In the wake of Ireland’s historic same sex marriage decision, many Australians are calling for a referendum on the issue to be held here.
Update:
Controversial Tasmanian senator, Jacquie Lambie, has called for a referendum on marriage equality in Australia.
Senator Lambie told Sky News Agenda this afternoon that it should be the people of Australia who make the final call on legalising same sex marriage.
“Look, I believe in giving the power back to the people on this.
“It’s about time that that the people had the vote.
“It shouldn’t come down to our conscience, it should come down to every Australian’s conscience and how they want to vote,” Senator Lambie said.
Ms Lambie is not a supporter of gay marriage, and hopes that Australia’s conservative elderly population would tip the scales in favour of a conservative outcome were a referendum to occur.
“We have an elderly population here in Australia, and I tell you what my money would be on, I don’t think you’re going to get the same result that just happened in Ireland.
“As a matter of fact, I don’t think you’ll have the numbers,” she said.
“Let’s do the referendum and see what the answers are.”
Mamamia previously wrote:
Prime Minister Tony Abbott has ruled out a referendum on same sex marriage in Australia as an option, saying the decision is a matter for Federal parliament.
According to Prime Minister Abbott, a referendum can only be held in Australia when there was a proposal to change the constitution.
“I don’t think anyone’s suggesting the constitution needs to be changed in this respect,” he told the Sydney Morning Herald.
“Under the constitution, questions of marriage are the reserve of the Commonwealth parliament… plainly this is a matter that could come before the commonwealth parliament if members of parliament wanted it to be raised.”
Check out some of the inspirational photos from Ireland’s same-sex marriage vote. (Post continues after gallery)
He told reporters at a press conference during his visit to Brisbane today that he was careful not to underestimate the strength of opinions on both sides of the same sex marriage debate.
“There are a range of views inside the parliament, there are a range of views inside my party room, frankly there are a range of views inside my family,” he told reporters.
“Inside the Abbott family I’m probably the last holdout for the traditional position.”
This revelation is unsurprising, given that Mr Abbott’s sister, Christine Forster, is a lesbian who has been in a relationship with her partner for the past twelve years.
The Prime Minister has pushed aside insistences that the matter be brought before Parliament, saying his focus in the coming fortnight is to give small business “the confidence boost they deserve.”
Should Australia hold a referendum on same sex marriage?
Read more:
Congratulations! Ireland votes YES on same sex marriage.
Why we’ll keep fighting for same sex marriage: “Because almost equal is not good enough.”
Top Comments
As much as it galls me, Abbott is right. There shouldn't be a referendum on same sex marriage. Why? Referendums are for changing the constitution. The marriage act is a piece of legislation (ie: a law), in no way related to the constitution. So, in that case, a referendum and calls for one would be and are a waste of time and energy.
What we should be doing is pressuring our duly-elected parliamentarians to get off their arses and change the law. We should also be pressuring Abbott and Shorten to allow a conscious vote when the next private member's bill about this goes up before parliament.
Also, as has been pointed out, a plebiscite (where we would all get to vote on it) would sort the issue out quick smart considering about 70% of the population are for same sex marriage.
The question should actually be, "CAN Australia hold a referendum on same sex marriage?" My year 12 legal studies curriculum says no but are there any lawyers among us who can shed some light on this?
Marriage is squarely within the powers of the commonwealth- meaning the federal parliament has power to make laws with respect to marriage.
Whilst a referendum would not be required to change the laws to make same sex marriage legal (because it's not a matter under the constitution per se), it is of course within the powers of the government to call for a national vote '(although this is very unlikely) or to make it an election issue.
My understanding was that national votes are only used for 1) elections, 2) referendums on constitutional issues or changes to the states, 3) non-binding plebiscites.
So yes, the commonwealth has the power to change marriage laws - not the states, as we saw with the ACT attempt - but the question being specifically about having a referendum felt misleading given the boundaries for referendum issues.