Australia sets possible date for gay marriage vote

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. File picture: AAP/Paul Miller//via REUTERS

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. File picture: AAP/Paul Miller//via REUTERS

Published Sep 13, 2016

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Canberra - The Australian government has proposed a date for a possible compulsory plebiscite on same-sex marriage, in which voters are to be asked: "Should the law be changed to allow same-sex couples to marry?"

"The Australian people will have their say on whether to legalise same-sex marriage on Saturday, February 11, 2017," a statement from the Australian Attorney General's office said on Tuesday.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said he would vote yes, as he tried to lobby the opposition Labor party to pass a parliamentary bill for the vote, which he said he will introduce this week.

Voting will be compulsory, the Attorney General George Brandis said.

Turnbull will need Labor's backing for the legislation to pass, since some of his own Liberal party members are set to cross the floor and vote against the bill, including Dean Smith, the party's first openly gay federal member of parliament.

Smith said the idea of a plebiscite is "abhorrent" and that he will abstain from voting.

A plebiscite in Australia differs from a referendum in that it does not relate to constitutional matters.

The government has set aside a$170 million for the proposed poll, which would be determined by a simple majority.

Crossbenchers, including the Greens Party, and other independent candidates have also opposed the plebiscite.

Opposition leader Bill Shorten called the plan too expensive, instead proposing a separate bill on Monday to legalise same-sex marriage via a parliamentary vote.

On Tuesday, he stopped short of committing to blocking the bill.

"We are going to be talking further to people who will be affected by this vote. We will be talking further to mental health experts," Shorten said.

Another Labor lawmaker Graham Perrett said the plebiscite had "a snowflake's chance in hell" of getting through the senate, where the governing coalition holds even less seats.

dpa

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