It looks like Australia is poised to have a vote of conscience (well at least a vote of conscience in the Labor party) on same-sex marriage soon.
The country, where recent polls suggest two thirds of Australia voters support same-sex marriage, has been facing heat on same-sex marriage for a number of years. Every state/territory recognizes same-sex partnerships and some (Victoria) have been pushing for same-sex marriage for a few years now.
Controversy has sprung up with the PM of Australia, Julia Gillard, setting the Labor party (ruling party in Australia) for a vote of conscience on the matter. This means people will be able to vote how they feel. While this has worked out in the past in countries where the majority of the population supports same-sex marriage (Canada in particular) it appears that in Australia this is sure way of effectively killing the possibility of same-sex marriage in the country for the immediate future.
It seems in Australia that conservative MPs don’t really care what their constituents believe, at least not when it is in contrast to what they believe. Hope they don’t try to use that excuse on any future measures that try to get passed in parliament.
If you live in Australia please write or phone into your MPs, make sure they know who they are voting on behalf of.
