High yes vote across state

QUEENSLAND is considered a conservative state, but delivered a resounding 60.7 vote in support of legalising samesex marriage.

Even several conservative seats, which polls have previously indicated a “No” vote, such as Wright, returned a solid “Yes” vote.

Dickson, the seat of Minister Peter Dutton who was the architect of the plebiscite, returned a “Yes” vote even stronger than the national average, 65.2 per cent.

While it was not surprising that inner-city seats of Brisbane (LNP), Griffith (Labor) and Ryan (LNP) recorded the highest vote in support, with all above 70 per cent, there were shocks in some regional electorates.

Dawson, home of conservative George Christensen, returned 55.1 per cent for “Yes”. Only two LNP seats, Maranoa (56.1 per cent) and Groom (50.8), saw a “No” vote returned, as did the far-north seat of Kennedy, held by Bob Katter who once promised to “walk backwards from Bourke to Brisbane” if a gay person lived in his electorate.

Brisbane recorded the highest “Yes” vote in Queensland of 79.5 per cent – the fifth highest in the country behind Sydney (83.7), Melbourne (83.7), and NSW’s Wentworth (80.8) and Grayndler (79.9).

Capricornia, which takes in Rockhampton and is held by the LNP, returned a 54.1 per cent vote supporting same-sex marriage.

Capricornia MP Michelle Landry previously voiced her position as a traditional view of marriage, but said her electorate had spoken and she would vote “Yes” in Parliament.

“I think this will be really good for our economy, there will be a lot of weddings and a lot of money spent,” she said.

Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott led the “No” campaign, but his NSW electorate of Warringah had a high vote of 75 per cent supporting same-sex marriage.

Conversely, several prominent Labor MPs, including Tony Burke, Jason Clare and Ed Husic, had high response for “No” votes in their electorates. Their seats are in Western Sydney and have large migrant communities.

Bennelong, which is going to a by-election next month, recorded a narrow “No” vote.

There was a strong participation rate across Queensland, with 77.9 per cent of eligible voters taking part. There were 1.48 million Queenslanders who voted “Yes”, while 961,015 voted “No”. Women were more likely to vote than men across the country – 81.6 per cent against 77.3 per cent.

Australia’s youngest were least likely to take part on the postal survey. Just 71.9 per cent of people aged 25 to 29 voted, though 78 per cent of 18-19year-olds took part. Those aged 70-74 returned the highest number of votes with 89.6 per cent.