Jenny McAllister (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

There have been celebrations across the nation when it was announced this morning that an overwhelming majority of Australians support marriage equality. Australians have confirmed their commitment to equality. They have voted no to discrimination, and it is part of the best of Australia's traditions of inclusion and equality. Today I am truly proud to be an Australian, and I imagine that across the world the example provided by Australians is producing great joy and a source of great hope for people who are interested in progressing human rights, fairness and equality.

I'd like to congratulate the many campaigners across Australia who gave their time and commitment to make this a reality. An army of volunteers were out every weekend, knocking on doors and making phone calls. I know that for many of those people this wasn't just any political campaign; this was a very personal campaign about themselves, their family and their future. Despite how personal this was and how difficult this must have been for some of those people, they campaigned with dignity, optimism and good humour, and they are deserving of all of our congratulations for the way they conducted themselves.

I also know that today's result for many LGBTI people is also an occasion for relief, that when the Australian people were asked to vote on their human rights—when they were asked to adjudicate on their dignity—the Australian people voted for equality. We should acknowledge that the last few months have been a testing time and a hurtful period for many people and their families. The LGBTI community were forced to justify their worth, while the ABS undertook an eye-wateringly expensive exercise to report what dozens of pollsters and plain common sense had told us already. We've now arrived at the point we should have been at well over a year ago: we're on the cusp of debating and voting on a bill to bring marriage equality into effect in Australia. The Prime Minister has built up expectations about this moment for some time. We've heard again and again that, if the country votes yes, we can expect marriage equality to be law by Christmas.

The country has voted yes, overwhelmingly so, and the results speak for themselves: more than 70 per cent participation for every demographic group and an especially high participation rate for our very youngest and oldest electors—those aged 18 to 19 years and those aged 85 years and over. We had an overall participation rate of almost 80 per cent, and more than 61.6 per cent voted in favour of legalising marriage equality. This is the most popular proposition formally put to the Australian people in 40 years. You have to go back to the 1977 referendum on term limits for High Court judges to find a proposal that was supported by every state and territory and with a margin of this magnitude. The raw numbers in support of change are staggering: 2.37 million people in New South Wales, 2.14 million people in Victoria, 1.48 million people in Queensland, almost 600,000 people in South Australia, more than 800,000 people in Western Australia, more than 191,000 people in Tasmania, 48,000 people in the Northern Territory and 175,000 people in the ACT. Despite what we're told, this support was not concentrated in a few inner-city seats. In fact, the constituents of some very prominent no advocates also voted in favour of equality. In the electorate of Menzies, for instance, 57 per cent voted yes. In fact, many of these electorates had yes votes which were above the national average. In the former Prime Minister's electorate of Warringah, 75 per cent voted yes. In the Minister for Immigration's electorate of Dickson, 65.2 per cent voted yes.

Let's be very clear about what this means. It constitutes a resounding nationwide endorsement for change. There is no mandate in these results for any group to play a frustrating role. These results do not give licence for representatives in this place to play procedural games or in any way attempt to stymie the process of legislating marriage equality. The Australian people have spoken. It's time for us in this chamber to listen.

In September this year, the Prime Minister told a marriage equality rally in Sydney that legislation in the form of a private member's bill would sail through the parliament by the end of the year if the yes vote succeeds. That was the promise, and now is the time to make sure that the debate on same-sex marriage legislation is brought on swiftly and fairly. This issue has been subject to lengthy debate here and in the other place. The arguments around this issue have been well canvassed and they are well understood by participants here in this chamber and also by the community. Swift passage is indeed what people have been promised. Senator Brandis, at the start of this campaign, told Leigh Sales on 7.30 that the Prime Minister had said that, in the event that there is a yes vote in the plebiscite, he will facilitate a parliamentary vote on a bill to reform the Marriage Act before Christmas. Well, now is that time to facilitate it. When he tried to justify his decision to stick to a plebiscite rather than progressing to a free parliamentary vote, Mr Turnbull said: 'Strong leaders carry out their promises. Weak leaders break them.' Well, the Australian people are now 'on a promise'. LGBTI people are 'on a promise'. The promise was that if we endured this postal survey, if we put our case publicly, if those who were in support of the yes campaign were able to convince the Australian people to vote yes in this survey, the swift passage of a change in legislation would be assured.

And all that's required is a change of legislation to allow two people who love one another to marry. We don't need to debate other questions. We don't need to open up long-settled questions about whether it's acceptable to discriminate against people in a whole range of areas. We simply need to progress with sensible measures, as was promised to the Australian people, to make marriage equality a reality. It is incumbent on every one of us in this place to keep that promise. While it was a promise made by members of the government, not my party, this was a process that, in the end, we all agreed to participate in. We all said: 'It's happening. We are going to do our best to get a valid and reasonable result, a legitimate result'—and that has happened. Given that that has taken place, there should be no justification for time wasting, no justification for game playing. It is simply time for everybody to settle down with the business of the parliament. We have been put here to legislate. We understand the arguments, we understand what's at stake and now we understand, with some certainty, the position of the Australian people. It is no time for delay. It is no time for games. It is time to get this done.