Australia: What the hell is going on with same-sex marriage in Australia?

More than four years after neighbouring New Zealand’s Parliament passed an equal marriage law without incident, Australia’s Prime Minister is instead putting the issue to the people – and has unleashed a Pandora’s Box of anti-LGBT hate speech as the ‘No’ campaign kicks into gear.

What the hell is going on?

The answer involves a coup, more than one shadowy deal, and a lot of shameless political manoeuvring.

So what is happening?

The country’s current Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, has refused to put equal marriage to a vote of MPs in Parliament.

Instead he planning to hold a ‘postal vote’ on the issue, which is set to go forward at the end of September.

That’s like a referendum, right?

No.

Mr Turnbull is not seeking permission from Parliament to hold the postal vote, which means it’s likely going ahead without any legislation behind it. 

 

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