07:35

Just tracking back to the press conference held this afternoon with co-sponsors of the cross-party marriage equality bill and members of Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG), a few particulars. Liberal MP Warren Entsch has said Australians would “feel a bloody darned sight better about ourselves” once given the chance to vote on same-sex marriage. Debate around the bill, which Entsch introduced, resumed in the parliamentary chamber on Monday.

“When you have a look at Ireland, when you have a look at New Zealand three years ago, the last time I had a look at New Zealand it is still the land of the long white cloud,” Entsch told reporters. “The one thing that has changed dramatically when you talk to the people of New Zealand and people from Ireland? They feel a darned-sight better about themselves because they made the decision to do what they’ve done, and I can say to you, we would feel a bloody darned sight better about ourselves once we get an opportunity to put this [vote] out there.”

New Zealand’s parliament voted to make same-sex marriage legal in 2013, and in a referendum held in May, Ireland voted in favour of allowing same-sex marriage.