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At the end of the leader's "debate" PM Kevin Rudd pledged to introduce a marriage equality bill within 100 days days if re-elected. The ALP left and Rainbow Labor will try to spin this as a win for the equality campaign, especially now that Rudd is in favour but allowing a conscience vote will doom the bill.
Labor has a policy of binding their MPs to vote one way or another on a bill with threatened punishments ranging from a stern warning to expulsion from the party depending on if the policy is in the ALP National Platform and how strongly the National Executive feel about said bill. A conscience vote allows Labor (just as it did when Gillard was PM) to straddle both sides of the fence at once. Labor MPs in progressive seats can vote yes and say it's not their fault when it fails while Labor MPs in socially conservative seats can vote no.
Let's not forget in the past they've made an openly gay Minister (Penny Wong) vote NO to marriage equality because it was a binding no. They don't really care about equality, it's all about the politics and the politics of this makes sense but it's a disgusting way to handle it, especially with 70%+ of the country supporting marriage equality. The Government should NOT have the right to discriminate with anything it does. If they want discrimination when it comes to marriage they should leave marriages under the control of churches and only officially recognise de-facto/civil unions/whatever they decide to call it which recognises relationships whether same-sex or opposite-sex.
Labor has a policy of binding their MPs to vote one way or another on a bill with threatened punishments ranging from a stern warning to expulsion from the party depending on if the policy is in the ALP National Platform and how strongly the National Executive feel about said bill. A conscience vote allows Labor (just as it did when Gillard was PM) to straddle both sides of the fence at once. Labor MPs in progressive seats can vote yes and say it's not their fault when it fails while Labor MPs in socially conservative seats can vote no.
Let's not forget in the past they've made an openly gay Minister (Penny Wong) vote NO to marriage equality because it was a binding no. They don't really care about equality, it's all about the politics and the politics of this makes sense but it's a disgusting way to handle it, especially with 70%+ of the country supporting marriage equality. The Government should NOT have the right to discriminate with anything it does. If they want discrimination when it comes to marriage they should leave marriages under the control of churches and only officially recognise de-facto/civil unions/whatever they decide to call it which recognises relationships whether same-sex or opposite-sex.
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