A planned debate in Australia’s Senate on same-sex marriage has been postponed indefinitely after the nation’s prime minister refused to allow MPs a conscience vote on the issue.

In the days before the proposed debate, the Australian Christian Lobby together with other pro-family groups garnered over two million signatures in support of traditional marriage which were sent to MPs to urge a continuing defence of the family.

As advocacy groups on both sides of the same-sex marriage debate lobbied parliamentarians in the run-up to the March 26 debate, it became clear that the stance of Prime Minister Tony Abbott, leader of the majority Liberal Party, had not changed on the issue of a conscience vote and the debate was postponed, with June being the earliest possible date for legislators to revisit the issue.

Mr Abbott and his party were elected on a campaign promise to defend traditional marriage. They subsequently formed a coalition with the minority Liberal Democrat Party, a member of which, Senator David Leyonhjelm, first introduced the Freedom to Marry Bill.

“There’s not a lot of point kicking off the debate if the Liberals haven’t changed,” he said of the postponement.