Australians will be asked to vote in a postal ballot to decide whether to legalise same-sex marriageif the government can’t get separate plebiscite legislation through the senate.
A special meeting of the Liberal Party has concluded and rejected moves to change the party’s policy or an immediate conscience vote on the floor of parliament.
Instead, the government will submit its plebiscite to the senate again with the option of a postal ballot if its legislation is defeated for a second time.
Last November, the senate blocked the proposal to hold a plebiscite by 33 votes to 29. Labor, the Greens and crossbench senators who rejected the move last time are expected to oppose it again, which would lead to the postal ballot.
Months of internal bickering and division over the direction of the same-sex marriage debate has led to public policy splits in the Coalition.
The party was debating three options: sticking with its plebiscite policy, having a separate postal plebiscite or a conscience vote in parliament.
Five Liberal backbenchers, Warren Entsch and openly gay members Dean Smith, Trent Zimmerman, Trevor Evans and Tim Wilson, were spruiking a conscience vote in their private member’s bill which would legalise same-sex marriage.
“The plebiscite is a D grade response to a defining A grade social issue,” Senator Smith told reporters at Parliament House earlier on Monday.
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“It's time for the party to put the matter to rest once and for all and whatever decision that is, the community will be very, very clear about the attitude of the parliamentary Liberal party indeed, the attitude of the Prime Minister and the government by this evening about what the attitude is.”
Their bill included exemptions for religious ministers and civil celebrants so they would not face penalties for refusing to marry gay couples.
The Labor caucus agreed it was an ‘acceptable compromise’.
Had their move succeeded, it would mean the Liberal Party would have broken an election promise for a non-binding plebiscite.
Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott, the architect of the plebiscite, had publicly scolded colleagues for drifting from the party’s election commitments.
He also told radio station 2GB there would be “questions about how authoritative” a postal plebiscite would be.
A postal plebiscite – which would not be compulsory or binding on parliamentarians – had been floated as a compromise option.
Marriage equality advocates have already signalled they will challenge the legality of a postal ballot in the High Court.
The issue was also being framed as a test of Prime Minister Turnbull’s leadership as he personally advocated for a conscience vote in Parliament before becoming leader.
One Victorian Nationals MP, Andrew Broad, had already threatened to quit the Coalition if the Liberals allowed a conscience vote. It would have thrown the government’s one seat majority in the Lower House into doubt.
A Coalition partyroom briefing is scheduled for Tuesday in Canberra as Parliament returns from the winter break.
