Ahead of the 2015 Labor Party National Conference, NSW Labor leader Luke Foley has suggested the party should not seek a binding vote on marriage equality as members gather for Australia’s largest political gathering.

“Clearly a majority of people in the party support same-sex marriage being legislated for in the commonwealth government,” Mr Foley told Sky News.

“But I won’t support taking away from Labor’s parliamentarians the ability to exercise their own conscience when these matters come before the parliament.”

The conference will encourage debate on a number of contemporary issues, including but not limited to refugees, taxation and marriage equality. Foley hopes the conference will cultivate independent thought rather than merely holding the party line.

“It would be my hope that next week’s 400 delegates can each think for themselves, without taking the sort of view that they should be locked in by a particular grouping to which they give some sort of loyalty,” he said.

Foley had once voted against changes to marriage legislation, however his views have since changed – announcing his support for Australian marriage equality earlier this year.

OIP Staff