GetUp! involvement attacked
The involvement of the progressive lobby group GetUp! in the campaign to get people to contact their MPs with their views on same-sex marriage was attacked by a number of Coalition MPs at the report-back, with two claiming that people could use the website to send fake emails.
“The GetUp petition is open to manipulation — a person can enter any name, any email address and postcode, real or fictitious, and an email is generated to a Member of Parliament,” Liberal MP Kevin Andrews claimed.
“When I responded to the anonymous GetUp!-generated emails asking the correspondents to indicate their address so that I could check that they were, indeed, constituents of my electorate, just a handful responded.”
“GetUp! — this paragon of grassroots social democracy — has been out there trying to subvert the democratic process with fake emails coming in from people who know nothing about what they are supposed to be signing up to. What a disgrace,” National Party MP George Christensen said.
This was based on the claim that one person had told him they had not emailed him about same-sex marriage.
Neither MP had told constituents to contact them on the issue but spoke at the report-back anyway.
In response, GetUp! national director Simon Sheikh said thousands of genuine Australians had contacted their politicians.
“Of course, some on the other side of this debate seek to belittle that,” Sheikh said. “We’re proud of the amount of community support that marriage equality campaigners have activated over the last few months in particular and we’ll continue to prosecute the case for equality.
“Polling continually shows over 60 percent of Australians support marriage equality and that number’s growing.
“When these same politicians say they’ve not heard community calls for change, they show they have neglected to actively gauge the opinion of their electorates, and worse, they’re ignoring community sentiment.”
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Yes, I want to know Kevin Andrews address too.
Look I do not mind Kevin Andrews thinks a snake married Adam and Eve, I just do not think I should have to believe in that.
Looks to me like not every person in Kevin Andrew’s electorate follows his Bible bashing lunacy. Of course he would attack Getup, they are powerful. It is what a bully does, you know they type who has Doctors locked up, with no right to see a solicitor while the bully, says all manner of untruths to the media. We just spent millions in compensation on Kevin Andrews last fuckup on the so called terrorist who was just a doctor. But Tony Abbot puts this bloke on the front bench in charge of “Families”? Perhaps he should call himself the Opposition for spokesperson for gay hate or just plain old fuckups.
Abbot is an economic vandal giving this bloke any power, but then again Abbott stood clapping his hands while a coffin with the name Julia Gillard was paraded on that day that shamed the Great Hall of our Parliament- the antiMarriage day. He did though say he would sell his arse to be Prime Minsiter, but there were no takers, not one in all of Australia. And when Abbott said a woman’s greatest gift is her virginity, well what is his? Leaving politics?
We are being asked to accept a complaint by Liberal Party Kevin Andrews, who stood in the Great Hall of Parliament, applauding those who said we were the greatest Evil, and those who said we want to molest children. I will believe a lot of other people before I believe what comes out of Kevin Andrew’s mouth.
What is your home address Kevin, what is your phone number? You expect us to give it to you, but do not expect to give yours to us? I guess you forgot the part about Jesus did not liking hypocrites. And what about all those who contacted you for equality, who said you never replied, I bet you did not include them in your mad Bible ravings.