Fast forward to Friday morning and somebody waking to the news could be forgiven for thinking the world had ended, such was the reaction surrounding the alleged assault in Hobart against Tony Abbott.

The mug lair who allegedly headbutted Abbott thankfully caused no physical harm. Assaulting a former PM is no small matter though. Perhaps those blowing $120 million on a fence around Parliament should rethink the decision to withdraw Abbott's federal police guard when he's outside the building.

But in terms of harming the Yes case the act was a public relations gift for the No campaign. By the time the alleged assailant explained late Friday his motivation was a general dislike of Abbott, not his stance on same-sex marriage, the horse had bolted.

Moments after the assault, Abbott got his staffer to call the police while he called the media. He, Abetz and others blanketed the airwaves to claim the acts of hatred were one way.

"The intolerance from the Yes campaign, the ugliness on social media, et cetera - it has been overwhelmingly one-way traffic,' said Abetz.

Abbott concurred: "The ugliness is not coming from the defenders of marriage as it's always been understood."

No camp losing PR campaign

Complete rubbish. The ugliness is coming from both sides but the No campaign is streets ahead in milking it in order to cement itself as the victim of evil and turn people away from change.


Be it the sacking of a young Christian woman from a Canberra party firm this week, or the alleged assault on Abbott, the No campaign is dominating the media coverage with its Pythonesque routine of "come and see the violence inherent in the system".

Unless the Yes campaign gets its skates on and starts pushing back by highlighting the threats and abuse coming its way, as well as trying to control the crazies in its ranks, then it faces a towelling. No change is achieved without a fight and the bar is set high for the advocates of change in terms of behaviour.

When Yes campaigners, to their credit, were swift to condemn the alleged Abbott assault, Rodney Croome of Tasmanians United for Marriage Equality, also noted that a Burnie Cafe was threatened with arson for supporting the Yes campaign and a 14-year old Dubbo girl received a death threat for supporting marriage equality on social media.

Those who oppose same-sex marriage pushed for a plebiscite rather than a Parliamentary vote for one reason - it provided the best chance of defeating the push. This reasoning is becoming apparent through their adeptness at conflating the proposed change with issues such as freedoms to scare people, and exploiting every dumb act perpetrated against them.

At the same time, the No campaigners, despite demanding there be a public debate, ranting about threats to free speech, and targeting children, try and shut down any organisation which does not agree with them.

Abbott tore shreds this week off an ACT politician, Yvette Berry, after she counselled a local school, the Brindabella Christian College, against pressuring the parents of students to vote no. Abbott had no criticism of the school for telling people what to do.

Or take former Fairfax and Woolworths boss Roger Corbett who this week said companies such as Qantas - and its CEO Alan Joyce - had no business taking sides because "it presumes that everyone, all the stakeholders in that business, support that point of view".

The Business Council's Jennifer Westacott called out Corbett's intellectual dishonesty, saying businesses can speak out about gender equality, women in leadership, the arts and other community issues, so why not marriage equality.


"I don't think people can have it both ways," she said.

And why cannot the AFL have a view yet the churches can?

Not a religious issue

Same-sex marriage is not a religious issue, it is a secular issue. That does not mean people of faith cannot oppose it according to their religious beliefs but they have no right to expect those who do not believe to do so either.

Sport long ago replaced religion in this country as the opiate of the masses. More people go to the footy than they do church.

In Adelaide on Friday night, 50,000-plus people were scheduled to attend the preliminary final between the Adelaide Crows and Geelong. About 20 per cent of the city's population of 1.1 million is Catholic.

Just 8 per cent go to mass each week. That's around 16,000 to 20,000. And like AFL fans, their views are divided on the issue.

While the Catholic church has spent the past few years embroiled in its hideous past of institutionalised child abuse, it has been the sporting codes - predominantly the AFL and NRL - which have led on social tolerance, be it domestic violence awareness, indigenous reconciliation, multiculturalism and LGBTI equality.


Christopher Pyne condemned the alleged Abbott assault in Friday but, when asked how to rein in the anger, he suggested the No camp should stop being so provocative.

"People need to focus on the truth, and the truth is that this is a question about whether you think two people who love each other should be able to get married," he said.

"In this debate there's been far too many red herrings being raised about things like the curriculum in schools, gender fluidity, religious freedom."

Following last year's election campaign, this debate is the second eight-week campaign Turnbull has inflicted on the nation in just over 12 months.

It runs for another six weeks.

The alleged assault on Abbott has hung a lantern over the nastiness that this plebiscite was always going to produce.

It should be hung over both sides.