Former prime minister and conservative MPs urge Coalition not to abandon commitment to same-sex marriage plebiscite

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

The former Australian prime minister Tony Abbott has warned against abandoning a national plebiscite on same-sex marriage, saying it would break a key election promise.

“Malcolm Turnbull made a clear election commitment that the marriage law would only change by way of people’s plebiscite, not free vote of the parliament,” the former prime minister told Fairfax Media. “I’m sure he’ll honour that commitment. This isn’t about same-sex marriage, it’s about keeping faith with the people.”

A group of Liberals in support of same-sex marriage is leading a push for the government to ditch its plebiscite policy in favour of a free vote in parliament. The backbenchers are reportedly working to bring the issue to a head in the next fortnight.

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They argue once the proposed plebiscite date passes and a Senate inquiry into the bill is handed down in mid-February, the Liberal party room should rethink its approach to the issue.

On Sunday, Sydney independent MP Alex Greenwich - co-chair of Australian Marriage Equality - said federal Coalition MPs should be allowed a conscience vote on same-sex marriage, as pro-equality campaigners turn up the heat on the government.

“All we are asking is for MPs who support this reform, and there are many within the Coalition, to be able to exercise that right that they have,” he said at the launch of a marriage equality advertising campaign in Sydney.

However, several conservatives have pushed back against their colleagues’ proposal, with the Sydney Liberal MP Craig Kelly arguing that allowing a free vote on the issue would be a “betrayal” of the Coalition’s election commitment to hold a plebiscite.

“To backtrack and reverse on such a clear election promise during this parliamentary term would be a betrayal of the voting public,” he said on Saturday.

The Liberal MP Warren Entsch, one of the Coalition’s leading advocates of same-sex marriage, said he would negotiate privately with colleagues to deal with the issue “once and for all”.

“I have done everything I can to support the plebiscite - more than some who say they are in favour of it - but it’s not going to happen,” he told Fairfax Media.

The opposition leader, Bill Shorten, has urged Turnbull to “get on with it” and support a free vote on same-sex marriage.

Mark Butler, the shadow minister for climate change, said the community overwhelmingly wanted a free vote in the parliament and that was Labor’s “unshakeable position”.

The Liberal backbencher and supporter of same-sex marriage Tim Wilson said it was not news he wanted a change in the law but he had stuck to his party’s commitment for a plebiscite. He said a Senate inquiry into same sex-marriage draft laws had yet to report back.



“When that committee reports, when that inquiry is concluded, obviously there is going to have to be a discussion,” Wilson told ABC television on Sunday. “Nothing to do with me pushing for anything or anybody else.”

Josh Frydenberg, the minister for environment and energy, said he believed the Labor party would “inevitably blink” on this issue.

“Because if they’re serious about giving people of the same sex the opportunity to marry then the best way to do that is through a plebiscite,” he told Sky News. “Our plan is still to have a plebiscite. That is our policy.”