Any push to introduce same-sex marriage to Australia will be defeated, a leading senator has vowed.
As Australia continues to debate the issue in the wake of Ireland’s recent Yes to gay marriage, government Senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells said resistance she had found both within her party and more broadly among Australian citizens gave her confidence that same-sex marriage would not be introduced.
“I do not believe there is at the grassroots of the Liberal Party any overwhelming support for a change to such a fundamental bedrock issue,” the senator said during a television interview. “Whenever it comes up at whatever stage … my sense is the view in the parliament will reflect the review of the majority of the Australian public. That is marriage is between a man and a woman.”
Senator Fierravanti-Wells, who serves as a representative for New South Wales, was responding to fresh efforts by opposition leader Bill Shorten of the Labour Party to introduce a Bill aimed at making same-sex marriage a reality in Australia. The nations Green party has also shown support for such a move. However, when the Labour Party last introduced such a Bill to Australia’s parliament, in 2012, just 48 of 150 MPs voted in favour.
Despite marriage being defined in law – since an amendment of 2004 – as a union of one man and one woman, Australia does not need to hold a referendum on the same-sex issue as Ireland has done as the definition is not enshrined in the nation’s constitution. However, Prime Minister Tony Abbot, reacting to Ireland’s recent vote, has openly declared his own opposition to same-sex marriage for Australia.