After two months of bullying, harassment, and a decidedly disrespectful debate (good one Malcolm), Australians have officially voted no in the same-sex marriage postal survey.
With the inhumane treatment of refugees on Manus Island already earning our country condemnation from the UN and the rest of the world, this result is a huge blow to our already disgraceful human rights behaviour.
Does this mean gay marriage definitely won’t be legalised in Australia?
According to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, there’s no chance of legalising, or even discussing, same-sex marriage this term.
“If the people have spoken against it, we won’t be proposing it at the next election,” he said in September.
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten, however, says if his party is voted in it’ll be legalised before we know it despite the public resistance.
“If I’m elected Prime Minister, I’ll just make it happen… I’ll just legislate it in the first 100 days,” he said in September.
Given the current citizenship crisis which is upending Parliament to the point of a non-majority government, ol’ Shorten might be in sooner than anyone thought so don’t give up just yet.
Can I see how others voted?
If you’re a giant statistics nerd (guilty), the Australian Bureau of Statistics will publish a breakdown of the votes, including:
• A count of responses (Yes, No and Response Not Clear) by Federal Electoral Division, State/Territory and National;
• A count of eligible Australians who have not participated;
• A participation rate by age and gender for each FED, State/Territory and National.
The results won’t be broken down so far as age and gender due to that old ‘anonymous vote’ chestnut.
