just.equal spokesperson and veteran marriage equality advocate Rodney Croome has condemned the government’s proposed postal plebiscite plan for marriage equality as “inherently rigged.”
Writing for Samesame.com.au, Croome says the non-compulsory plebiscite lacks parliamentary oversight.
“There will be no parliamentary oversight of the question, the campaigns for and against the proposition, or the voting procedure,” he wrote.
“A non-compulsory vote also means the 30% of the electorate who are soft supporters of marriage equality are much less likely to vote.
Croome is also concerned that a postal vote could disenfranchise younger voters, skewing the results against marriage equality.
“The currently plebiscite proposal wouldn’t just be easy to rig, it would be inherently rigged.”
The statement comes after news that opponents of marriage equality in the Coalition are pushing for the postal vote.
Croome reasserts that Australia’s LGBTI community have already overwhelmingly rejected a plebiscite under any circumstances.
“In 2016 the LGBTI community said “no” to Plebiscite Mark I.”
“Our concern was that such a high profile and unnecessary public debate would have an adverse impact on the mental health of vulnerable LGBTI people, especially young people.”
“This concern ran so deep 85% of LGBTI Australians said they would rather wait for marriage equality than achieve it through a plebiscite.”
Croome writes that the wider community have also rejected a plebiscite with concerns over the cost and the risk that politicians could ignore the result, due to the non-binding nature of a plebiscite.
“Plebiscite Mark II may reduce the financial cost of a plebiscite but the human cost would remain.”
Rodney Croome’s full article is available on Samesame.com.au
OIP Staff
