Aussies ‘yes’ to gay marriage, ensuring Parliament Bill

They voted ‘yes’ for fairness, they voted ‘yes’ for commitment, they voted ‘yes’ for love.

Malcolm Turnbull

CANBERRA: Australians supported gay marriage in a postal survey that ensures Parliament will consider legalising samesex weddings this year.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics yesterday said 62% of registered voters who responded in the unprecedented survey favoured reform.

The conservative government promised to allow a Bill creating marriage equality to be considered in Parliament in the final twoweek session that is due to end on Dec 7.

A “no” vote in the survey would have put marriage equality off the political agenda, perhaps for years.

Thousands of marriage equality supporters waving rainbow flags gathered anxiously in city parks around the country and cheered when the results were announced.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turn bull, a vocal advocate of marriage equality, called on lawmakers to heed the “overwhelming” result and to commit to legislate for gay marriage by next month.

“They voted ‘yes’ for fairness, they voted ‘yes’ for commitment, they voted ‘yes’ for love,” Turnbull told reporters.

“Now it is up to us here in the Parliament of Australia to get on with it, to get on with the job the Australian people have tasked us to do and get this done this year before Christmas – that must be our commitment.”

Some government lawmakers have vowed to vote down gay marriage regardless of the survey’s out come. But the survey found a majority of voters in 133 of the 150 districts in the House of Representatives wanted reform.

Ireland is the only other country to put samesex marriage to a popular vote, but that referendum was binding. Irish voters in 2015 changed their constitution to allow marriage equality.

In Australia, voting in elections and referenda is compulsory, but the Senate refused to fund a binding vote.

Almost 80% of more than 16 million registered voters posted ballots in the voluntary survey, which gay marriage advocates opposed as an unnecessary obstacle and oppo nents derided as being about a boutique issue of little public interest.

The United Nations Human Rights Committee last week criticised Australia for putting gays and lesbians “through an unnecessary and divisive public opinion poll”.

The committee called on Australia to legislate for marriage equality regardless of the survey’s outcome.

Lawmakers opposed to gay marriage are already moving to wind back antidiscrimination laws, with debate in Australia intensifying over the possibility of gay wedding boycotts and refusals to provide a celebrant, venue, flowers or a cake. — AFP