Tony Abbott has warned that if the Senate blocks legislation enabling a same-sex marriage plebiscite he believes there should not be a parliamentary vote, at least not in the next term of parliament.

In comments to Sky News on Wednesday, the conservative former prime minister framed a plebiscite as the only option to achieve marriage equality, in his last pre-election interview, warning proponents of same-sex marriage not to attempt to force a parliamentary vote.

It comes as Labor and the Greens refuse to rule out blocking a plebiscite, and numerous Senate and lower-house crossbench MPs similarly refuse to commit to allowing a plebiscite.

Malcolm Turnbull has not said what he would do if the Senate blocked a same-sex marriage plebiscite, setting up a battle with conservative MPs after the election if he proposes a parliamentary vote, or disappointment from marriage equality proponents if he drops the issue, as Abbott suggested.

Abbott said the public would feel “ripped off” if legislation backing a plebiscite on same-sex marriage fails to pass the new parliament because “something like 80%” of the public back a popular vote.

“As I understand it the position we are taking to the public is that, at least for the next term of parliament, if this matter is to be decided, it will have to be decided by the people at a plebiscite. That’s our firm position, as I understand it.

“If the Senate wants to play games with that, be it on their heads there won’t be a same-sex marriage vote.”

Abbott said if Labor lost, the “decent thing” to do was to respect the Coalition’s mandate and allow a plebiscite, which he said would put the result beyond “partisan questioning”.

“If it is going to change I think that more conservatively minded people will feel much more reconciled to a change ... if it comes from the people rather than a more easily lobbied parliament.”

Turnbull has demanded Labor pass enabling legislation for a plebiscite, telling the Australian newspaper it would be “untenable” for Labor to deny the government’s mandate on the issue.

It follows comments from the opposition leader, Bill Shorten, at the National Press Club on Tuesday that Labor would not accept Turnbull’s “deal” with conservatives for a same-sex marriage plebiscite. The Greens are also opposed to a plebiscite and have not ruled out blocking the enabling legislation.

Abbott’s former chief of staff, Peta Credlin, predicted Labor and the Greens would block the plebiscite and warned the government had no “plan B” on the issue.

Speaking on ABC’s AM on Thursday, Shorten did not commit to passing legislation enabling a plebiscite.

“Why do we have to overcomplicate politics? The quickest way from A to B is to go in a straight line. Isn’t that to have a vote in parliament?”



Shorten accused Turnbull of “followership not leadership” on the issue because he had previously supported a parliamentary vote.

The shadow treasurer, Chris Bowen, said it would be a matter for the Labor party room to decide whether to block plebiscite-enabling legislation.

Coalition MP and same-sex marriage advocate Warren Entsch said on Thursday that despite having put up a private member’s bill for parliament to legislate same-sex marriage, he now supported the plebiscite.

“Initially I was disappointed but the feedback that I’ve got is that the general, the very strong view, is the Australian people want a say in it, they want to be part of the decision, they don’t want the decision to be exclusively that of the politicians,” he said.

Asked about senior ministers Scott Morrison and Julie Bishop refusing to say how they would vote, Entsch said that MPs were entitled to abstain rather than vote in favour of same-sex marriage, even if the plebiscite were successful.

“If people have strong personal views and want to abstain, they’re quite entitled to, but that doesn’t mean it would be lost, it would not be lost,” said Entsch.

Entsch said he did not believe it would be possible for Labor to block a plebiscite if it lost the election because “the Australian public [are] overwhelmingly are demanding to have a say in this”.

He likened it to the GST, which most parties opposed before the 1998 election but which the Senate accepted the government had a mandate for after Howard was re-elected.