A group of senators in federal parliament have introduced a bill calling for a plebiscite to be held at the next election.
The plebiscite is to find out if the Australian public support changing the law so that marriage can be extended to same sex couples.
The draft bill was introduced by The Greens’ Janet Rice alongside senators Glenn Lazarus, David Leyonhjelm, Jacqui Lambie, Ricky Muir and Nick Xenophon. All except Lambie are supporters of marriage equality.
The proposed question to be out to voters: “Do you support Australia allowing marriage between two people regardless of their gender?”
The plebiscite would change the current laws, but allow politicians to gauge the level of public support. Separate legislation would be required to change the Marriage Act. The bill would require marriage equality legislation to introduced within a six month period.
The politicians behind the bill argue that if marriage equality is to be addressed by a popular vote that it should be conducted at the next federal election.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott has suggested that a plebiscite should be held sometime in the future, during the next parliament. Potentially pushing a vote back to 2019.
“When you are talking about what its supporters would say is a very big social advance, I think we should be prepared to facilitate a people’s choice,” the Prime Minister told reporters on Monday.
“I think they are looking for the politicians to trust them with a choice of this magnitude.”
Greens leader Richard Di Natale said if marriage equality is to be decided by a popular vote, the timing and phrasing of the question should not be left to the government.
“We cannot trust Tony Abbott not to delay further, propose an unfair question, or turn it into an unnecessary referendum with little chance of passing,” he said.
“But if a plebiscite is the only option on the table, it must happen at this election and the parliament must choose the question.”
The bill will now be accessed by the senate’s legal and constitutional affairs committee but it is unlikely that the bill would ever gain enough votes to be passed. The Labor party are maintaining their policy that a change to the marriage act should be undertaken directly by parliament.
Opposition leader Bill Shorten has said that a people’s vote in an unnecessary and costly exercise.
“The government wants to plunge this nation into a divisive debate to conduct a taxpayer-funded opinion poll to tell us all what we already know.” Mr Shorten told Labor MPs.
Labor have vowed to introduce marriage equality legislation within the first 100 days of government if they win the next election.
A poll conducted by the Marriage Alliance and published in The Australian on Monday reported that 76% of 1,200 people surveyed supported a public vote on the issue. Forty nine percent of people surveyed were in favour of conducting a longer public debate on the issue, while 44% favoured a vote being held sooner.
A Fairfax / Ipsos poll published this week showed support for marriage equality was at 69%, while 25% of people were opposed. Support was strongest among voters under 25 years of age, 88% of younger voters were in favour.
OIP Staff
