Australia's governing Liberal Party
will push for a postal vote on whether to legalize same-sex marriage
after the Senate on Wednesday rejected plans for a national vote on
the issue.
The vote on a non-binding referendum,
or plebiscite, came two days after Liberal Party leaders blocked an
effort to allow its members a conscience vote on a bill that would
extend marriage rights to gay and lesbian couples. The Senate has
previously rejected the idea of a plebiscite.
“This is a vote whose sole aim is to
stop the members of this parliament being given a chance to do their
job and vote,” openly gay Senator Penny Wong told colleagues.
“This is a vote because some in the Coalition can never countenance
equality and they are never going to change their minds. They simply
cannot countenance people like me and others being equal. Simple as
that.”
Tiernan Brady of Australia Marriage
Equality said that a plebiscite is “pointless.”
“This plebiscite is legally
unnecessary, politically subversive and totally non-binding, making
it pointless. All it does is set a terrible precedent where LGBTI
people have to reach a higher standard simply to have the same
dignity as everyone else in their families and the country,” Brady
told the
Washington
Blade.
Appearing on ABC's The 7:30 Report,
Australian Attorney General George Brandis, also a senator, discussed
the new plan for a postal vote.
“It would cost $122 million and
instead of being run by the Electoral Commission, it would be
conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS),” Brandis
said. “Voters would begin receiving ballots on September 12,
ahead of a count on November 7, but voting would not be compulsory.”
Brandis predicted that voters would
approve the measure. The vote, however, would also not be legally
binding.