New Poll Shows Surge in Support of Marriage Equality

New Poll Shows Surge in Support of Marriage Equality
Image: (PHOTO: Ann-Marie Calilhanna; Star Observer)

NEW polling released yesterday shows the number of Australians in support of marriage equality continues to grow.

An Essential Poll released yesterday found a five per cent increase in support from late 2015.

The poll found 64 per cent of respondents support marriage equality, up from 59 per cent last October.

Essential Polls on marriage equality traditionally return lower levels of support than Newspoll, Ipsos, Galaxy, or Crosby/Textor polls, which often put support at about 70 per cent.

The results were released one day after the results of a PwC study which showed a marriage equality plebiscite would cost the country $280 million of lost productivity, on top of the $158 million cost of running the nationwide campaign.

“I attribute the increase in support to everyday conversations about why marriage equality matters, as well as growing impatience with Parliament’s do-nothing approach to the issue,” Australian Marriage Equality national director Rodney Croome said in a statement.

Yesterday, NSW Liberal Democrat Senator David Leyonhjelm moved a motion to have the Senate debate a Greens bill that would remove barriers to marriage equality.

However, the Greens voted alongside the Coalition to gag debate on their own bill, saying they would instead push for the bill to debated on Thursday.

If the Greens had supported Leyonhjelm’s motion, their bill would have been voted on in the Senate this week.

The Greens gagged their bill after they agreed with the Coalition to dedicate and prioritise this week to Senate voting reform, causing tensions with marriage equality supporters in the Labor party.

“They had an opportunity [to bring it to a vote] this morning, and they squibbed it, and they now want to make Australians believe that somehow an hour-long debate is somehow the same,” Labor’s Senate Leader Penny Wong told The Guardian.

However, Greens leader Senator Richard Di Natale thought a vote could still go through.

“We think that there’s a great opportunity here that, if the numbers are there, that we can bring this on for a vote,” he said.

The bill, which seeks to remove restrictions in the federal Marriage Act that prohibit same-sex couples from marrying, will be voted on in the House of Representatives should it pass in the Senate.

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3 responses to “New Poll Shows Surge in Support of Marriage Equality”

  1. Malcolm Turnbull call a federal election immediately! This political shit and spin games, have dragged on for far too long now.

  2. Not interested in political spin games and polls. Like me and millions of Australians, we are waiting for a federal election immediately!

  3. Here is a statistical political fact about Australia: 64% of politicians are complete cunts!