Same-sex marriage: Australian parliament passes historic bill on final sitting day of 2017
MALCOLM Turnbull says making same-sex marriage legal in Australia is a “great moment in history, as Magda Szubanski is nearly brought to tears.
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MALCOLM Turnbull says that making same-sex marriage legal in Australia in today’s landslide vote is a “great moment in history” that will benefit generations to come.
The Prime Minister told ABC 730 host Leigh Sales the vote had “an enormous national effort” with every Australian having a say.
When asked by Sales about the “significant cost” to many LBTQI Australians of having to endure a public debate, Mr Turnbull said the balance was “overwhelmingly positive”.
“I mean, if you are a young gay person and you are worried about your identity, you’re struggling with how to tell your parents or your friends — you know, you’re going through a tough time, and now you know 62 per cent of Australians have voted to say, ‘You are equal, we love you, we respect you.’
“That is a very big affirmation. That is a very big hug, Leigh — and that’s what Australians have done.”
The historic bill passed just before 6pm today after MPs voted to knock back a series of last-minute changes to the legislation.
MPs and members of the public began to spontaneously sing ‘I Am Australian’ after the vote. There were also tears and hugs on the floor of parliament.
Dean Smith, the Liberal senator who drafted the bill, said Australians won twice — when the nation voted ‘Yes’, and today. He dedicated the win today to young LGBTI Australians.
Liberal MP Tim Wilson, who proposed to his partner on the floor of parliament during the debate, said: “There is no day I am prouder to be an Australian than today.”
“Every single Australian owns the vote ... It is a fantastic outcome for everyone in this nation,” he said.
Cheers and shouts erupted from the public gallery — which was packed with hundreds of people — as the result of the final vote was announced.
It passed with four votes against it.
Those who opposed the vote were Bob Katter (QLD Independent), Keith Pitt (QLD Lib), David Littleproud (QLD Nats) and Russell Broadbent (VIC Lib).
In Mr Katter’s electorate of Kennedy, 53.5 per cent voted No. Mr Pitt’s electorate had 49.3 per cent vote No. Mr Littleproud’s electorate of Maranoa had 43.9 per cent vote No while only 37.3 per cent of Mr Broadbent’s electorate also voted No.
The first weddings will take place in early January.
Attorney-General George Brandis confirmed the law would be changed by this Saturday.
“As from Saturday, same-sex couples will be able to lodge a Notice of Intended Marriage to commence the one month minimum notice period required before the solemnisation of marriages under the Marriage Act,” he said in a statement.
SZUBANSKI FIGHTS BACK TEARS
Gay icons Magda Szubanski and Ian Thorpe were in the House of Representatives to watch the historic moment, along with Labor frontbencher Penny Wong, Liberal senator Dean Smith, who drafted the bill, and Tony Abbott’s sister Christine Forster and her partner Virginia.
Szubanski fought back tears as she recalled the “extraordinary” moment almost the entirety of parliament moved to one side of the house to vote yes.
She thanked the Australian people for having the back over every LGBTIQ person.
“ What an amazing day, I am a little bit delirious. It is extraordinary,” she told reporters at Parliament.
“I am single, I can’t ... Well, now I can get married,” Szubanksi said.
“I did not do this as a big personal ad, but what an extraordinary moment.
“What has been amazing has been the constant endorsement of LGBTQI people, first of all that extraordinary vote, then the Senate ... then, when I watched all of those people moved to the yes side of the house, I thought Canberra was going to tip over.
“And for someone who grew up feeling on the brink of suicide, seriously, as so many of us have because we have felt unwanted, unliked ... to feel so loved now and to see that Parliament nearly tip over in support for us was an amazing feeling.
“And it was the people of Australia.
“All of us, I am sure, feel incredibly indebted and grateful to you that when it was put to you, you had our backs.
“Thank you for ever for that, thank you so much, thank you.”
“We came, we saw and love finally conquered,” said Alex Greenwich, a leading spokesman for the ‘Yes’ campaign.
Today was the final test for same-sex marriage after the bill passed the senate almost entirely unchanged from the original draft last week.
It came after almost 29 hours of debate in the House of Representatives and 118 speeches.
ANDREWS AND KATTER’S FINAL SPEECHES
Just before the final vote, same-sex marriage opponent Kevin Andrews was slammed on social media for his final speech.
“If the negative consequences that many people have warned about ... come to pass, I hope that those who have asserted boldly and blandly here that there are no such negative consequences have the grace and humility to accept that they are wrong,” Mr Andrews said.
His comments come after Bob Katter sparked controversy as he took to the floor of Parliament to argue for amendments to the marriage equality bill to protect religious freedoms.
He said the debate “makes no difference as far as I can see to anything”.
“L-G-B-Ts, whatever the hell it is ... I have no idea what it is ... you’ll probably change it,” Mr Katter said.
“I refuse to use the word g-a-y.”
He also expressed confusion on why same-sex couples want to use the word ‘marriage’.
He accused the LGBTI community of stealing the word “gay” before reading out the alternative definition of the word: ‘Beautiful, light, happy and ethereal”.
Mr Katter’s comments come as gay marriage looks set to pass the Parliament later today after MPs knocked back a series of last-minute changes to the historic bill.
ABBOTT ATTACKS SSM BILL
Earlier, Mr Abbott criticised Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Labor leader Bill Shorten for failing to support stronger religious protections in the same-sex marriage bill as debate was underway.
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The former prime minister told Parliament that the House had a “problem” because it was debating a bill that did not have the protections “promised” by them.
“A promise was made by the leaders of this parliament and the promise has not adequately been delivered upon and that is why this parliament is now being called upon to deal with this on the run as it were, because the promises that were made from the top were not adequately delivered upon,” Mr Abbott told the House.
He also criticised the “supine respect” the House is giving the Senate, asking: “What would Paul Keating think?”.
“I have never heard before members of this House showing such supine respect to another place,” he said.
“Why is it that simply because something has been passed in the Senate, these are tablets of stone handed down from the mountain top beyond any question or consideration or delay by this House?”
Mr Abbott’s comments come after his last-ditch attempt to change legislation that will allow same-sex couples to marry failed.
The former prime minister took to Twitter today to explain his decision not to fight for his amendment this morning.
Mr Abbott had called for the House of Representatives to officially note that “it is vital that individuals and entities are not disadvantaged nor suffer any adverse effects as a result of conscientiously holding a particular view of the nature of marriage.”
Out of respect for the millions of Australians who take religious freedom seriously I moved my amendment; out of respect for the millions who want the SSM bill swiftly passed I chose not to divide on it
— Tony Abbott (@TonyAbbottMHR) December 6, 2017
It was voted down on voices and he did not call for a division to check the number of MPs who voted for and against the amendment.
“Out of respect for the millions of Australians who take religious freedom seriously I moved my amendment; out of respect for the millions who want the SSM bill swiftly passed I chose not to divide on it,” he wrote on Twitter shortly after the vote.
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Earlier, Szubanski and fellow leaders of the Yes campaign gathered on the lawns of Parliament House to urge politicians to pass the bill without delay.
Originally published as Same-sex marriage: Australian parliament passes historic bill on final sitting day of 2017
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