The Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey was a national survey that gauged support for legalising same-sex marriage. The survey was held via the postal service between 12 September and 7 November 2017. Unlike electoral voting, which is compulsory in Australia, responding to the survey was voluntary.
A survey form, instructions, and a reply-paid envelope were mailed out by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) to every person on the federal electoral roll, asking the question "Should the law be changed to allow same-sex couples to marry?" The ABS outlined processes to ensure eligible Australians lacking access to post could participate.
The survey returned 7,817,247 (61.6%) "Yes" responses and 4,873,987 (38.4%) "No" responses. An additional 36,686 (0.3%) responses were unclear and the total turnout was 12,727,920 (79.5%).
The survey result was non-binding on the government. Prior to the survey, the Liberal-National Coalition government had pledged to facilitate a private member's bill to legalise same-sex marriage in the Parliament in the event of a "Yes" outcome. This is expected to allow parliamentary debate and a vote potentially leading to (though still not guaranteeing) the legalisation of same-sex marriage. Both the Coalition and the opposition Labor Party allowed their MPs a conscience vote on the relevant legislation. Had the survey returned a majority "No" result, the government had said it would not allow a parliamentary debate or vote on legalising same-sex marriage.
Many same-sex marriage proponents were critical of the postal survey, viewing it as a costly delay and legally redundant to holding a conscience vote on same-sex marriage in the parliament. The survey was subject to two legal challenges questioning the authority of the ABS to conduct the survey and the government's right to fund the cost of the survey from funds designated by law for "urgent" and "unforeseen" circumstances. Both legal challenges failed; the High Court of Australia found that the survey was lawful.
Adults on the electoral roll in Australia as of 24 August 2017 were eligible to participate. By this date 98,000 new voters had added themselves to the roll, which was at a record high. Survey forms were distributed from 12 September with the ABS encouraging returns promptly (preferably to be received before 27 October to ensure sufficient processing time). The survey closed on 7 November and the results were released on 15 November 2017. Several hours after the results of the survey were released, Senator Dean Smith introduced the Marriage Amendment (Definition and Religious Freedoms) Bill 2017 into the Australian Senate.
Video Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey
Background
History
Marriage in Australia, the constitutional province of the federal parliament, was legally defined as a union as between a man and a woman in 2004. Same-sex unions in Australia are currently treated as de facto unions under federal law. These unions provide couples with most, though not all, of the legal rights of marriage, although those rights may be difficult to assert and are not always recognised in practice. Aside from the legal aspects, de facto relationships do not have the same symbolic significance as marriage. Before the July 2016 federal election, the Coalition Turnbull government promised to hold a national vote on same-sex marriage in the form of a compulsory plebiscite. Opposition to this idea centred on its criticism as an expensive delaying tactic and that it was the duty of the parliament, rather than a matter related to the Australian Constitution.
While the Coalition won 76 of the 150 seats in the lower house in the 2016 election and managed to form a majority government by one seat, they failed to pass the necessary legislation for a (compulsory attendance) referendum/plebiscite. The legislation passed the House of Representatives on 20 October 2016 by a vote of 76-67, but was rejected by the Senate on 7 November 2016 by a vote of 33-29. The idea of a postal plebiscite was originally proposed by Warren Entsch and later endorsed by Peter Dutton and Mathias Cormann. Dutton pointed out that a postal vote would not need legislation to operate. In August 2017, following an attempt by five Liberal Party MPs to change party policy and have a free vote in the parliament on same-sex marriage legislation, the government announced it would move for a voluntary postal survey to be held later that year. It was stated that this would only occur in the event the government's (compulsory) referendum/plebiscite legislation was again rejected by the Senate. That occurred on 9 August 2017, when a government-initiated motion in the Senate to debate the Plebiscite (Same-Sex Marriage) Bill 2016 was tied at 31-31; resulting in the motion being defeated.
Following the result in the Senate, the government directed the Australian Statistician to begin the process of surveying the views on same-sex marriage of all Australians on the electoral roll. The government asserted that this proposal did not require legislative approval from the parliament, arguing that the provisions of the Appropriations Act and the law governing the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) enabled it to use the ABS for such a purpose. This was argued by the government to be similar to the process by which God Save the Queen was replaced by Advance Australia Fair as the Australian national anthem. The government announced the ABS would be assisted by having staff seconded from the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC), the organisation responsible for elections in Australia and managing the electoral roll. The cost of the survey to the Australian taxpayer was forecast to be $122 million. This expense, as well as the notion that the debate would activate ideological extremists and that normal electoral rules would not apply, were criticised in Parliament. By 7 September, the date the high court challenges against the survey were heard, a total of $14.1 million had already been spent by the ABS on the postal survey - $8 million on advertising for the survey, $5.3 million on printing costs, and $600,000 for staff.
The AEC reported that about 68,000 enrolment transactions were completed on 10 August, compared with an average of 4,000 per day. In the period 8-14 August over 16,000 people had enrolled, and over 200,000 have updated their details. By 20 August, over 36,000 had enrolled, and over 434,000 had updated their enrolment details. By 22 August, over 54,000 had enrolled. By 25 August the roll achieved a record high with over 16 million Australians on the roll (an additional 90,000 people had joined with a further 165,000 transactions still to be processed). 65,000 of these new voters are between the ages of 18 and 24. With 933,592 enrolment transactions completed by the AEC at the end of processing, more than 98,000 people were added to the roll, and the total number of Australians eligible to participate in the survey was 16,005,998. However, after the results of the survey were released, the ABS revealed that in fact 16,006,180 surveys were mailed out to eligible Australians.
The Senate Finance and Public Administration References Committee opened a Public Inquiry into the arrangements around the postal survey on 14 August with a submission made and evidence given by the ABS at hearings on 17 August. Further hearings involving the ABS, AEC, Australia Post, Department of Finance and Department of Human Services occurred on 7 September and 15 September 2017.
Key dates
Key dates relating to the survey were:
- 24 August 2017: The final day for citizens to update or add their name and details to the electoral roll in order to receive a survey form
- 12 September 2017: Survey forms began to be mailed out to all Australian voters over a two-week period
- 25 September 2017: The date all survey forms were expected to have arrived, and eligible Australians could commence ordering replacement materials (for those lost or spoilt). The paperless options (online form and IVR telephony survey option) opened.
- 20 October 2017 (6pm local time): Requests for replacement material closed
- 27 October 2017: The date all eligible Australians were strongly encouraged to return their form by
- 7 November 2017 (6pm local time): Responses received after this date were not processed
- 15 November 2017 (10am AEDT): Statistics, and quality and integrity report released to the public
The result of the survey (including participation rates) were released at a national level, at a state and territory level and at an electorate level.
Maps Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey
Legal challenges
Two legal challenges were lodged contesting the legality of the survey with the High Court of Australia, both on the grounds of unlawful funding from legally-specified funds and unlawful operation by the ABS. The first was by same-sex marriage advocates Shelley Argent (national spokeswoman of Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) and Felicity Marlowe (member of Rainbow Families), along with independent MP Andrew Wilkie. They announced they would challenge the postal survey in the High Court on 9 August 2017 and seek a temporary injunction. The second challenge was by Australian Marriage Equality and Greens Senator Janet Rice.
An additional complaint was lodged by a 17-year-old boy with the Australian Human Rights Commission in August 2017, on the basis that the rules did not allow provisionally enrolled 16- and 17-year-old Australians the right to participate in the survey. The complaint could have led to a federal court case to argue for the right of about 50,000 Australians aged 16 and 17 on the electoral roll to vote, however the boy dropped his complaint on 22 September, after a Greens amendment to the Marriage Law Survey (Additional Safeguards) Act 2017 was rejected by the Parliament earlier in the month. Legal counsel to the boy advised that the rejected amendment would make the age discrimination complaint much more difficult to argue, because parliament had considered and rejected extending the vote to enrolled 16- and 17-year-olds.
High Court ruling
The High Court pronounced its orders in both cases on 7 September 2017. The court determined that the survey was lawful, allowing it to proceed as scheduled. The challengers were ordered to pay costs. The High Court handed down its unanimous reasons on 28 September 2017, finding that $295 million had been appropriated by parliament, and that whether the expenditure was unforeseen was a matter for the Minister's satisfaction and there was no error of law in either his reasoning or his conclusion. The information to be collected was "statistical information" of matters prescribed in the Census and Statistics Regulation 2016 (Cth). As the court had considered and rejected the grounds of the application, there was no need to decide whether or not whether the plaintiffs had standing.
Survey process
The survey was conducted on a voluntary basis, with no requirement on the part of the eligible Australian to mail back the survey form. This led to concerns over a potentially low voter turnout/response rate and the prospect of Indigenous Australians in remote communities being unable to complete a survey. Concern had been expressed regarding: electors whose addresses were not visible on the electoral roll (known as silent electors); disenfranchisement in remote communities; Australians overseas; prisoners; non-English speakers; and young people. Early criticism was also levelled at issues of privacy, with the recent census problems of 2016 being cited. The ABS advised that survey responses would be anonymous and protected under the secrecy provisions of the Census and Statistics Act 1905. Prior to the survey commencing, former Privacy Commissioner Malcolm Crompton independently reviewed the ABS's privacy approaches and mitigations and announced he was suitably satisfied. The ABS also worked to address concerns with special strategies like paperless options (telephony and online form) and form drop off and pick up points in remote and capital city locations. Additionally, the bureau noted that Australians could also authorise a "trusted person" to complete the survey on their behalf. Whilst any person could be appointed a "trusted person", the Chief Minister of the ACT, Andrew Barr offered to fulfill the role for any citizen. Auditors and an external observer process were established to assure the integrity of the process, though the observers are subject to a lifetime confidentiality agreement. A quality and integrity report will be published by the ABS alongside the release of the survey results. During the survey period, online sellers were contacted by the ABS asking them to remove ads by people offering to sell their postal survey or answer. The ABS advised that such an action would likely constitute an offence under the Census and Statistics Act 1905, the Commonwealth Criminal Code and the survey safeguards legislation passed by Parliament. The Digital Transformation Agency assisted the ABS with the paperless options for the survey, though due to the compressed timescale of the survey, concerns were anonymously raised by staff that the normal processes were not completed, such as sufficient user testing.
Unlike elections or referendums, there were no automatic special regulations relating to advertising requirements or prohibited content for the survey of the kind found in the Electoral Act. Consequently, the Government and Opposition engaged in negotiations to introduce legislation designed to replicate these type of regulations, as well as create measures to prevent vilification, intimidation, or threats to cause harm on the basis of the sexual orientation, gender identity, intersex status or the religious convictions of someone during the survey period. On 13 September, the government introduced the Marriage Law Survey (Additional Safeguards) Bill 2017 for these purposes in the Senate. The bill passed the Senate, after an amendment moved by Greens leader Richard Di Natale to allow 16- and 17-year-olds the right to participate in the survey was defeated. The bill immediately proceeded to and was passed by the House of Representatives. The bill received royal assent on 13 September and went into effect the following day. The Act's provisions automatically expired on 15 November 2017. Neither the "Yes" or "No" campaign received public funding in the survey, as was envisioned for a compulsory attendance plebiscite. Prime Minister Turnbull also ruled out a ban on foreign donations for the survey.
All Australians whose names are on the electoral roll or had applied to be put on the roll before 24 August 2017 were mailed a survey form and enrolled Australians living overseas along with those in certain special categories were entitled to complete a survey using paperless methods. The AEC made a statement that provisionally-enrolled 16- and 17-year-olds would not be posted a survey form and an amended direction was later issued by the Government to the Australian Statistician making this clear. This direction was subject to a Human Rights Commission complaint by a 17-year-old boy, which was later withdrawn.
More than 16 million letters were sent from 12 September over almost two weeks (with all delivered by 25 September) and silent electors' packages were sent by the AEC and delivered by the end of September. After several "Yes" respondents posted images of their complete forms on social media, the ABS cautioned participants to not photograph their form barcodes, so as to prevent any fraudulent conduct. Additionally, survey forms could be invalidated in the event the question was rephrased by the participant or the barcode was obscured or removed. The ABS issued several examples of what constituted a valid and invalid response (such as marking both boxes "Yes" and "No" or crossing out one of the words on the form). The ABS advised Australians who received extra survey forms, addressed to the previous occupant who failed to update their electoral details, to write on the front of the envelope "return to sender" and send it back. In Australia, it is illegal to open mail addressed to another person. In the rare instance of multiple responses being received from an individual, the ABS noted that only the last valid response could expect to be counted. On 25 September, the ABS confirmed that all survey forms had been mailed to eligible voters and outlined the process for additional forms to be sent to people who did not receive, lost or spoilt their form. The ABS also confirmed that changing your mind was not a valid reason for requesting a new form. Both the "Yes" and "No" campaigns provided 60 observers to the ABS counting process, who examined 606,991 survey results. Fewer than 500 survey forms were reported as issues to the ABS during the survey.
Weekly estimate of responses
On 28 September, the ABS announced that it would release weekly national estimates of the total number of survey responses received, beginning from 3 October 2017 and ending 7 November. The primary input to the first three weekly estimates, issued at the National level only, was Australia Post's assessment of the number of containers of sorted envelopes rather than counts of individual forms. Adjustments were made based on factors such as responses received through other channels and an allowance for forms that are damaged or invalid. From the fourth estimate, released on 24 October 2017, the ABS changed the estimation method to use the counts of processed forms. This led to an increase in estimated turnout to 74.5% of the population, up 7.0% on the previous week, despite only 300,000 new responses, or 1.9% of the total, being received during that timeframe.
Question
The survey form asked respondents: "Should the law be changed to allow same-sex couples to marry?". The survey offered two one-word responses: "yes" or "no".
Legislation proposed
The government did not release a draft bill legalising same-sex marriage prior to the survey, which led to uncertainty over what form legislation would take in the event of a "Yes" verdict. The wording of an exposure draft of a same-sex marriage bill from early 2017, released by the Attorney-General's office, proposed to amend the definition of "marriage" and replace the terms "man" and "woman" with the gender neutral phrase "two people". The proposed wording "two people" differs from the wording of the survey question, which refers explicitly to "same-sex couples".
Liberal Senator Dean Smith, who drafted a same-sex marriage bill in August 2017, argued his bill struck a "fair balance" in protecting the rights of same-sex couples and the religious freedoms of celebrants. The bill allows current civil celebrants to become religious celebrants and refuse to perform same sex marriages, and incorporates parts of the Sex Discrimination Act, to allow religious organisations to refuse their services for same-sex marriages. Smith's bill was formally backed by the Labor Party parliamentary caucus on 17 October 2017. However, conservative MPs in the government responded by suggesting up to 100 amendments to the bill may be needed if the "Yes" vote carried.
A rival bill was released on 13 November by Liberal Senator James Paterson, a conservative supporter of same-sex marriage. The bill contained various protections allowing the refusal of same-sex weddings by anyone who holds a religious or "conscientious belief" against same-sex marriage, including private service providers such as florists and bakers. Prime Minister Turnbull reacted negatively to Paterson's bill, saying the government "would not countenance" supporting a bill which discriminated against same-sex weddings and that the bill would have "virtually no prospect of getting through the Parliament". It was dropped by Senator Paterson within hours of the "Yes" vote being released.
Support and opposition
Party positions in a parliamentary vote
These are the official positions held by political parties in the Australian Parliament with regard to the issue of same-sex marriage. The Australian Labor Party official position is in support of same-sex marriage, though any MPs and Senators are not bound vote for it in Parliament until 2019. The Liberal Party position in regard to same-sex marriage is to hold a plebiscite of some kind before any change to the law is made; though the party had no official position on the survey question, hence Liberal MPs (including Cabinet members) were free to campaign and vote for either side, and all politicians were entitled to use their electoral printing and communications budget to campaign. MPs may, in the event of a vote, choose to vote according to how their individual electorates respond to the survey, or according to how the national result turns out, or according to their own consciences.
"Yes" campaign
The campaign for supporting voting in favour of same-sex marriage in the survey received support from Labor, the Liberals and Nationals for yes campaign, and four minor political parties represented in the Federal parliament, and from prominent lobby groups including Australian Marriage Equality and GetUp!.
"No" campaign
The campaign advocating voting against changing the marriage laws in the survey was supported by the Nationals and three minor parties represented in the Federal parliament. Several groups opposed to same-sex marriage, including the Australian Christian Lobby and the Marriage Alliance, formed the Coalition for Marriage to co-ordinate the "No" campaign.
Neutral
The Liberal Party of Australia did not hold a position either way in the survey. However, a number of prominent politicians from the party campaigned for both the "Yes" and "No" campaigns.
Public opinion
Opinion polls in Australia over several years in the lead-up to the survey indicated a comfortable majority of Australians supported same-sex marriage. A Guardian Essential poll conducted just prior to the announcement of the postal survey indicated that 43% approved of a postal vote and 38% disapproved, whereas a week later, 39% approved of the postal survey and 47% disapproved of it. A small boycott movement existed, although most same sex marriage campaigners who were against a national vote on same-sex marriage urged participation in the postal survey. Some informal responses to the survey were intended as a protest vote.
Voting intentions
Likelihood of voting in the survey
Activities during the campaign
Advocacy by territory and local governments
The Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly and several local governments such as the City of Sydney took official positions supporting the "Yes" campaign. Public servants in the ACT were warned against campaigning in the survey whilst in official uniform. The move to offer official support was criticised by some opposition members in the ACT, and similar criticisms lead to the City of Darebin backing down on plans to restrict "No" campaigners from using council facilities.
Debate over freedom of religion
Several figures and institutions supporting a "No" vote raised the issue of religious freedom during the survey period. Former Prime Minister John Howard rejected the assurances of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and requested that the government explicitly detail proposed religious freedom provisions to potentially be included in same-sex marriage legislation. Likewise several leaders in the Catholic Church raised freedom of religion concerns, citing the case of a Tasmanian archbishop, who was requested to appear at an anti-discrimination commission after having disseminated material supporting a Christian view of marriage. The veracity of the concerns over religious freedom was disputed heavily in the community. Some groups, such as the National Catholic Education Commission said they were unsure if Catholic schools could continue to teach the Catholic view of marriage in the event same-sex marriage was legalised, however academics Marion Maddox and Carol Johnson challenged this by arguing that religious organisations would continue to be able to access exemptions from anti-discrimination laws and, consequently, remain free to refuse same-sex marriage if it is eventually introduced. The divisions extended to the governing Liberal Party, whose president rejected claims that religious freedom could be under threat, in direct contradiction to the party's vice-president, who said that same-sex marriage would have consequences for freedom of speech, religion and association.
Both Prime Minister Turnbull and Bill Shorten, leader of the Opposition, spoke in favour of religious freedom protections, with Turnbull stating he was an even "stronger believer" in freedom of religion than same-sex marriage. Shorten said the Labor Party would "make sure that concerns about religious freedom are met with and dealt with and are treated with respect". The prospect of additional religious freedom exemptions being added to existing Australian anti-discrimination law troubled some "Yes" advocates, who feared such provisions could allow service providers to discriminate on any basis, not just limited to couples' sex. Tiernan Brady described the campaign for religious freedom exemptions as "a blatant attempt to unravel existing anti-discrimination laws which serve everyone in Australia well, not just LGBTI people".
In response to a Newspoll question on the subject; "Do you think parliament should provide guarantees in law for freedom of conscience, belief and religion if it legislates for same-sex marriage?", 62% responded Yes, 18% responded No and 20% said they were "uncommitted". In contrast, a poll conducted by Galaxy later in the survey found 78% of respondents said Yes in response to the question; "If the majority vote 'yes' in the postal survey, should same-sex couples be treated the same under the law compared with other couples?"
Advertising and media
Advertising by both sides was extensive for much of the survey period. The first television ad for the "No" campaign, revealed shortly after the campaign began, featured three women and focused on the Safe Schools education program. The "Yes" campaign promptly aired a rebuttal by Dr. Kerryn Phelps. A "No" supporter funded the skywritten message "Vote No" over Sydney in September, which was defended by Turnbull as an expression of free speech.
Subsequent "Yes" ads focused heavily on a concerted "get out the vote" effort, and featured high-profile figures such as Ian Thorpe and others posting their surveys, as well as a themed ad screened during the finale of popular television show The Bachelor. The "Yes" campaign were also responsible for a widespread SMS message to many Australian mobile phones which lead to some complaints over how people's numbers were obtained, however the campaign advised the numbers were generated through random dialling technology previously used in elections.
Both of the "No" campaign's next most prominent advertisements concentrated mostly on the notion of gender theory in school curriculum, one such ad focusing on the book The Gender Fairy and featuring two of the mothers from the original advertisement. The other advertisement included archive footage of one of the founders of the Safe Schools program and included material alleged to have been available for viewing by year seven students which was subsequently deemed inappropriate for unrestricted viewing by the Australian Commercial Television Code of Practice. As of mid-September, prominent "No" campaigner Lyle Shelton was mentioned across news outlets more times than the leading three "Yes" campaigners, Alex Greenwich, Tiernan Brady and Sally Rugg, combined.
Legislation in effect for the duration of the survey made it illegal to vilify, intimidate, threaten or harm "on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, intersex status or religion", with a fine of up to $12,600 for breaches. Furthermore, all campaign material was required to be properly authorised. By 26 September, marketing services group Ebiquity estimated that the lead "No" group (Coalition for Marriage) had spent about $3,975,872 on advertising, a figure higher than their estimate for the two lead "Yes" groups (Australian Marriage Equality and the Equality Campaign), about $2,920,740. Two donations of note were made in the course of the survey; $1 million was personally donated by Qantas CEO Alan Joyce to the "Yes" campaign, and $1 million was donated by the Anglican Diocese of Sydney to the "No" campaign. Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott said in November that the "No" campaign had 20,000 donors who donated around $6 million to the campaign.
At the 2017 NRL Grand Final, American rapper Macklemore was booked to perform several songs, including "Same Love". The song topped the Australian charts in 2013, and was regarded as an anthem for same-sex marriage advocates during the campaign in Macklemore's home state of Washington. In the days leading up to the grand final, the single returned to the top of the Australian iTunes charts. Several prominent conservative politicians voiced strong opposition to the scheduled performance of "Same Love", given its high-profile support for the "Yes" campaign during the voting period of the Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey. Macklemore acknowledged the controversy several days before the final, but vowed to "go harder" as a result.
Discussion of impact on children
The rights and welfare of children, particularly as it related to same-sex parenting, was occasionally discussed publicly through the survey. Organisations such as the Australian Catholic Bishops' Conference, the Presbyterian Church of Australia and the Australian National Imams Council all advocated strongly for nuclear family structures during the survey. A fact check article published in The Conversation, which was based on a review of the literature on outcomes for children of same-sex parents, showed equal or better outcomes for children raised by parents of the same gender. Likewise, a review published late in the survey period by the Medical Journal of Australia agreed with The Conversation's findings, but noted that the effects of being exposed to stigma and discrimination could lead to poorer public health outcomes for the children in same-sex parented families.
Counselling for those impacted and mental health
A number of helplines, conselling services and mental health strategies were made available to LGBTIQ people by several organisations, including the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Similar services were available for Defence, Victorian local councils and health services such as Alfred Health. State governments in Western Australia, Victoria and Queensland all allocated additional funds, ranging from $60,000 to $500,000, to LGBTIQ mental health services.
Other groups, such as Slater and Gordon, the Australian Psychological Society and Minus 18 unveiled material and mechanisms designed to offer support and relief for those affected by the debate, such as parents of young children and LGBTIQ teenagers who experienced difficulties dealing with the public discussion.
The survey period was associated with increases in the number of LGBTIQ people requesting assistance for mental health issues. Reach Out Australia, which lead the pro-same-sex marriage campaign by five mental health services, reported increases (variously at) 20, 30 and 40 per cent in clients during the survey period and crisis support service Lifeline noted a spike in calls about the impact of the survey. Shorten wrote to Turnbull about increasing the funding for mental health services during the survey from the federal budget, but did not receive a response.
Vandalism and abuse
The survey was accompanied by a variety of acts of vandalism and abuse by both parties. In September, a banner reading "Burn Churches, Not Queers" was unfurled at a Coalition for Marriage meeting, and in October several churches in Victoria and New South Wales were graffitied with messages criticising "No" voters. Similarly, a passenger train on the Sydney Trains network was vandalised with messages encouraging "No" votes, including foul language and the Nazi swastika. The ABC created a digital news service designed to track incidents of violence and abuse throughout the survey, with both "Yes" and "No" voters/organisations being targeted on occasions.
Result
There were more responses to the survey from 18 and 19 year olds than any other age group under 45, despite concerns during the survey period that this group would be disenfranchised.
National result
State and territory breakdown
Electorate breakdown
Aftermath
Marriage Amendment Act
Several hours after the results of the survey were released, Senator Dean Smith introduced the Marriage Amendment (Definition and Religious Freedoms) Bill 2017 into the Australian Senate. The bill is currently before the Senate and may be subject to amendments. If passed the bill would amend the definition of "marriage" in the Marriage Act to recognise a "union of 2 people", which would enable same-sex marriage. The bill drafted by Liberal Senator James Paterson, which would have extended further protections and exemptions for people opposed to same-sex marriage was dropped, with the Senator and several conservative MPs instead deciding to offer amendments to the Smith bill during parliamentary debate. There was some unresolved disagreement by politicians who advocated for a "No" result as to whether further religious protections should be added to the Smith bill as an amendment at this time or whether a later bill for this purpose should be considered.
The bill passed the Senate by 43 votes to 12 on 29 November 2017, with none of the amendments providing further protections and exemptions being accepted. The bill now awaits consideration by the House of Representatives.
Response to results
Alex Greenwich of the "Yes" campaign stated the survey results represented a level of "unprecedented support and momentum [that] has exceeded the expectations, not just of this campaign, but any campaign in our history". Spokesperson for the "No" campaign and the Coalition for Marriage, Lyle Shelton said it was a disappointing result, but he accepted and respected the verdict of the people. Tony Abbott said the Parliament should "respect the result".
Speaking immediately after the survey results were released, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull called the outcome "overwhelming" and recommitted to passing same-sex marriage legislation in the Parliament before Christmas. Opposition Leader Bill Shorten shared that commitment and called on conservative MPs in the government to respect the will of the people and not attempt any delaying tactics in the parliament. The verdict announcement was watched and celebrated by tens of thousands of "Yes" supporters in capital cities. In Melbourne, several thousand people gathered outside the State Library of Victoria to watch the results before celebrations began in Melbourne's Lygon Street that evening. The huge "Yes" vote in Victoria prompted Premier Daniel Andrews to label the result reflective of Victoria's reputation as "the most progressive state" in the nation. A large crowd also descended on Prince Alfred Park in Sydney for the announcement, which included high-profile figures Magda Szubanski and Ian Thorpe in attendance. Reflecting on the atmosphere in Sydney, local newspaper The Sydney Morning Herald claimed the results reflected "a momentous civil rights milestone" for Australia. Smaller crowds also gathered in several locations in Canberra, Adelaide and Perth to celebrate the result. In Canberra (capital city of the Australian Capital Territory, the jurisdiction with the highest "Yes" vote in the country), the results were celebrated festively into the night, as thousands of people forced the closure of Lonsdale Street in the city. Labor Party Senator Penny Wong's appearance onstage at the event "drew thunderous applause from a crowd of thousands".
The results were welcomed by many representatives of Australia's business community. Among the highest profile of them was Qantas CEO Alan Joyce, who called it "an amazing outcome and we should all be very proud of this amazing country", an observation shared by leaders of corporate bodies Telstra and ANZ Bank. Businesses related to the wedding industry, such as florists, bakers and others were poised to reap the benefit of what some projected to be a multi-billion dollar boost to the industry over the following 12 months. The social media coverage of the results announcement was so immense that, with more than 4000 tweets sent every second during the peak of the day, the survey results trend was more than 10 times as popular as Australia's "race that stops the nation", the Melbourne Cup.
In celebration of the "Yes" vote, a Sydney-based visual artist painted a large, "light-hearted mural" on the wall of the Botany View Hotel, Newtown, depicting Tony Abbott with his hand down the pants of Cardinal George Pell. The mural was later defaced and painted over in black paint. The visual artist said he planned to leave the defaced mural as it was, stating "when you're making public art, the reaction is important, the reaction is needed".
Archbishop Denis Hart of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne issued a statement on behalf of the Australian Catholic Bishops' Conference, saying the results did not change the church's understandings of marriage and noting the 4.8 million Australians who voted "No" should have their concerns recognised by "putting in place strong conscience and religious freedom protections". These sentiments were shared by the leaders of the Anglican Church of Australia. Reflecting on the heavily concentrated "No" vote prominent in Western Sydney electorates, Keysar Trad, former president of the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils, labelled it "heartening" and praised the role of faith leaders in both the Muslim and Christian communities in the region. Being born overseas has been noted to correlate with a "No" response and religious belief to correlate even more strongly.
World leaders to congratulate Australia for the result included Nicola Sturgeon (First Minister of Scotland), Justin Trudeau (Prime Minister of Canada) and Theresa May (Prime Minister of the United Kingdom).
The survey ran $20 million under its projected budget of $122 million. Greens leader Richard Di Natale wrote to the Prime Minister requesting the unused funds be redirected to mental health and other support services for LGBT Australians hurt by the campaign.
Democratic representation
The survey revealed discrepancies between the views of some MPs and their constituents. Several Labor MPs in Western Sydney electorates recommitted to voting in favour of same-sex marriage legislation, despite majority "No" votes among their constituents. Labor Senator Sam Dastyari acknowledged this issue, noting there was a "huge disconnect" of views on same-sex marriage within traditionally Labor-held seats in Western Sydney. Similarly, several Liberal MPs and Senators, said they would vote "No" irrespective of the result in their electorate or state.
See also
- LGBT rights in Australia
- Marriage in Australia
Other same-sex marriage referendums
- Croatian constitutional referendum, 2013
- Irish same-sex marriage referendum, 2015
- Slovak same-sex marriage referendum, 2015
- Slovenian same-sex marriage referendum, 2015
- United States:
- Maine:
- Maine same-sex marriage referendum, 2009
- Maine same-sex marriage referendum, 2012
- Maryland same-sex marriage referendum, 2012
- Washington same-sex marriage referendum, 2012
- Maine:
Notes
References
External links
- Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey
- Australian Bureau of Statistics
- Australian Electoral Commission
- Marriage Amendment (Definition and Religious Freedoms) Bill 2017 - Smith's bill
- Marriage Amendment (Definition and Protection of Freedoms) Bill 2017 - Paterson's bill
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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