Liberal MP Kevin Andrews has backed up statements by former Prime Minister Tony Abbott who says the marriage debate has been a positive event because it has motivated thousands of young conservatives to become politically active.
Speaking to Sky News on Thursday Andrews said the Liberal party had always been at its best when it listened to both those who were socially conservative and those who were economically conservative.
“What we’ve seen through the no campaign in particular, is that tens of thousands of ordinary Australians have been motivated to get out and campaign against the same-sex marriage proposal.
Andrews said if the ‘no’ came back as high as 40% it would show that the Liberal party need to embrace the voters who may have shifted to party’s like One Nation and Cory Bernardi’s Australian Conservatives.
His comments follow a speech given by former Prime Minister Tony Abbott. Abbott travelled to the USA to address the Alliance Defending Freedom, the organisation which is classed as a ‘hate group’ by the respected Southern Poverty Law Centre, campaign for the criminalisation of homosexuality around the world.
In his speech, Abbott said a ‘No’ vote as high as 40% would be a “moral victory” for the conservative side of politics. Abbott said the people who were voting no in the campaign would go on to create a conservative organisation that would rival the left wing organisation Get Up!
Abbott said polling conducted by the ‘No’ campaign was different to the results predicted by other polling bodies, showing that support for marriage equality had dropped to just 50 per cent of Australians, while 10 per cent remained undecided.
Kevin Andrews also had some advice for Malcolm Turnbull regarding the current ongoing saga relating to politicians holding dual citizenship.
Andrews said he was Prime Minister things would be run differently.
“Australians are looking for strong and decisive leadership. If I was the Prime Minister I would be ordering, or requesting the AEC, for example, to immediately undertake an examination of every MP and senator, and report as soon as possible back to government.”
The former minister, said if Malcolm Turnbull did not take action to issue would “fester” and cause further problems and an erosion of the respect people have for parliament.
