Australian politics live with Amy Remeikis. Amy updates live the Parliament debates for marriage equality.
Thursday 7 December 2017 04.04 EST: MPs agree to legalise same-sex marriage after marathon campaign. Follow here for all the day’s events
A tearful Tanya Plibersek, with Bill Shorten, Trent Zimmerman, Warren Entsch &Julia Banks sing "we are Australian" with the public after the vote in the house @AmyRemeikis @murpharoo @GuardianAus #politicslive https://t.co/Jz9pqczrVe #SSM #loveisloveislove pic.twitter.com/I7CxHK6xPZ
— Mikearoo (@mpbowers) December 7, 2017
Well, we made it to the end of the parliamentary year, everyone.
It has been quite the year. Mostly because it has been an absolute debacle. But we made it. Citizenship may have dominated this parliamentary year but we finished on a high note. And, for that, for finally passing marriage equality, 2017 just proved its worth.
A big thank you to everyone who followed along today, and to everyone who has followed along since I picked up this glorious beast 10 weeks ago.
A special thank you to Mike Bowers and the Guardian Australia parliament house team, Gareth Hutchens, Paul Karp and Katharine Murphy and all those behind the scenes who tidy up after me and generally keep me sane.
Today has been an emotional day. And while I would usually do a bigger wrap for the end of parliamentary year, I think it is probably best if we just let this stand alone today.
It has been such a terrible path for so many to walk, to get to this place. So many disappointments, so much hatred, so many hurts. There are so many who didn’t live to see this day. And, for them, my heart breaks.
This vote doesn’t fix all of that. It doesn’t fix the decades of discrimination, or the taunts, or the feeling of otherness that so many in the LGBTIQ community have been subjected to. So while we may feel jubilation and should celebrate, we should also remember what it took to get here, what we lost and how we can move forward from today trying to do better.
The parliament has adjourned as I type this. We’ll be back in February. What will next year bring?
I hope, for you, your families and all those this parliament represents, it is something better.