New polling suggests 71% of people would look more favourably on the Turnbull government if it allowed a free vote on same-sex marriage instead of holding a plebiscite, including 64% who lean to voting Liberal.



The new Galaxy poll, obtained by Guardian Australia, comes as marriage equality returns to the national political agenda. A parliamentary committee is due to hand down its findings on the exposure draft of a marriage bill presented by the government ahead of the failure of the plebiscite.

The committee is expected in its report to identify areas of agreement and disagreement with the current exposure draft, and present some ideas for how a multi-party consensus might emerge in the wake of the failed plebiscite proposal.

The exposure draft is expected to form the template for a new push in this parliament to legalise same-sex marriage through a private member’s bill, brought forward either by government members or a renewed cross-party effort.

But conservatives have moved ahead of the committee report to try and snuff out any renewed momentum around a free vote.

Party moderates insist the government has now moved beyond the plebiscite to a free vote because Tony Abbott acknowledged while he was prime minister that the last parliament – the 44th parliament – was the final time when government MPs could be bound.

But Abbott has insisted that the plebiscite – engineered under his leadership but rejected by the parliament – remains the only way forward.

Last week the outspoken Liberal National party backbencher George Christensen warned: “If this government goes down the road of breaking its agreement with the people that we made that we were going to do to a plebiscite, then, you know, the show’s over.”

As well as the issue being met with predictable, trenchant objections from conservatives, the government has also been keen to use the opening of the new parliamentary year to stress that the focus is on bread-and-butter issues like cost of living – which will make the internal political environment more delicate for moderates who want to push ahead with a free vote in the near term.

The new polling by Galaxy, commissioned by Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, was undertaken in early February and was based on an online survey of 1,000 respondents aged 18 and over.

It underscored the community support for marriage equality and suggested a beleaguered government could get a boost from finally resolving the issue.

But the new poll also suggested that 45% of the sample opposed exemptions allowing civil celebrants and businesses to refuse services to customers based on religious beliefs. Almost two-thirds – 65% – would oppose such exemptions if they were specific to same-sex couples.

The committee report is expected to contain differences on issues of religious freedom and whether it is reasonable to allow conscientious objections to same-sex unions.

Marriage equality advocates will be in Canberra during the week lobbying parliamentarians – citing the strong community support for a free vote and arguing the LGBTI community will not accept marriage equality legislation compromised by refusal-of-service provisions.

The marriage equality advocate and just.equal spokesman Rodney Croome said on Sunday: “This poll shows Australians want marriage equality, they want it via a free vote in parliament and they want it to be truly equal without caveats entrenching further discrimination.

“The message to [the prime minister] Malcolm Turnbull is that he will win back support from potential Liberal voters at the next election by dropping the plebiscite policy and passing marriage equality on a free vote.”

As well as the return of marriage quality to the political agenda, negotiations are continuing between the government and the cross bench on a range of legislative issues, including the childcare package and the omnibus savings bill accompanying it, which was introduced last week.

The Labor leader, Bill Shorten, will also use parliament’s return on Monday to attempt to turn the spotlight on donations reform.

Shorten will bring forward a private member’s bill that would reduce the donation disclosure limit from the current level of $13,200 (indexed to inflation) to a fixed $1,000, prohibit the receipt of foreign donations, and ban donation splitting where donations are spread between different branches of political parties and associated entities – like the Free Enterprise Foundation – to avoid disclosure obligations.

The bill would also ban the receipt of anonymous donations above $50, link public funding to campaign expenditure and introduce new offences and increased penalties for abuses of the political donation disclosure regime.

Shorten said on Sunday it was time for the Liberal party to stop resisting disclosure reform. “The time for cheap talk is over,” he said. “The prime minister should put his money where his mouth is and back my changes.”

The government has been delaying its renewed policy stance on disclosure until after the joint standing committee on electoral matters produces a final report in March.