Brett Whiteley (Braddon, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to take these few short moments to clarify my position in relation to my own views on same-sex marriage. I can say honestly in this place that I do respect that other people hold a different view to me. Many of them are my closest friends, some are family, but I hold a different view and I seek their tolerance of my view as I tolerate theirs. But that is my personal view. I am the elected member for Braddon, and social media activists would suggest that I should simply take a few polls and cast my vote accordingly. I do not see that as appropriate. I do not believe that my conscience has a higher value than theirs, and I believe that the people's choice should be prevailing, not parliamentarians' choice. I do feel that there are 40 per cent of the population who are quite noisy on this issue: 20 per cent that are actively supporting a yes vote for a change to the definition of marriage and 20 per cent that do not want it. In the middle are, I believe, a very quiet, unassuming 60 per cent that, I believe firmly, need to have the opportunity to have their say.

It is of concern to me to hear some of the language that is being used by the Leader of the Opposition, the Deputy Leader of the Opposition and other members from the other side, to be quite frank, as they have shifted their focus to personal attacks on the Prime Minister as a man—very unbecoming and nasty name calling, bringing into question, by intimation, his personal values and his faith values. I feel this is very unbecoming. What I say to the people of Braddon is: if you hold the same view as the Prime Minister does, and I would suggest it is at least 50 per cent that do, these comments are directed as much at you as they are at the Prime Minister.

As I wrap up, I do want to remind the parliament that, in the last parliament, under the leadership of Gillard and Rudd, Stephen Jones, a Labor member, brought in a bill that 26 members of the Labor Party voted against, only two or three years ago. In the Senate there was a motion by the Greens for same-sex marriage that 100 per cent of the Labor Party voted against. They had six years to attend to this matter—and now, suddenly, we are the bigots; we are the homophobes. It is not an acceptable position. I ask the people of Braddon to cast their vote when the time comes.