THE HON. MARK DREYFUS QC, MP
SHADOW ATTORNEY-GENERAL
MEMBER FOR ISAACS
ABETZ MAKES MOCKERY OF $160M GAY MARRIAGE PLEDGE
Eric Abetz has made a joke of the Liberal Government's promise to let the people decide on legalising same sex marriage, directly contradicting his Prime Minister and putting his party's lack of unity on full display.
In October last year Malcolm Turnbull said any government that ignored the outcome of a national vote on the issue would not be living in the real world.
Hardline conservative Senator Eric Abetz is clearly not living in the real world according to his own leader. It has now emerged he believes every government MP is free to disregard the will of the Australian people and ignore the outcome of a $160 million national vote on legalising same-sex marriage.
Eric Abetz has let the cat out of the bag, admitting the Liberals are not planning to take any notice of the expressed will of the Australian people. This absurd notion makes a complete joke of our democratic process and renders a $160 million national plebiscite totally pointless, Shadow Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said.
The majority of Australians already support same-sex marriage, including Malcolm Turnbull, so I urge the Prime Minister to get on with it and legislate. Instead he is captive to the hard right wing of his party and refuses to take a stand for something he actually believes in.
Its no coincidence Tony Abbott is currently on his way to the United States to address a group which is virulently against same-sex marriage. The Liberal Party may have a new manager, but the hardline views of many of its members have not changed.
Labor opposes the Government's plan to hold an expensive, unnecessary and divisive plebiscite on marriage equality. Malcolm Turnbull has sold out his support for marriage equality in exchange for the leadership of his party, but Labor's position is clear. Bill Shorten has promised that a Shorten Labor Government will introduce a Government Bill for marriage equality within its first 100 days.
WEDNESDAY, 27 JANUARY 2016
