MALCOLM Turnbull is facing more fire from inside his party on the gay marriage bill — now Bill Shorten has indicated how Labor want it to play out.

In an interview with ABC 30, Mr Shorten said they could help suspend standing orders in parliament so a private member’s bill could be brought on.

“If we get the chance to vote up marriage equality and have a vote on it in the parliament, a fair dinkum vote, we are absolutely up for that but it doesn’t have to be me or someone senior in Labor who moves the bill. Let’s make it cross-party. Let’s just get it done,” he said.

“I think a lot of Australians are genuinely getting peeved off we are not just voting on it. We go to parliament every week. We vote on the most amazing minutiae. This is a big issue. We have made 20 amendments since the Marriage Act was introduced. Why now are we making gay people have to jump through an extra law-making hoop of a plebiscite when we have never asked anyone else to do it when we amended the Marriage Act?”

When asked if he knew how many Labor MPs would vote against it, he the “vast majority” were behind it, and only a “very small number” of MPs would not back the push for marriage equality.