Twelve months of Mr Turnbull as PM, eh? Why it seems like just yesterday that Tony Abbott was inviting the Nationals to join the Liberal Party room to discuss what to do about a vote on this same sex marriage thing. Remember? Some were unkind enough to suggest that this was just Tony’s way of stopping the party from calling for a conscience vote. But the meeting resulted in a very clear policy: There’d be a plebiscite at some future date. Certainly not before the election, but soon after it because we shouldn’t rush into such things.
This would enable the Australian people to express their views. And after that, the Parliament of Australia would then allow a conscience vote so that people wouldn’t be forced to take any notice of the Australian people.
And now the election has come and gone, Mr Turnbull has given us a date, and the Liberals are jumping up and down complaining that Labor won’t commit to supporting the date because they’re playing politics and it’s very clear that the Liberals have a mandate to set a date about when those wanting to marry should be able to set a date. And putting it off for a few years is just terrible because we all know that having a plebiscite will be the fastest way to allow this to happen – certainly not a vote last year and certainly not a conscience vote now. And it certainly needs to happen quickly because that’s what all the Liberals speaking in the media keep telling me. Yep, they all keep saying that, personally, they support it but they don’t feel that they can’t support it until the Australian people have had their say. Which Labor seem likely to stop …
Which, unlike the decision to invite the National Party in, or the decision to hold a plebiscite, is all about politics.
No, we need to have a civil debate about this. A civil debate where the Australian Christian Lobby can get back some of the taxes that churches pay…
Or rather that churchgoers pay, because churches are part of those “taxed nots” that Scott Morrison complains about.
You know, the sort of civil debate where Cory Bernardi suggests that this opens the door for bestiality and polygamy and having sex with One Nation supporters.
But anyway, it’s Labor that’s holding it up because we could have same sex marriage as early as February 11th next year, if it weren’t for Labor. Or sometime soon after. That is, providing the parliament endorse the vote of the Australian people.
And if Labor vote it down, as far as Malcolm Turnbull’s concerned, that’s it.
I’m not sure what he means by that because I’m sure that people who are currently unable to marry won’t suddenly decide that they don’t want to any more. Perhaps he simply means that his marriage with the Right of his party is over. But I somehow doubt it, because that’s a marriage that seems to be able to withstand any turbulent current…
Ok, I’m off to make my video for the “No” case. God, if abandoning any sense of integrity has enabled Turnbull to be PM for fifteen months or so (I understand that he’ll be removed over Christmas, when they hope we won’t notice because he’s essentially just steered the Abbott ship through the difficult straits of an election), then creating an ad for the “No” case should help me become rich and famous. And certainly they’ll need it, because if they’re asking for various exemptions to current laws then clearly they have no idea of how to create an ad without exposing themselves as the homophobes that most of them are, while I may be able to create some creative subtext…
Yes, yes, I know. It’s very hurtful for them to be called homophobes. Perhaps we should have some legislation to stop people being hurt or offended…
Oh wait… Of course we shouldn’t. That’s why they want the exemptions.
Gee, I’m getting more and more confused.
Perhaps I should just join Poorlean Hanson and complain about Muslims trying to impose their religion on us all …
