NSW senator cites ‘same-sex marriage debate’ in cabinet resignation
Image: Image: Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade website – www.dfat.gov.au, licensed under Creative Commons Australia 3.0.
New South Wales Senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells resigned from cabinet yesterday citing the “same-sex marriage debate” for supporting Peter Dutton over Malcolm Turnbull.
Fierravanti-Wells was, as many people learned yesterday, Minister for International Development and the Pacific until yesterday when she tendered her resignation.
“In January, we had further discussions where I openly expressed my views on a range of issues,” Fierravanti-Wells wrote in her resignation letter.
“Over the year, I have continued to express my concerns. The same sex marriage debate eroded further the support of our base.”
She noted in the letter than she had encouraged Turnbull to replace Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party Julie Bishop with leadership challenger Dutton many months ago, to no avail.
Today she spoke to reporters, saying “We are bleeding votes to the right.
“I think it’s very important for any government, particularly a coalition government to have the appropriate balance of moderate and conservatives.”
Fierravanti-Wells is a noted opponent of marriage equality, voting against the bill as it moved through the Senate last year.
“Labor has ignored your views. They are not listening to you. They have abandoned your values and are seeking to crush what you hold so dear,” she said during debate over the bill, addressing the high No vote in Western Sydney.
“You should never be made to feel that your values are wrong or your concerns insignificant,” she said.
Fierravanti-Wells also strongly supported amendments to marriage equality legislation which would have allowed civil celebrants the right to refuse to marry same-sex couples.
It was as recent as 2015 that Fierravanti-Wells claimed that marriage equality opponents were the “silent majority”.
“Our conservative base strongly feel that their voice has been eroded. They needed some demonstrable indication that there are conservative voices around your Cabinet table,” her resignation continued.
Dutton, who was defeated in yesterday’s leadership ballot by a vote of 35 to 48, is strongly opposed to marriage equality and pushed hard for last year’s postal survey to take place.
Dutton, who also resigned from his position as Home Affairs Minister, last year criticised Qantas CEO Alan Joyce for advocating for marriage equality.
“It is unacceptable that people would use companies and the money of publicly listed companies to throw their weight around,” Dutton said at the time.
“If Alan Joyce and any other CEO wants to campaign on this or any other issue in their own time and on their own dime, good luck to them.
“It is simply unconscionable.”
Fierravanti-Wells’ Liberal Party Senate colleague Dean Smith, who introduced the bill which later became Australia’s marriage equality legislation, also supported Dutton in the Coalition’s leadership contest.
A previous version of this story incorrectly referred to Julie Bishop as Deputy Prime Minister rather than Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party. This has since been updated.
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So companies spending money in politics is only okay when it backs them? The cognitive dissonance is strong in this party.
And looking to placate the conservatives, mostly the older generation, is a terrible idea overall. They are kinda dwindling due to, you know, age? Not to mention they like Pauline Hanson more. That’s sad, now that I think about it. Being less popular in your target demographic than that woman.
When does she next face re-election?
May be the GLTBIQ and other decent communities who believe in Equality for All will start, say about three months out from the election, a campaign to rid our Parliament of this unrepresentative senator and those like her.
OK, say Dutton wins the leadership of the Liberal Party (Oh! sad day).
Those two former and dumped Prime Ministers Kevin Rudd and Tony Abbott (NSW voters only you can rid the parliament of him) who stayed around simply because they were miffed that their own Party’s did not want them and then Rudd set about destroying the ALP Federal Government and Abbott the Federal Coalition one.
Traditionally Parliamentary Leaders, including Prime Ministers, have automatically resigned from Parliament so that their successors could get on with their job unhindered and without being undermined at every opportunity as both Rudd and Abbott have done.
What’s the betting that should Malcolm Turnbull get defeated by Peter Dutton he will do the Decent, the Honourable the Right thing and resign from Parliament altogether?
Problem: Peter Dutton will lose that precious One Seat Majority in the House of Representatives and will face an immediate Vote of No Confidence – a vote he will, inevitably and oh-so-deservedly lose.
Dutton holds his own seat by just a teensy-weensy little margin of just over 1%. and in all probability the Voters will, again oh-so-deservedly, toss him out, just as they will toss out the Coalition government!
Duttons, Abbott’s and that senator Concetta something’s treachery will have all been for nothing. Dutton will be one of, if not the, shortest Prime Ministers this country has ever been cursed with.
In NSW only the Voters can rid us of these ultra-right-wing, power mad neo-fascists and it is up to the GLTBIQ Community to help.
Good. Now that she’s resigned, perhaps she should consider joining Pauline Hanson’s One Nation. It is more in tune with her base values.