"They are poisoning the well of good will for all other elected politicians in the country. Former planning minister Matthew Guy's handling of Fishermans Bend has been almost universally slammed by planning, architectural and property experts. Credit:Penny Stephens "People who feel that members should be bound on matters of conscience by a party vote, well, they need to go back and look at the rationale on which our party was founded by Robert Menzies - it wasn't one of binding votes, it was one of conscience." In comments driving a clear wedge between state and federal branches of the Liberal Party, Mr Guy also slammed a decision by Mr Abbott to include the socially conservative Nationals in a party room debate and vote on same-sex marriage. "This is the leadership we are looking for for our country and I just say from a Liberal - from a Liberal - my party is founded on the basis of giving people the right to vote on their conscience," he said.

"The National Party is a separate party. They should decide their policy initiatives in government or opposition in their own party room and the Liberal Party decides their own." Moderate Liberals are fuming following a marathon joint party room meeting on Tuesday night at which a push to legislate for same-sex marriage was effectively killed off. Senior Abbott government minister and leader of the House, Christopher Pyne confirmed on Wednesday that he had argued against having the Liberal and National parties discuss the issue together. "I'm of the view, and I was of the view yesterday, that the Liberal Party should have a meeting of its own to discuss this matter of whether there should be a free vote on the issue of marriage equality," Mr Pyne told Sydney radio 2GB.



He noted that he was not "talking about of school" because "that seems to have been splashed across everyone newspaper in Australia". Mr Pyne was reported as having likened the decision to include Nationals MPs in the debate to "branch stacking".

When asked on Wednesday if he had remembered that Mr Abbott had talked specifically of the Coalition discussing the issue before the 2013 election, Mr Pyne said no. "But I still felt ... [there is] absolutely no reason at all why the Liberal Party couldn't have met to discuss the issue itself." Mr Pyne stressed that half of the frontbench speakers at the marathon meeting were in favour of a free vote, while a third of the backbench backed a free vote. The Education Minister also suggested that he would now abide by the decision, as a cabinet minister. "We have a party position on it, which as a member of the cabinet, obviously I am bound by."

with Judith Ireland

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