Senator Dean Smith’s Marriage Bill has passed through the lower house of parliament, bringing marriage equality into Australian law.
Following the ‘Yes’ result of the Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey the co-sponsored bill has been hotly debated for the last two weeks, but remains unchanged by amendments from conservatives and The Greens.
Amendments put forward by Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott, Treasurer Scott Morrison, Coalition MPs Michael Sukkar, Andrew Hastie, Alex Hawke, Andrew Broad, Sarah Henderson and The Greens’ Adam Bandt all met a major bloc of opposition, being knocked down either by a large majority or ‘on the voices’ of the house without division.
The passage of the bill should see Australians in same-sex relationships able to marry as of early 2018.
The Smith Bill in its unamended form will allow marriage celebrants able to ordain marriage between any two consenting adults, and provides exemptions for religious ministers, and celebrants who register as ‘religious’, to refuse service based on objections of faith.
Just four MPs voted against the passage of the bill; Government MPs David Littleproud, Russell Broadbent and Keith Pitt, and Queensland MP Bob Katter.
More to come…
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