.

Legal experts said that a postal vote may also require the approval of Senate, however, setting the scene for a likely court challenge to the government’s plan.