The government's plan to hold a popular vote on whether Australia should allow same-sex marriage suffered a setback recently when a political party announced it would not support the proposed plebiscite.
The Nick Xenophon Team, which supports marriage equality, said its three senators would not support legislation to authorize the plebiscite, which would effectively become a US 120 million Australian dollar opinion poll without legal weight.
Another party that favors gay marriage, the Greens, announced a few weeks ago that it was also against holding the plebiscite. That leaves the opposition center-left Labor Party as the government's only hope of getting the Senate to back holding a popular vote opposing same-sex marriage.
Labor leader Bill Shorten supports marriage equality but has recently stepped up his attacks on the plebiscite plan. But Labor is waiting to see the proposed legislation for the vote before announcing whether its senators would back it.
"The quickest path to resolving this issue would be a vote in the Parliament, and that's what we will be seeking to do in the coming days and weeks," Shorten said.
The Nick Xenophon Team and Greens agree with Labor that Parliament should decide without waiting for a non-binding popular vote.
"We should never put questions of human rights to an opinion poll," Greens leader Richard Di Natale said to reporters.
Why are they so scared of asking the Australians to support their left-leaning advocacy? Simple really.
Australian plebiscites and referendums — which are legally-binding popular votes — always manage to change the status quo in Australia.
With the growing support for far-right disciplines, same-sex marriage proposals will definitely be rejected. And if they lose the planned plebiscite, they may not be able to recover for several decades more.
The Nick Xenophon Team, which supports marriage equality, said its three senators would not support legislation to authorize the plebiscite, which would effectively become a US 120 million Australian dollar opinion poll without legal weight.
Another party that favors gay marriage, the Greens, announced a few weeks ago that it was also against holding the plebiscite. That leaves the opposition center-left Labor Party as the government's only hope of getting the Senate to back holding a popular vote opposing same-sex marriage.
Labor leader Bill Shorten supports marriage equality but has recently stepped up his attacks on the plebiscite plan. But Labor is waiting to see the proposed legislation for the vote before announcing whether its senators would back it.
"The quickest path to resolving this issue would be a vote in the Parliament, and that's what we will be seeking to do in the coming days and weeks," Shorten said.
The Nick Xenophon Team and Greens agree with Labor that Parliament should decide without waiting for a non-binding popular vote.
"We should never put questions of human rights to an opinion poll," Greens leader Richard Di Natale said to reporters.
Why are they so scared of asking the Australians to support their left-leaning advocacy? Simple really.
Australian plebiscites and referendums — which are legally-binding popular votes — always manage to change the status quo in Australia.
With the growing support for far-right disciplines, same-sex marriage proposals will definitely be rejected. And if they lose the planned plebiscite, they may not be able to recover for several decades more.