Gay Issues, News, Legalities
AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER WARNS FRONTBENCHERS IF THEY VOTE FOR SAME-SEX MARRIAGE
The Prime Minister has warned his frontbenchers they will have to resign if they were to cross the floor to vote in favour of same-sex marriage as he indicated that a public vote on the issue must be held separately to the next federal election and the 2017 referendum on constitutional recognition of indigenous Australians.
Mr Abbott conceded government backbenchers were free to support a private bill that is expected to be introduced to parliament by Liberal MP Warren Entsch next week.
But any minister who wanted to support same-sex marriage would have to resign, he said.
“It is nevertheless the standard position of our party that if a frontbencher cannot support the party’s policy, that person has to leave the frontbench,” Mr Abbott told ABC radio.
“That has always been our position. As I said, if it does come before the Parliament, obviously our backbenchers are entitled to vote in the end, wherever way they want.
“I would be disappointed if they went against the party position but nevertheless we have always accepted that in the end all votes in our party room for backbenchers at least are conscience votes.”
Government frontbenchers who spoke in favour of a free vote at last night’s marathon part room meeting included cabinet ministers Malcolm Turnbull, George Brandis and Christopher Pyne, junior ministers Josh Frydenberg, Marise Payne, Simon Birmingham and Michael Keenan, and parliamentary secretaries Scott Ryan, Kelly O’Dwyer and Darren Chester. Those in cabinet who spoke either against a free vote or for keeping the traditional definition of marriage, or for not changing position in this term, included Eric Abetz, Kevin Andrews, Mathias Cormann, Bruce Billson, Peter Dutton, Joe Hockey, Barnaby Joyce, Scott Morrison, Warren Truss and Julie Bishop, as well as junior minister Stuart Robert and parliamentary secretaries Christian Porter, Michael McCormack, Steven Ciobo and Alan Tudge. Some of these supported a change after the next election.
Mr Entsch has predicted that several of his colleagues will cross the floor to vote in favour of his same-sex marriage bill were it to come to a vote.
“I think there will be a handful of people on my side that will vote for this,” Mr Entsch said.
“Absolutely I will be crossing the floor. But even with some support I don’t think the support is there to see it succeed.”
Mr Abbott last night outlined plans for a “people’s vote” on marriage equality after the next election following the Coalition meeting that blocked attempts to legislate for change.
Speaking at a press conference this morning Mr Abbott said: “The only way to successfully and satisfactorily settle this matter, given that it is so personal, and given that so many people have strong feelings on either side of this, the only way to settle it with the least rancour, if you like, is to ask the people to make a choice because all of us are instinctive democrats, we don’t always get what we want but we accept in our country that the people’s vote settles things.
“I’ve always said that the Indigenous recognition referendum should be dealt with on its own merits and it wouldn’t be my disposition, I’ve got to say, to hold them concurrently. I think out of respect for Indigenous people we need to make that particular day, that particular decision, all about them frankly.
“My disposition, likewise, would not be to hold this people’s vote concurrently with an election because, again, I think that people ought to be able to focus on the differences between a strong and competent government and an opposition which hasn’t learned and can’t change.
“Nevertheless, these are simply my dispositions. We haven’t finalised what we’ll do. Our strong disposition is to take it to the people in the next term of parliament while maintaining the position we took to the last election for the duration of this parliament.”
Mr Abbott would not answer questions this morning about whether the “yes” and “no” campaigns would receive public funding, or whether he believes the plebiscite should require a simple majority, or a majority vote in a majority of states.
Bill Shorten has framed same-sex marriage as an election issue, saying the strongest show of support for equality is to vote Labour at the next election.
The Opposition leader said he believes millions of Australians will have woken up this morning disappointed with Mr Abbott after last night’s decision by the Coalition party room to refuse a conscience vote on gay marriage.
“The choice in this country is clear. You either have Tony Abbott or you have marriage equality; you can’t have both,” the Opposition Leader said.
“I take no enjoyment in the fact that people who love each other can’t get married in this country. I take no enjoyment from the fact that people who love each other have to go through the fiction of going to the embassy grounds of another country … or fly overseas.
“I take no enjoyment of young people feeling the stigma of community attitudes when you’ve got the leader of this nation telling people that your love for someone … is less valuable and less respected.
“I don’t think we should have to wait for a referendum … which by the by would cost tens of millions of dollars. Mr Abbott just needs to move with the times.”
However, this morning in the Senate Labour joined the Coalition to shut down a Greens attempt to force a debate on same-sex marriage, criticising the move as a “stunt” by the minor party.
Greens leader Richard Di Natale moved to suspend debate on establishing the Medical Research Future Fund to force a debate on discriminatory nature of the Marriage Act.
“Think of the signal that the Prime Minister’s actions send to the young people right across this country who are being told ‘you are different … the way you feel is not normal’,” Mr Di Natale said,
The motion was defeated 36 votes to 12.
Claire Moore, the manager of opposition business, accused the Greens of launching a “side show” to create the impression they cared more about same-sex marriage than Labour.
“We have a process in the parliament that allows due process to occur so that issues of importance can fit into the parliamentary schedule,” Senator Moore said.
“The Labour Party will not be supporting this methodology to bring forward a debate that could be had in another way — that must be had in another way — because this is an incredibly important issue for the Senate, for the parliament and for the community.”
Finance Minister Mathias Cormann told the Senate: “The government does not accept that there is discrimination in the Marriage Act.
“We have come to the view that perhaps the best way to facilitate a more permanent resolution of this issue is to give the opportunity to the Australian people, either in a plebiscite or in a referendum, to pass judgment to resolve this question.”
The partyroom decision ignited reaction from all sides of the debate. Labour frontbencher Jason Clare said: “If the Australian people want marriage equality they are going to have to divorce Tony Abbott at the next election.”
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