Spring is coming. Remember that, folks, and take heart. Yes, the winter of 2017 has seemed bitterly cold, and dark, at times. White-walkers didn't invade, as feared by Game of Thrones fans, but the vengeful sprit of a Trump presidency seemed to cast a shadow across the world, culminating in this week's threat of "fire and fury" against Pyongyang.

And now we face an emotionally fraught and potentially divisive postal vote – of dubious constitutional and statistical validity – to attempt to resolve the question of same-sex marriage. Many will feel that the extension of a basic human right to all citizens is reason enough for a "yes" vote in the upcoming "voluntary survey". But for any still undecided, there is another significant – and entirely selfish – reason to vote yes.

And it's this. The explosion of love and goodwill that would accompany the legalisation of same-sex marriage cannot come soon enough for the Australian economy.

Battered and bruised from the global financial crisis and the end of the mining boom, the Australia economy is in desperate need of a boost to demand to fuel job creation and pay rises.