Former Deputy Prime Minister Wayne Swan has reversed his position on marriage equality and now supports a change to the law in Australia.
“I’ve come to the conclusion that, basically, I was wrong.” Mr Swan told the media. The former treasurer said he was no longer able to reconcile his position against marriage equality with his belief in social and economic equality for all people.
The Australian Christian Lobby has said that Swan’s decision ignores social justice and politicians need to consider the rights of children.
“Politicians should not pass laws that encourage and facilitate separating children from either of their biological parents merely to satisfy the desires of adults.” Mr Shelton said.
Wayne Swan is the latest politician to voice support for marriage equality and Australian’s leading advocacy group now believe the issue is only a few votes away from being able to pass in the lower house.
A poll conducted by Australian Marriage Equality (AME) has revealed that a growing number of politicians are supportive of marriage equality.
Rodney Croome from AME believes the number of politicians in the House of Representatives who privately support a change, and those who are publically on the record is 72. For a bill to be successful 76 politicians are needed to support it.
It is believed that there is a majority, with a margin of one, in the senate, which would allow a bill to pass.
The two major stumbling block to bringing about a change are the Liberal party’s reluctance to allow their members a free vote on the issue. Prime Minister Tony Abbott has repetitively declared that he believes marriage should only between a man and a woman.
Prior to the federal election Mr Abbott indicated that the issue of a free vote would be a matter for the party room, but to date the issue has not been raised.
It has also been highlighted that many members of the Labor party who are backed by the right wing unions such as the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association, are unlikely to be supportive of marriage equality.
OIP Staff, image: YayMicro|Stocksnapper
