Australian government lawmaker introduces gay marriage bill
ROD McGUIRK, Associated Press

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — A maverick lawmaker broke from conservative government ranks on Monday to introduce legislation that would legalize gay marriage in Australia as a new opinion poll confirmed that most Australians support such a reform.

Warren Entsch, a 65-year-old former crocodile farmer who has been dubbed a progressive redneck in the media, introduced a private member's bill that would allow same-sex marriage throughout Australia.

Entsch has conceded that his bill has little chance of reaching a vote because the ruling coalition decided last week that government lawmakers should be bound by the party line opposing gay marriage.

"I certainly wouldn't have been introducing it if I didn't hope that I could have a vote on it," Entsch told reporters.

Several lawmakers in Prime Minister Tony Abbott's Liberal Party have said they would defy the government's wishes by voting for gay marriage if such a vote is allowed.

The push for gay marriage within government ranks is a leadership test for Abbott, a former Roman Catholic seminarian who has been described as Australia's most socially conservative prime minister in decades.

A poll by Sydney-based market researcher Ipsos published by Fairfax Media newspapers on Monday found that 69 percent of respondents supported legalizing same-sex marriage and 25 percent opposed it. Support had grown by 12 percentage points since December 2011.

The poll was based on a weekend, nationwide telephone survey of 1,402 voters. It had a 2.6 percentage point margin of error.

The latest poll also provided more bad news for the government which has trailed the opposition in a range of opinion polls since April last year. It found 54 percent of respondents preferred the opposition center-left Labor Party while 46 percent preferred the ruling coalition.

While 15 percent of respondents supported Abbott compared to the leader of the Liberal Party, 41 percent preferred senior minister Malcolm Turnbull, a gay marriage advocate whom Abbott replaced as party leader in 2009.

Abbott has promised that if his government retains power at elections next year, he will allow the public to decide the gay marriage issue with a popular vote.

Turnbull said in his blog on Sunday that such a vote should be held before the election, which is due around September.

"It would be better if same-sex marriage were not a contentious issue at the next election," Turnbull wrote. "There are sincere, conscientious differences of opinion throughout the community and on both sides of the political divide and issues like this are better dealt with outside of the frenzied hurly burly of an election campaign."


-- (c) Associated Press 2015-08-17

Well, if it's a leadership issue, then Tony should bend over and take it like a man.

A lot of blokes would give up a sheep just to give it to him.

One thing I hate is when politicians decide that their opinion counts more than those of the people who elected them.

Only in this case it seems there is a whole parliament full of spineless bigots.

You'd think of Entch could support this issue, of all people, then the rest of the Huns in the coalition could.

You'd think of Entch could support this issue, of all people, then the rest of the Huns in the coalition could.

A sort of "Crocodile Dundee" crossed with a red neck right winger figure?

Sounds like a new "Village People" persona.

Interesting (and relevant) blog post from the marketer Set Godin today:

The permanent rules

(They change).

Rules are rarely universal constants, received wisdom, never unchanging. We're frequently told that an invented rule is permanent and that it is the way that things will always be. Only to discover that the rule wasn't nearly as permanent as people expected.

We've changed the rules of football and baseball, many times. We've recognized that women ought to have the right to vote. We've become allies with countries we fought in World Wars. We've changed policies, procedures and the way we interpret documents and timeless books.

This is not weakness, nor is it flip flopping. Not all the changes are for the better, but the changes always remind us that cultural rules are fluid. We make new decisions based on new data. Culture changes. It has to, because new humans and new situations present new decisions to us on a regular basis. Technology amplifies the ever-changing nature of culture, and the only way this change can happen is when people decide that a permanent rule, something that would never, ever change, has to change.

And then it does.

What may not be uderstood by many is that there are many laws that need to be amended to accommodate such a change. Australia has so far been unable to simplify tax law after years of bleating about this. Same sex marriage will unveil a lot more problems. Male and female are already treated differently under tax law and what about deserted wife's and similar

It is not all that simple.

While 15 percent of respondents supported Abbott compared to the leader of the Liberal Party,......

Abbott is the leader of the Liberal Party. OP should say ...compared to the leader of the Labour Party, surely.

I wonder if NIDA is looking for foreign clients. It has a way to turn majority opposition into majority support.

" the ruling coalition decided last week that government lawmakers should be bound by the party line opposing gay marriage."

Matters concerning economic policy, health policy etc should be party line. Matters of conscience, such as marijuana reform and gay marriage, that do not affect the running of the country, but affect the people, should be up to the individual MPs.

(MsP should be the correct abbreviation)