Same-sex marriage has officially been passed, with no substantiate amendments, by the senate two weeks after the same-sex marriage vote.
The vote for the marriage equality bill came down to 43 for and 12 against.
Now the bill will make its way to the House of Representatives where it will face some more debate and possible amendments before coming to a vote, but most politicians are expecting the bill to be law before Christmas.
If the House of Reps were currently sitting, as they should be, same-sex marriages could be debated today and potentially recognised in Australia this week.
Dean Smith, who put the bill in motion, said the bill was not “the triumph of one group over another, but the advancement of freedoms for all of us”.
He also said the debate had shown, “the soul of the attorney [-general George Brandis], the lived experience of senators Wong, Rice, and Pratt, the conscience of those who opposed the bill, and the convictions of those who supported it.”
Senator Penny Wong added today’s vote would be a profound moment in Australian history.
“Today, we stand on the cusp of a remarkable achievement and an historic event,” she said.
“Every day, it is a great privilege to stand in this place, but there are some days which are a great moment, which change our country for the better. This is such a day.”
The resounding yes comes after a ferocious debate, which waged until 11pm last night, over amendments to the bill. Most of the conservative amendments to the same-sex marriage bill were voted down by large margins.
The Dean Smith bill already allows priests and other religious celebrants to refuse to wed same-sex couple on the basis of their faith, but many conservatives wanted this liberty extended to civil celebrants with “conscientious objection”.
That exemption was defeated 25-38, but not before Senator Ian Macdonald lost his cool and called his co-workers a bunch of “numpties”.
“I’m exercising an informed vote on this, unlike those numpties over there, who are just doing what they are being told to do,” he interjected before being told to sit down by the Chair.
Another amendment that would have extended a “right of any person” to “manifest his or her religion” was defeated 27 – 36.
The minority started to get testy as the night dragged on and they continued to lose vote after vote. Macdonald criticised Greens senator Peter Whish-Wilson for wearing a marriage equality badge in the Chair and Abetz nagged Greens and Labor senators for looking at the phones and leaving the chamber while he spoke.
Attorney-General George Brandis gave a moving speech on what the law will mean for Australia.
“At last, Australia will no longer be insulting gay people by saying different rules apply to you,” Senator Brandis told his upper house colleagues.
“After centuries of prejudice, discrimination, rejection and ridicule, it is both an expiation for past wrongs and a final act of acceptance and embrace.”
