Shorten Shouts For Marriage Equality, Tells Abbott To “Get A Life” At

Pyne said a parliamentary “free vote”, which was denied by Abbott earlier this week, was his preference.

Liberal MP Warren Entsch has introduced to federal parliament his cross-party bill to legalise same-sex marriage.

Brandis, interviewed on Sky on Sunday, repeated his strong opposition to making the popular vote a referendum, saying it was not necessary.

But it appears unlikely that bill will get to the vote stage, although it is possible there could be a move, which would be doomed, to try to suspend standing orders to bring on a debate. And Labor MP Terri Butler is unlikely to get her chance to second it.

“We believe that when it comes to marriage equality, that time is now”, he said.

PETA DONALD: But you must be giving up hope on this particular bill as being the vehicle for that?

Thousands participated in a rally in Melbourne today to increase pressure on the government for marriage equality.

Hinton-Teoh said a groundswell within the Coalition was forming but the likelihood of marriage equality passing in this term was low. If the rights of minorities – in that case, couples of different racial backgrounds – had been put to the majority vote, god knows how long it might have taken for the United States’ most flagrantly discriminatory practices to be overturned.

Some in the Australian media have welcomed the prospect of a gay marriage referendum, calling for a dialogue that’s more “data driven”; more “focused on the impact on children”.

PETA DONALD: The real action will come when Cabinet meets this afternoon.

Mr Cobb said he could not support a conscience vote because the Coalition already had a policy in place supporting the traditional definition of marriage.

Marriage equality was very much in the news this week with the Abbott government confirming it will not allow its members a conscience vote on the issue.

Mr Turnbull a supporter of gay marriage, wants a plebiscite before the next election, so the issue stops distracting from the Government’s other messages.

Minister Scott Morrison said legalising same-sex marriages should be put to a referendum which would enable the government to change the constitution, rather than changing legislation.

GEORGE BRANDIS: I can see the desirability of having the matter out of the way.

“A referendum would cost a great deal of money, in fact only to achieve no outcome because there is no legal basis for a referendum”. That’s another consideration to be borne in mind as well. That would require a vote in the next 12 months and would mean three national ballots within two years.

Campaigners have now said they back a plebiscite as the next best option following the party room defeat.

Asked when the government would decide the form of the vote, Brandis said: “I’m not sure that it will happen at the Cabinet meeting scheduled for tomorrow, but I do agree and expect that this is a decision that the government should make very soon”.