Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

They would have welcomed it because at that time there certainly were not the numbers in the parliament for it to be passed.

So what we have to recognise is that this is a commitment we took to the election. It is a commitment we will honour and we are honouring now. It is a commitment that respects the will of the Australian people. It respects their intelligence, their civility, their capacity to make a decision and, above all, it respects the fact that each and every one of them can have a say. Our side, our government, our side of politics, among whom we have different views on this, nonetheless say, 'We respect the Australian people. We want to let them have their say.'

We have offered the opposition a role in the process. We are happy to work with them. We have offered them places on the committees that will supervise the spending of the public funding, which is thoroughly fair and thoroughly based on precedent. We have offered them every opportunity to be involved, and they should take it up. They should absolutely take it up and be part of this process, because the best way to ensure same-sex couples can marry is to support the plebiscite. It will be held on 11 February, and if the Australian people support same-sex marriage, as I believe they will—and certainly I will be voting for it—then this parliament will swiftly, when it returns in 2017, legislate to change the Marriage Act. We put our faith in the people.

I turn now to the specific details of the bill. This bill sets out the framework for a national plebiscite to ask the Australian people whether the Marriage Act 1961 should be amended to allow same-sex couples to marry. It has been designed to be as fair and transparent as possible—scrupulously fair, just as we would expect of our elections and referenda.

The legislation specifies the exact wording of the plebiscite question to be put to the Australian people: 'Should the law be changed to allow same-sex couples to marry?' This is a simple question. It does not presuppose any particular view. The bill prescribes the date for the vote, Saturday, 11 February 2017. The date fulfils the government's commitment to hold a plebiscite as soon as practicable. The bill authorises and provides funding for the Australian Electoral Commission to conduct the plebiscite. This will be in the amount of $170 million. That funding will include $15 million to be divided equally between official yes and no campaigns. These will be run by committees composed of parliamentarians and citizens, appointed by the Attorney-General and the Special Minister of State. Each committee will include up to five Commonwealth parliamentarians and up to five members of the public. The committees will each prepare material for the respective sides of the debate. As I noted earlier, the opposition will be invited to nominate two of the five members.

In addition, organisations will have reasonable opportunities to pay to broadcast material about the plebiscite. Broadcasting rules and the Broadcasting Services Act and the Special Broadcasting Service Act will be extended to apply to conduct relating to the plebiscite. These rules will also stipulate a blackout period in which broadcasters will be prohibited from broadcasting advertisements about the plebiscite. This, too, is utterly consistent with the framework for federal elections. As for federal elections, voting will be compulsory and in person, with the usual absentee, postal, declaration and pre-polling opportunities. The bill applies provisions for a number of acts, including the Referendum (Machinery Provisions) Act 1984 and the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918, to ensure this. Voters will be able to cast a valid vote by writing 'Yes' or 'No' in the space provided on the ballot paper. The bill provides that the outcome of the plebiscite will be determined by a simple national majority. The simple majority will be achieved when either the yes or no vote receives more than 50 per cent of the votes cast, disregarding informal ballot papers.

This plebiscite gives all Australians a say. Advocates on either side of the debate will have the opportunity to put their views fully and freely to the public, to make their case to the Australian people. It is thoroughly democratic. Now, I recognise that there are a range of views in the community on this issue, as I have discussed. And as Prime Minister, I will be encouraging a considered and respectful discussion from all sides. The plebiscite will allow our nation to make a decision on this fundamental important issue of same-sex marriage. Then, as a nation, we will respect the outcome. If the plebiscite passes, the parliament will legislate to amend the Marriage Act to enable same-sex couples to marry.

In closing, I remind the House, the parliament, that Australians expect this issue to be resolved in the manner they endorsed at the election. We took this to the election and we won the election. There was no doubt about our policy. There was no doubt about our platform. This was prominently debated every day of the election campaign. Every Australian who took any interest in the election knew that that was our policy. We have a mandate for it, and the opposition should respect it.

I ask the opposition today, I ask the Leader of the Opposition today, to support this plebiscite. This plebiscite will give the Australian people the say on this. I ask Labor to respect the people they represent, to respect the Australian people they claim to support and defend. Respect their intelligence. Respect their civility. Respect their ability to have a discussion about this important matter and resolve it in a manner that is fair and that is democratic. At the end of the day, whoever wins, it will be regarded as a just determination of this important issue. I commend the bill to the House.

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