Anti-gay MPs could sabotage marriage bill with more than 100 amendments
Image: Eric Abetz. Image: Facebook.
MPs against marriage equality are reportedly planning to delay and derail the bill that could follow a Yes win in the national postal survey.
Conservative politicians are plotting to attach over 100 amendments to destabilise the progress of marriage equality, according to Pink News.
Anti–marriage equality MPs will not concede in the case of a Yes win.
While the survey is non-binding, the government has said that if it shows the majority of voters support marriage equality, the matter will progress to parliament.
The marriage equality bill is likely to be similar to that proposed by Liberal Senator Dean Smith, which is modelled on the marriage equality laws of other countries including New Zealand and the UK.
Senator Eric Abetz, known for his anti-LGBTI politics, said he would support amendments seeking ‘freedom to discriminate’ loopholes that activists say would undermine LGBTI rights.
“[The bill] is seriously inadequate, as parents, freedom of speech and religious freedom, along with conscientious objection, all need full protection,” said Abetz.
Sources say the group of conservative MPs could smother marriage equality legislation with amendments, delaying resolution of the issue.
Smith said parliament should not allow the bill to be passed if it is attached to amendments undermining discrimination protections.
“If there is a Yes vote, it will be necessary for the opponents of marriage to detail their amendments,” said Smith.
“This will provide a challenge to the Liberal Party because the community will not accept any winding back of Australia’s well-established anti-discrimination laws.”
Experts are now saying marriage equality by the end of the year, as previously suggested by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, is unlikely.
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That’s it I have had enough, I am now leaving Australia and moving to Malta to be with my partner of 22 years at the end of the year! I am so fucking over this government playing dilly dally pointless games and shit with us LGBTI people, while they can not sort out their own shambles and dismal duel-citizenship affairs and corruption!
Right, so if everyone votes yes, it don’t mean jack, because the politicians will sabotage it to what they wanted in the first place.
So basically we just had a $122 million toilet flush!
Totally to be expected.
All the more reason to see the end of them at the first opportunity.
#MakeChurchesPayTax
well um der. This was obvious a long time ago. As I predict the plebishyte is just the start of long draw out Nazi-like campaign. Assuming the hoped for best result of a yes vote, and marriage equality laws and that the far-right neo facists are silenced, there will still be possibly years on angst from the stirred up homophobic hatred. Hopefully marriage equality is near, but full equality – as in being treated as equal on all levels, sadly is many many years away. As women and non-whites are not truly equal in our society, decades later, so too I fear is the future for us.
The bill is a mess and does need amending. It was drafted for a time when a public vote was off the agenda, and so had to be stuffed with compromises in order to attract support across the parliamentary spectrum. However, since then we have had a publc vote which looks like returning an overwhelming yes. We have had community surveys which show that people don’t want special privileges granted to the religious and the conscience-stricken. Therefore there is no longer any need for compromises, all that extraneous matter needs to be removed, and the bill drastically simplified to do no more than amend the Marriage Act. At the moment it’s a bit of a chimera, half marriage bill and half discriminatory bill. Any changes to anti discrimination law should be left to a later date and a bill dealing specifically with the overhaul of anti discrimination law.
Doug, you’re John Howard’s worst nightmare and I mean that in an entirely positive, enthusiastic, supportive and applauding kind of way. Keep it up!
This matter is going to be dealt with by conscience vote. That goes for any amendments too. So Abetz can dance up and down all he wants trying to get protections for Ku Klux Klan type churches and the religious right of Catholic priests to protect paedophile colleagues all he wants, he’ll only have Cory Bernardi and perhaps a couple of One Nation senators backing him. The Parliament will just want this done and dusted and a few lone loons won’t change that.