(Transcript from SBS World News Radio)
Liberal minister Eric Abetz says any frontbenchers within the Liberal Party who want to legalise same-sex marriage should resign their positions and join the backbench.
The Workplace Relations Minister says the party has a position on gay marriage and, if frontbenchers do not agree, they should do the honourable thing and give up their roles.
Senator Abetz is the latest senior Liberal to try to halt the parliamentary march towards legalising gay marriage.
It comes after Labor, Liberal, independent and Green MPs have said they will be putting a private member's bill into parliament in August.
Amanda Cavill reports.
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Eric Abetz has criticised the media for driving momentum on gay marriage after it ran the details of a private cross-party bill.
Liberal Warren Entsch, backed by Labor's Terri Butler, the Greens' Adam Bandt and independent Andrew Wilke, is sponsoring the bill.
They argue the legalisation of gay marriage in the United States, Ireland and New Zealand should set the stage for Australia to follow.
Liberal backbenchers currently can vote freely on such bills, but Coalition policy to support only male-female marriage compels any senior members to quit their posts if they want to cross the floor.
Communication Minister Malcom Turnbull and Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop both support a change to the marriage act to include same sex couples.
But Senator Abetz has told Sky News it is a Coalition tradition for frontbench MPs to resign if they disagree with party policy.
"The tradition is there for all to see and I think it is an Honourable tradition and it is a tradition that I have tried to follow in my 21 years in the Parliament, and I think it is the only fair and reasonable position in relation to your other colleagues. This is not a matter of conscience. This is a matter of party policy that has been through the party room, through the various forums of the Liberal and National Parties, through the Coalition, the position is very strong and this is not a conscience issue, this is a policy issue."
In 2009, Mr Abetz quit the opposition frontbench after refusing to support opposition leader Malcolm Turnbull's push for an emissions trading scheme.
But independent MP Andrew Wilke says Senator Abetz's comments are misleading at best.
Mr Wilke says the government went to the last election leaving its options open about whether it would allow a conscience vote on gay marriage.
He says that means a 'no' vote on the issue was not policy within the Liberal party at that time.
"I think some in the government are being a bit mishevious here. They actually went to the last election saying that this was a matter for the Liberal party room. That was what was said before the 2013 election. So here we have in the Liberal and National or the coalition party room, here we have a number of members who have co-sponsored a private members bill. Now this is the party that says it lets people follow its conscience. It's the Labor party that binds people to follow the party position. "
But Labor's Terri Butler is hopeful a vote will be allowed.
"But I want to see marriage equality made a reality in Australia's as soon as possible. I think any moves to have a cross-party approach to drafting legislation are really important. I would certainly like to see the Liberals and Nationals be given a free vote because that's what it will take to get marriage equality up in this country."
Supporters of legalised gay marriage had their hopes raised last month when Prime Minister Abbott told parliament the whole of parliament needed ownership of gay marriage for a change to the laws to be successful.
But Mr Abbott now appears to be backing away from those comments and distancing himself from the cross-party bill.
"It's quite unusual for private members bills to come on for debate and vote in the Parliament. I have been in the Parliament now for 21 years and there's only been from memory two or three occasions when a private members bill has come on for debate and vote. The normal processes will be followed. I think that this is an important subject, but so are all the subjects that people bring to the Parliament by way of private members legislation. Let's see what the Selection Committee decides, but the point I make is that we will treat this in an absolutely normal and straightforward way."
One member of the selection committee, Liberal MP Andrew Nikolic, says he does not believe gay marriage will be on the parliamentary agenda any time soon.
