The Nationals and the LNP say this is an irrelevant issue and are therefore also unlikely to have a big presence beyond statements by individual members.

Labor has condemned the postal vote as "just stupid" so faces some interesting questions – not yet answered – about what role it will play.

If it portrays the vote as an outsourcing of democracy, it can argue the vote should be boycotted and that those wanting change should await the return of proper government and leadership on the issue. But there are obvious risks if the result of the vote is "no".

So there is the prospect of an election at which politicians don't turn up.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull says he is very busy running the country.

The likelihood is that this is a campaign that will be run by third parties: the fear for many gay people is that they will be vilified in a campaign turbocharged by funding from US church groups; those against marriage equality fear that it will be hijacked by groups like GetUp!.

Talk about a strange failure of politics.

The only positive thing you can say about the developments of recent weeks is that the Coalition has been forced to put the issue of same-sex marriage back on the agenda instead of leaving it to languish until after the next federal election.


We should at least have an outcome, and the issue settled now, by Christmas, presuming that a yes vote reflects what polls have been telling us for some time: that the majority of voters support marriage equality and/or just want the issue dealt with one way or the other.

David Rowe

Yet recent history with referendums and plebiscites shows how dangerous, divisive and unpredictable they can be, particularly when used to resolve issues with a populist flavour: Scottish independence and Brexit come to mind.

There must be a chance of the process going bad.

In outlining the plans for the vote on Tuesday, Acting Special Minister of State Mathias Cormann pointed to the precedent of the Whitlam government using the same constitutional head of power and provisions under the relevant legislation in 1974 "to fund and conduct a phone survey of 60,000 randomly selected Australians, to ask them their opinion on Australia's national anthem, whether it should be changed and if so to what".

The result was 51.4 per cent of those "surveyed by the ABS" supporting Advance Australia Fair. And we have been girt by sea ever since.

What if the result is an equally close one, though on this much more sensitive issue? And, of course, what happens, if the result is a no vote?