Controversial Australia vote on same-sex marriage begins
A contentious postal survey on same-sex marriage began in Australia yesterday, with ballots delivered across the vast continent ahead of an expected fractious campaign between the “yes” and “no” sides. While there has been growing support for marriage equality, with 70 percent of those surveyed in a Fairfax Media poll yesterday backing the “yes” campaign, Australia has yet to legalize such unions despite more than a decade of political wrangling.
The conservative government chose an unusual approach-a voluntary and non-binding postal vote-after an election promise of a national plebiscite was twice rejected by parliament’s upper house, the Senate. If most Australians vote “yes” to samesex marriage the government will move to hold a parliamentary free vote on changing the marriage laws. It will not do so if there is a “no” outcome. “I encourage everyone to fill in the survey and return it. I’ll be voting ‘yes’ as will (my wife) Lucy,” Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull told commercial radio this week.
Turnbull, a moderate, is opposed by some members of his conservative ruling Liberal-National coalition on the issue and the postal vote is seen as a compromise. The start of the ballot process followed weekend rallies for and against changing marriage laws, with thousands of people dressed in rainbow colors packing central Sydney on Sunday to back the “yes” vote. Hundreds of “no” campaigners marched on Saturday, arguing that changes would infringe religious freedom and children’s rights.