Having seized power, Malcolm Turnbull has put economic management at the core of his mission. Before the last election, a naive belief existed among business people that the mere election of a Coalition government would restore consumer and business confidence. Animal spirits would be unleashed. Factories would roar to life. Banks would cast open their doors to small business. Consumers would regain that ole spring back in their step. It didn't happen. Tony Abbott and Joe Hockey's savage first budget dealt a body blow to consumer and business confidence. Their second "avago" budget brought forward some spending on small business equipment, but failed to revive spirits.

That elusive "confidence fairy" still slumbers. It's time to wake her up. And what better way to do that than with an all-singing, all-dancing outburst of love, acceptance and celebration of the freedom of individuals to do what they want. Let's see people dancing in the streets, not being stopped by border control to check their visas. It's hard to pinpoint exactly why households and business have been so shy of late. Shaky financial markets, job fears and housing bubble fears haven't helped.

But nor has the relentless focus from Canberra over the last two years on national security risks. Death cults. Queue jumpers. Our shores, we are told, are assailed. Abbott's fearmongering over national security has had a subtle, but crushing, effect on national confidence – that most elusive of qualities. A fresh focus by Turnbull on the equality of love would soften the national narrative, not to mention unleashing billions of dollars of potential spending on confetti, cars and venue hire. For there is no spirit on earth more willing to throw money to the wind than an expectant bride or groom. The average couple spends $65,482 on their nuptials, according to the latest annual "Cost of Love" survey by the Bride to Be magazine. There's no reason to think gay couples will be any more restrained.

The 2011 census identified 33,714 same-sex de facto couples living in Australia. If only half of those decided to get married, that would unleash more than $1 billion of economic stimulus. Stationery shops would sell more paper. Wedding venues would take more bookings. Photographers would get more jobs. Retailers would sell more clothes. Of course, gay couples may spend less, over time, on other things. But the weddings boom would generate a valuable economic kickstart. Jurisdictions which have legalised gay marriage have experienced multimillion-dollar boosts to tourism and retail, not to mention fees for local governments. New York City reported a $US259 million economic boost in the year it legalised gay marriage.

But there is a deeper economic rationale to make love equal. Denying gay marriage reduces the economic surplus by preventing mutually agreeable transactions that would otherwise have taken place. It stops individuals from engaging in transactions that would make not only themselves, but the sellers of those services, better off. Worse still, it imposes a hidden cost on gay people and the people that love them. Every day, gay couples are denied one of their deepest desires, to wed and rejoice in their love with their families and friends. Every day, the marriages of heterosexual couples are tarnished, because you get to enjoy something your gay friends are denied. Members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex community suffer huge mental health costs. They are twice as likely as straight people to experience high psychological distress; three times as likely to have suicidal thoughts. Improving the mental health of the gay community would boost both workforce participation and productivity, boosting economic output.

Turnbull has made freedom and the needs of the individual primary in his pitch to Australians. Apart from the merits of gay marriage, there is a leadership question at stake. Strong and secure political leadership is fundamental in breeding consumer and business confidence. A strong leader is one who possesses deeply held beliefs which he or she prosecutes passionately and, after a period of consultation, implements. Australia needs the stability and security of a leader who will act in accordance with their well telegraphed beliefs.

Australians know Turnbull supports marriage equality. His leadership will be compromised if he is unable to deliver before the next election. For those within the Coalition still wedded to the existing definition of marriage, there is a political calculus to consider. The latest polling shows 69 per cent of Australians support gay marriage. In a democracy, the will of the majority ultimately asserts itself. A new opportunity now exists for Parliament to move with the times.

It's time for Turnbull to unleash a glittery, loved-filled confidence fairy to act as a circuit breaker to the national economic malaise. It's time to party. The economy will thank him for it. Ross Gittins is on leave.