Damien Cave, our Australia bureau chief, shares insights on global news, local recommendations and feedback from readers in this weekly newsletter. To receive it in your inbox, sign up here.

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The crowd that gathered in Sydney’s Prince Alfred Park yesterday expected to celebrate, and they did — dancing and cheering when results of the same-sex marriage survey showed that a majority of Australians supported the argument for marriage equality.

But if the high turnout and victory showed the health of Australia’s democracy, as many people said it did, there were also quite a few arguing that the survey itself pointed to the country’s biggest problem: a divided, out-of-touch legislature that often lags behind other countries and its own constituents on the important issues of the day.

This view arose quickly in many of our interviews over the past few months on the issue, and I included that point — among others — in the analysis piece published today that aims to step back and assess what Australia has learned about itself through this lengthy and challenging process.