Marriage Equality activists have delivered a petition with 90,000 signatories calling for the parliament to stop advocating for a plebiscite on marriage equality.
Australian Greens LGBTIQ spokesperson Janet Rice will table a petition from campaign groups just.equal and All Out.
“This petition is further proof of the public’s overwhelming support for consigning the Abbott-era plebiscite to the bin,” said Senator Rice.
“The Greens have laid out three steps to marriage equality that will get us to the end of this long and bumpy road, and the first is to break up with the plebiscite which we will do this week.
“Step 2 is to get engaged with cross party legislation for marriage equality, and step 3 is to say “I do” to marriage equality in the parliament.
Senator Rice said it was time for the Prime Minister to acknowledge that the death of the plebiscite legislation is not the end of the road for marriage equality.
“The Prime Minister must recognise that the defeat of the plebiscite isn’t the end of this issue, and that public pressure will continue to grow until he breaks free of the conservatives on his backbench and allows a free vote.”
Just.equal spokesperson, Ivan Hinton-Teoh, said “Our petition is a timely reminder that the LGBTI community and our allies do not want a plebiscite under any circumstances and that we want parliament to pass marriage equality through a free vote without delay.
“We call on the Senate to vote down a plebiscite as soon as possible so the nation can get back to debating the substantive issue of allowing LGBTI people full legal equality.
“I hope our petition will remind federal parliament that the path to marriage equality is a free vote and Australians want them to take that path immediately,” Hinton-Teoh said.
The plebiscite legislation is being debated in the senate today and is likely to go to a vote late this evening or tomorrow. It is clear that the government does not have the numbers to pass the bill.
Duiring the debate Greens senator Nick McKim said it was surprising that Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull did not have a ‘Plan B’ for marriage equality.
Senator McKim said the final result would be the majority of Australians would support marriage equality, the majority of Parliamentarians would support marriage equality, and only Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull would be standing in the way of making it a reality.
OIP Staff
