New Aussie PM Sticks to Plan for Popular Vote on Marriage Equality

Malcolm Turnbull's ascension to prime minister in Australia Monday raised hopes that he'd allow a parliamentary conscience vote on marriage equality, but today he said he was sticking with predecessor Tony Abbott's plan to put the issue to a popular referendum.

Today in Parliament, Tanya Plibersek, deputy leader of the opposition Labor Party, questioned Turnbull about changing Australia's laws to allow same-sex couples to marry. He responded that it will "be determined by a vote of the people, all the people, via a plebiscite," according to Australian LGBT news outlet Same Same. The vote would not be binding, but if a majority of Australians favor marriage equality, as recent polls show they do, Parliament would likely vote it into law.

A referendum would come after the next federal election, likely to be next year. Elections in Australia do not have fixed dates but are called by the government.

Plibersek and LGBT activists pointed out to Turnbull that holding a popular vote would be more costly and time-consuming than simply allowing Parliament to vote on the matter. "It would take half an hour of parliamentary time to allow this bill to be voted on," Plibersek said, as reported by Same Same. "It could be done tomorrow. Will the PM allow a vote on this bill and allow members of his party a free vote as he's publicly called for previously?" A "free vote," also known as a "conscience vote," lets members of Parliament go against their party's position without penalty.

"If we are reelected to government, every single Australian will have a say," responded Turnbull, leader of the majority Liberal Party, which governs in coalition with the National Party. Members of the Liberal Party, which is more conservative than Labor, Monday voted Turnbull in as party leader and prime minister, replacing Abbott.

The Labor Party has promised that if it wins a majority in the next federal election, it will introduce a marriage equality bill within 100 days and encourage all MPs to vote their conscience.

A popular vote on marriage equality would cost the government more than AU$158 million, according to the Australian Election Commission. "Granted, it's more expensive," Turnbull said of the referendum, according to Same Same, adding, "But when did it cease to be democratic to let the people speak?"

LGBT activists worry that the campaign leading up to a popular vote would see fearmongering on the part of opponents, and they have called for safeguards against false advertising. A referendum "is unnecessary, costly, and potentially harmful to young or vulnerable LGBTIQ people and their families," Justin Koonin of the New South Wales Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby told Same Same.

Watch video of Turnbull addressing Parliament below, via Australian Marriage Equality.