MEMBER for Mallee Andrew Broad threatened on Tuesday to withdraw his parliamentary support for the federal government if Australia tried to legalise gay marriage without a plebiscite.
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Mr Broad is personally opposed to legalising gay marriage but has pledged to vote in parliament in accordance with how Mallee votes if a plebiscite goes ahead.
Mr Broad’s actions, as a National Party member, were widely seen as a reminder to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull of how tight the government’s numbers in Parliament are.
Mr Broad said he would withdraw his support for the government if it tried to bring about same-sex marriage by any mechanism other than the plebiscite.
“The government that I am a part of and will remain a part of is conditional on the fact that the only way that there will be a change to the Marriage Act in this parliament is a plebiscite,” Mr Broad told reporters.
“My position as a member of the government is very clear on that.”
At the time of publication, Mr Broad’s situation appears to have been diffused as hours after he made the comment, the Labor Party resolved to block the plebiscite in the Senate.
Labor members voted against voting to enable the plebiscite over claims it would waste $160 million, have no legal binding in Parliament and would cause mental health damage to gay people.
Legislation drafted for a successful plebiscite vote would change the definition of marriage to between ‘two people’ instead of ‘a man and a woman’
The bill included provisions for religious ministers and non-religious celebrants to refuse to wed gay couples if it was against their personal beliefs.
Religious bodies and organisations would be allowed to deny gay couples "facilities, goods or services for the purpose of a marriage ceremony or purposes reasonably incidental.
Mr Broad told multiple media organisations that he had received 64 handwritten letters about gay marriage, and half were for changing the definition and half were opposed.
Mr Broad told the Guardian Australia that if he did withdraw support for the government, he would remain in the National Party.
Attorney-General George Brandis has released the draft exposure bill that would be passed in the event of a successful plebiscite.
The take-out points are:
- the definition of marriage would be changed to between "two people" instead of "a man and a woman";
- religious ministers and non-religious celebrants would be allowed to refuse to marry a couple on "conscientious" grounds; and
- religious bodies and organisations would be allowed to deny gay couples "facilities, goods or services" for the purpose of a marriage ceremony or "purposes reasonably incidental".
Parliament’s House of Representatives was scheduled to start the sitting day at noon on Tuesday.
The Plebiscite (Same-Sex Marriage) Bill 2016 is the third order of business listed.
Mr Broad’s spokeswoman was not able to respond to a request to clarify Mr Broad’s stance on the plebiscite before Parliament resumed on Tuesday.
Most political observers have predicted that the plebiscite bill has no hope of passing the Senate after Labor’s caucus voted unanimously on late Tuesday morning to oppose it.
Mr Broad issued a statement on the afternoon following Labor’s decision to block the plebiscite legislation in the senate.
Mr Broad said he had made his position very clear in terms of the plebiscite.
The Liberal – National Coalition went to the July election promising a plebiscite to resolve the same sex marriage debate and it is my belief, that having been re-elected, we as the Government, must honour that commitment,” Mr Broad said.
“As such, I could not support any Government decision to walk away from the plebiscite.
“I have consistently said that I have faith in the Australian people to conduct a respectful debate on this issue and that as the representative for the Mallee, I will honour the decision the people in the Wimmera and Mallee region vote for.”