The lesbian sister of Tony Abbott finally married her partner after years of waiting for same-sex marriage to be legalised in Australia, and her former PM anti-LGBT brother turned up and was surprisingly nice.

The right-wing politician was one of the leading voices in the ‘No’ campaign during the same-sex marriage referendum in Australia.

Related: Daughter of anti-gay leader Tony Abbott supports equal marriage

Abbott, who led the country until he was deposed in an internal party coup in 2015, repeatedly called on Australians to vote against equality.

His anti-LGBT rhetoric directly affected his own sister, Christine Forster, who had been waiting for years for the right to marry her long-term partner, Virginia Flitcroft.

However, the pair has now finally tied the knot after 10 years of partnership.

The happy couple wore navy in the cocktail-themed wedding which took place in the centre of Sydney.

Related: Australia’s ex-PM Tony Abbott claims equal marriage supporters are ‘moral bullies’

They hosted 200 guests including friends, family, drag queens and of course, the former PM.

Speaking at the wedding, Abbott said: “It’s a great family occasion, very happy for Chris and Virginia and I’m looking forward to having a new sister-in-law.”

The ex-PM had campaigned against marriage equality, insisting that it threatened “religious freedom”.

Speaking about the referendum, he said: “Obviously I’ll be voting no, but this isn’t about politicians this is about the people, this is about your view.

Related: Gay sister of Australia’s ex-PM Tony Abbott shuts down his anti-gay marriage stance

“If you don’t like same-sex marriage, vote no. If you’re worried about religious freedom and freedom of speech, vote no. If you don’t like political correctness, vote no.”

It was questioned whether Abbott would get an invite to the event as they traded jibes throughout the campaign.

In one scathing attack on Forster last year, he said that it would be “best” if her six children with her now-wife were raised by a straight couple.

Related: Sister of anti-gay former Australian PM Tony Abbott is finally getting married after years of waiting

Speaking to 2GB host Ben Fordham, Mr Abbott said of his opposition to same-sex marriage: “I want to strengthen the family, I want to support the traditional families because it’s better for kids, if possible, to have a mother and a father.

“As everyone knows, my distinguished and much-loved sister Chris is on the other side of this argument. Chris has been a very good mother with her partner Virginia, they do a good job, but nevertheless, I’m old-fashioned enough to think kids do best with a mother and a father.”

He added: “Certainly, we all need male and female role models in our lives and normally the best male and female role models in our lives are our mother and a father.”

Fordham asked if the politician’s relationship with his sister had broken down after she accused him of “avoiding her calls”.

Abbott said: “Chris has made it very clear that as a family we can all get on even though we don’t always agree on everything.”