Marriage equality activists are confident they have the numbers to change Australia’s marriage laws in the federal parliament.
Australian Marriage Equality has called on Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to dump his government’s plans for an expensive plebiscite and bring forth a free vote on the issue in the house.
It appears that support for marriage equality has reached a critical mass and advocates for change believe the majority of politicians in both the House of Representatives and the Senate would now vote in favour of allowing same sex couples to wed.
“We’re confident the numbers are there for marriage equality to pass both houses of federal Parliament right now if a free vote is granted to Coalition members,” Rodney Croome told the Sydney Morning Herald.
Australian Marriage Equality believes there are six MPs in the lower house who are in favour of marriage equality but are yet to publicly declare their support. An additional four senators have also privately declared their support.
While some major newspapers have seen the list including the identities of the undeclared politicians, neither Fairfax newspapers or The Guardian have been able to verify it independently.
Prior to taking over as Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull had voiced support for a free vote in parliament but he has reportedly promised his colleagues that he would keep former Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s plan for a non-binding plebiscite.
Earlier this week three coalition Senators declared they would ignore the outcomes of the plebiscite and continue to vote against allowing same sex marriage. The plebiscite has been estimated to cost $158 million by the Australian Electoral Commission.
Mr Turnbull spoke to radio station 3AW in Melbourne this morning and said a plebiscite that called for same sex marriage to be introduced would be honoured, but he was not able to explain how he could guarantee this.
OIP Staff
image: Mélanie Villeneuve via StockSnap
