Bill Shorten Introduces Marriage Equality Bill To Parliament As Gov Debates Plebiscite Funding

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten today introduced a bill to Parliament seeking the legalisation of same sex marriage, in the hopes of overriding a plebiscite.

According to News.com.au, Shorten criticised the plebiscite, saying it would “represent a fundamental failure of this Parliament to do its job.”

“And how can anyone justify spending at least $160 million on a compulsory vote when members of the Government won’t be compelled to respect the result?” he asked.

He wasn’t the only one attempting to throw a wrench into the Government’s plans for a public vote on marriage equality.

Greens MP Adam Bandt introduced a similar bill to the House of Representatives shortly after Shorten; his is supported by independents Cathy McGowan and Andrew Wilkie.

Labor’s private members bill can only proceed to a vote with government support; given the emptiness of the Coalition’s frontbench during Shorten’s speech, that seems unlikely.

Expect a similar fate to befall Bandt’s proposed bill.

In a fun (?) twist, there are two more marriage equality bills in the senate, left over from the previous parliament. One comes from Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young and the other comes from Liberal Democrat David Leyonhjelm.

As BuzzFeed indicates, all four bills are largely similar. The irony, of course, is that any same sex marriage bill would require support from multiple parties and independents to become law.

Indeed, as Shorten argued to the Coalition: “Join with us and sponsor this legislation or bring in your own and we’ll second it.”

Bandt’s speech echoed that sentiment: “If we all work together, wedding bells could be sounding before Christmas this year.”

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is expected to take his proposal for the increasingly-shaky plebiscite to cabinet today. However, there were rumblings over the weekend of dissent among members of the Government regarding the funding for the “yes” and “no” campaigns (which could boost the cost of the plebiscite by $20 million).

For a plebiscite to happen, the Coalition will require Labor’s support. Shorten has not yet ruled out support for the plebiscite (like the Greens and Nick Xenophon Team), though he reiterated today that a plebiscite could be dangerous for the LGBTQI community.

"Every piece of expert advice tells us young Australians who are gay are more likely to contemplate suicide and more likely to take their own lives," he said.

"The idea of young people, perhaps yet to come out, seeing the legitimacy of their identity debated on the national stage. That is not an ideal inflicted on any citizen when we have a better path.”

Photo: Twitter / @billshortenmp.