Australia’s bitter political battle over legalizing same-sex marriage came to a head yesterday, with the government pushing ahead with a postal vote after parliament rejected a referendum — both options bitterly opposed by activists.
Polls indicate popular support in Australia for marriage equality, but the issue has dragged on for more than a decade amid political wrangling over the best way to vote on the issue.
The conservative Liberal-
National coalition last year went to the polls promising to hold a nationwide plebiscite, but the opposition Labor Party, Greens and crossbench senators yesterday rejected the option in the upper house Senate for the second time.
The opposition, along with many gay rights campaigners, favor a free vote among members of parliament, with parliamentarians not bound by party policy.
They say a national vote is costly and will prove divisive, subjecting gay people and their families to hate speech.
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on Tuesday committed A$122 million (US$96 million) to the postal vote, run by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, with ballot papers sent out by Sept. 12 and due back early in November.
“Strong leaders carry out their promises. Weak leaders break them,” he said.
If it returns a “yes” outcome, the government will table a private bill on parliament’s lower house, where the Liberals could cast a free vote by December.
If “no” is the result, the issue will not go to parliament.
Marriage equality advocates have vowed to challenge the postal vote in court, saying the government might be exceeding its executive authority in holding it, casting doubt on whether the ballot would go ahead.
Supporters also fear the postal option could disenfranchise younger Australians — usually more supportive of same-sex marriage — who are less likely to use the mailing system.
Former Australian prime minister Tony Abbott yesterday welcomed the postal vote, launching the “no” campaign.
“If you don’t like same-sex marriage, vote no,” he told reporters. “If you are worried about religious freedom and freedom of speech, vote no. If you don’t like political correctness, vote no.”
Australian Senator Penny Wong made an impassioned speech in parliament, accusing the government of “handball[ing] a hard decision to the community” and also of failing to defend the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) community against hate speech.
“Let me say, for many children in same-sex couple parented families and for many young LGBTI kids, this ain’t a respectful debate,” she said.
Same-sex couples can have civil unions or register their relationships in most Australian states, but the government does not consider them married under national law.
A colossal explosion in the sky, unleashing energy hundreds of times greater than the Hiroshima bomb. A blinding flash nearly as bright as the sun. Shockwaves powerful enough to flatten everything for miles. It might sound apocalyptic, but a newly detected asteroid nearly the size of a football field now has a greater than 1 percent chance of colliding with Earth in about eight years. Such an impact has the potential for city-level devastation, depending on where it strikes. Scientists are not panicking yet, but they are watching closely. “At this point, it’s: ‘Let’s pay a lot of attention, let’s
Thousands gathered across New Zealand yesterday to celebrate the signing of the country’s founding document and some called for an end to government policies that critics say erode the rights promised to the indigenous Maori population. As the sun rose on the dawn service at Waitangi where the Treaty of Waitangi was first signed between the British Crown and Maori chiefs in 1840, some community leaders called on the government to honor promises made 185 years ago. The call was repeated at peaceful rallies that drew several hundred people later in the day. “This government is attacking tangata whenua [indigenous people] on all
UNDAUNTED: Panama would not renew an agreement to participate in Beijing’s Belt and Road project, its president said, proposing technical-level talks with the US US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday threatened action against Panama without immediate changes to reduce Chinese influence on the canal, but the country’s leader insisted he was not afraid of a US invasion and offered talks. On his first trip overseas as the top US diplomat, Rubio took a guided tour of the canal, accompanied by its Panamanian administrator as a South Korean-affiliated oil tanker and Marshall Islands-flagged cargo ship passed through the vital link between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. However, Rubio was said to have had a firmer message in private, telling Panama that US President Donald Trump
CHEER ON: Students were greeted by citizens who honked their car horns or offered them food and drinks, while taxi drivers said they would give marchers a lift home Hundreds of students protesting graft they blame for 15 deaths in a building collapse on Friday marched through Serbia to the northern city of Novi Sad, where they plan to block three Danube River bridges this weekend. They received a hero’s welcome from fellow students and thousands of local residents in Novi Said after arriving on foot in their two-day, 80km journey from Belgrade. A small red carpet was placed on one of the bridges across the Danube that the students crossed as they entered the city. The bridge blockade planned for yesterday is to mark three months since a huge concrete construction
RSS