Could Australia be the next country to make marriage equality a reality? It is time for love to win!

31 July 2017

We believe in equality for everyone, everywhere—no matter who they are or who they love. Countries across the world, most recently Germany and Malta, are recognizing the freedom to marry as a basic, lawful, human right. Now it is time for Australia, the land of fair dinkum, to make marriage fair and marriage equality legal. 

 

What has been happening?

It’s been a rollercoaster ride for supporters of marriage equality but if we all act NOW the end could finally be in sight! Here’s a quick recap of what has been going on.

In 2015, after a fiery Coalition Government meeting, the Government announced their intention to have a marriage equality plebiscite. But after a two-year delay, the Senate reviewed the proposal and saw it for what it was – an expensive, unnecessary and non-binding exercise that wouldn’t have even passed marriage equality. The only way marriage legislation can be amended in Australia is by a vote in Federal Parliament, making the plebiscite an expensive opinion poll that politicians were not required to stick to.

Some Senators formed a cross-party working group to explore what marriage equality legislation should look like in Australia. Early this year they released a report with suggested draft legislation. But there was still no plan to hold a vote in Parliament.

In June, it was leaked that some members of the Government had secretly been working on a plan to legalise marriage equality through a private member’s bill. Other members of the Government have tried to kill the bill by saying that no legislation would be considered until a plebiscite has been held and now, immigration minister, Peter Dutton has called for a voluntary postal plebiscite.

But a postal plebiscite would be voluntary, not binding and would draw this out for a long time with complex processes, lost votes and likely challenged results. It is time for Australian MPs to be allowed a free vote and pass what the majority of Australians believe is right. It is the simplest, fairest way forward. We’re hopeful that we’ll soon see more steps toward progress.

Thank you! But we still need your help.

Thank you to the 6,500 of you who either came to the scoop shop and wrote your own message of support for MPs or who signed up to the Equality Campaign’s website. Your support has already done a lot to show MPs how much you care about this issue. However, if we want change, we must keep up the pressure. 

TAKE ACTION:

We will be delivering another load of postcards with our messages of support for marriage equality to our local MPs next week. Make sure you drop into your local scoop shop to post your message in our specially made postboxes. If you can’t get to a scoop shop then you can send a message through our partner’s website, the Equality Campaign, here. Remember, when love wins, we all win!