Immediately after the federal parliament struck down two marriage equality bills the Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) released a media statement ‘Welcoming the end of the marriage debate’.

Despite a plethora of state marriage bills that are working towards amending the marriage bill, Director Jim Wallace’s representatives spoke with a sense of finality, stating – ‘it had been a long debate and he believed the vast majority of Australians were keen to move on.’

Following the defeat of his bill in the lower house Labor backbencher Stephen Jones called on marriage equality activists to ‘maintain their rage’, quoting the famous call to action of former Labor leader Gough Whitlam.