2017-08-08
Australian Greens LGBTIQ spokesperson Senator Janet Rice has lodged a notice of motion in the Senate requesting documents that lay out the advice the government has used to arrive at the postal plebiscite plan.
“Like many Australians today, we have many questions about the Government’s ludicrous postal plebiscite. The public deserves to know more about just how the government has cooked up this hair-brained idea,” said Senator Rice.
“It is a ludicrous, expensive and sneaky workaround that is possibly legally invalid and designed to appease the right wing of the Liberal party. It’s also non-compulsory and non-binding – so what is the point?
“Malcolm Turnbull should allow the Liberal party a free vote and we can have marriage equality by the end of the week, without the hurt, without the divisiveness and without the ridiculous expense.
“Clearly Malcolm Turnbull didn’t have the ticker to stand up to the right wing of his party. And in failing to do so, he has failed to protect LGBTIQ Australians, who will have their relationships, their families and their identities viciously attacked during a plebiscite campaign,” said Senator Rice.
“The rights of a minority group should never be put to a public vote. John Howard didn’t go to a public vote when he changed the Marriage Act in 2004, so why does Malcolm Turnbull want to? The Greens will continue to stand up for LGBTIQ Australians to be equal citizens under the law and marry the person they love.”