Test for Turnbull over gay marriage

Malcolm Turnbull faces a test of his leadership as a bloc of Liberal MPs push to legislate for same-sex marriage.

Malcolm Turnbull in Melbourne yesterday.

Malcolm Turnbull faces a test of his leadership as a bloc of Liberal MPs push to legislate for same-sex marriage before the next election, in a move that threatens the Coalition agreement with the ­Nationals and risks a civil war ­inside the partyroom.

At least five Liberal MPs have held discussions on framing legislation that would be presented to parliament in a bid to force a resolution on same-sex marriage and allow the government “clean air” leading into the next election.

• Credlin: How to bring on gay marriage vote

Several senior MPs said that if there was any move to shift from the plebiscite policy, the Prime Minister’s own position would become “untenable”.

Senior conservative MPs, who did not want to be named, told The Australian the gay marriage row would become a leadership issue for Mr Turnbull should it come before the partyroom again in August.

“If anything occurs on gay marriage in the partyroom the next thing that will happen will be a spill motion — that day,” one MP told The Australian. “And it doesn’t matter if it is endorsed by the PM or not.”

Mr Turnbull, who is a supporter of same-sex marriage, yesterday ruled out a vote in this term of government after damaging audio was leaked of leading moderate and senior government frontbencher Christopher Pyne saying a policy change on gay marriage would come “sooner than everyone thinks”.

Speaking on 3AW radio yesterday, Mr Turnbull said: “We will not support a vote on gay marriage in the parliament until there has been a plebiscite ... and that plebiscite is voted ‘yes’ for gay marriage.”

Pressed on whether he would take the position to the next federal poll, Mr Turnbull said the government would “examine our policies in the lead-up to the next election”.

The brawl over same-sex marriage came as Tony Abbott yesterday launched a full-frontal assault on Mr Turnbull’s political strategy and the future of the Liberal Party’s direction and values.

The former prime minister used a speech in Brisbane to sharpen his alternative conservative manifesto, declaring he was in “no hurry” to leave public life and invoking John Howard to say that “conviction is the foundation of success”.

Senior conservatives in the party have been agitating for greater representation on the frontbench, with Mr Pyne’s misstep now reactivating talk of a ­reshuffle. There has been ongoing speculation that Attorney-General George Brandis and Defence Minister Marise Payne — both moderates — could leave their posts or be demoted before the end of the year, as part of a reshuffle.

Despite pushing the issue of same-sex marriage, backbench supporters — including West Australian senator Dean Smith and North Sydney MP Trent Zimmerman — have no clear plan on how to secure an early parliamentary vote or receive the endorsement of the government-dominated selection of bills ­committee.

The same-sex marriage gambit — which comes as the government attempts to prosecute its policies on energy, citizenship and media reform — risks ­another damaging joint partyroom showdown when parliament returns on August 8 without any guarantee of a formal change in policy.

A vote on same-sex marriage could be brought on in parliament via a suspension of standing orders. It would then require an absolute ­majority of 76 votes for any marriage equality bill to pass. The legislation being considered by the backbench group, which sources said included Warren Entsch, Trevor Evans and Tim Wilson, contains exemptions for religious freedoms modelled on those recommended in a ­Senate report handed down in February.

The exemptions would allow priests to refuse to solemnise marriages between same-sex couples, although this argument was rejected by the Australian Christian Lobby, which warned they wouldn’t “stand the test of time”.

ACL managing director Lyle Shelton pointed to suggestions this week by Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven that priests be compelled to perform gay marriages. “Given what we now know from Sweden and other countries, churches should be very concerned about the true agenda of this global political movement,” Mr Shelton said. “Just eight years on from ­redefining marriage, Sweden is now pressuring the church from the highest levels of government.”

Some MPs yesterday re-­endorsed a compromise solution proposed earlier this year by ­Immigration Minister Peter Dutton, a leading conservative, to hold a non-compulsory plebiscite by postal vote. Mr Dutton has been put forward by some as a potential circuit breaker between conservatives and moderates.

Liberal National Party MP ­George Christensen backed the postal vote option as a reasonable compromise but warned that, if there was an attempt to ditch the plebiscite, it would bring the ­Coalition agreement with the ­Nationals into question. “As far as I’m concerned it will mean the coalition between the Liberal and National parties will need to be revisited,” Mr Christensen said.

“Quite obviously, (the plebiscite) is one of the key points in the agreement. If the Liberal Party can no longer agree to that point of the agreement, the agreement needs to be renegotiated.”

A spokesman for Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce — a prominent defender of traditional marriage — said the Deputy Prime Minister stood by the plebiscite.

Queensland LNP senator Barry O’Sullivan also argued for the plebiscite to be maintained as official policy going into the next election, warning that to embrace a free vote would doom the government. “If we are going to change our position or policy pathway just because some group within the government thinks things are not happening quickly enough for them, that will be the end of us,” he said.

NSW Liberal MP Craig Kelly said the plebiscite should be taken by the government to the next election, rather than to push for a free vote in the next parliament.