NEWS DESK
Liberals remain divided on same-sex marriage Neil Walker neil@baysidenews.com.au DEEP divisions within the Liberal Party over the legalisation of samesex marriage have been mirrored in Frankston and the Mornington Peninsula with local federal Liberal MPs Bruce Billson and Greg Hunt at odds on the contentious subject. Flinders MP and Environment Minister Greg Hunt declined to be publicly outed as a supporter of same-sex marriage when asked by The Times whether he supports its legalisation. Mr Hunt was coy last week about his stance on the issue despite being named as “a same-sex marriage supporter” in recent months by the The Australian and The Age newspapers and the ABC. Rather than answer the question Mr Hunt directed electorate office staff to refer The Times to comments he made to David Speers on Sky News last Wednesday (12 August), the day after Liberal and National MPs spent six hours locked in behind closed doors talks to formulate a Coalition policy on the legalisation of same-sex marriage. “I had a particular preference and that didn’t come about,” Mr Hunt said in the Sky News interview. Mr Hunt’s refusal to publicly declare his opinion on same-sex marriage is the second time in as many months that the Coalition frontbencher has not answered a direct question from The Times about his views on the matter. Early last month Mr Hunt said he supported “a free vote (a conscience vote)” taking place whereby all federal Liberal MPs would be allowed to vote based on individual views rather than
The at odds couple: Liberal cabinet colleagues Bruce Billson, left, and Greg Hunt, pictured on Mr Hunt’s 500km sponsored Walk for Autism last month, favour different paths on the legalisation of same-sex marriage debate. Pic source Twitter
Dunkley against SSM?
along party lines (‘Same-sex marriage views differ’, The Times 6/7/15). Prime Minister Tony Abbott, a long-time opponent of the legalisation of same-sex marriage, is understood to have stared down any party room suggestions for a free vote for Liberal MPs and instead favours a national plebiscite or referendum if the government wins a second term. Dunkley MP and Small Business Minister Bruce Billson is on ‘Team Abbott’ with regards to same-sex marriage, telling The Times he backed the Coalition’s policy of “maintaining the current definition of marriage” since this was “the undertaking given by the Coalition and many other members of parliament going into the last election”. “I believe and understand that people should be able to love the adult their heart wants them to love,” Mr Billson said. “There are very genuine strongly held yet diametrically opposed views on same sex marriage in most communities, including ours. These differing, heartfelt views expressed to me by members of the community were also reflected during the respectful
six hour meeting held with my Liberal and National colleagues.” Mr Billson favours “the formal recognition of same sex relationships” and said “going to a process after the next election that puts the question [on legalising same-sex marriage] to the people enables all individuals to have their say”. His cabinet colleague Mr Hunt also tried to maintain a positive front about divisions within the Coalition, telling Sky News: “I like deeply the idea of Australians and every Australian having the opportunity to participate in a grand democratic action.” While the federal Liberal Party squabbles internally over the legalisation of same-sex marriage, Labor opposition leader Bill Shorten has vowed to enact legislation to legalise same-sex marriage within 100 days of Labor winning government. Mr Shorten and Isaacs Labor MP Mark Dreyfus attended a marriage equality rally in Melbourne on Saturday (15 August) and the opposition leader said Labor would follow the likes of the UK and the US and legalise same-sex marriage without a plebiscite or referendum.
THE majority of voters who have expressed an opinion on same-sex marriage to Dunkley Liberal MP Bruce Billson oppose its legalisation according to the Small Business Minister. While appearing on ABC 774’s Drive show last Wednesday (12 August) Mr Billson claimed correspondence to his electorate office suggested most Dunkley electorate residents want to keep the existing definition of marriage as being between a man and a woman. “I know in my electorate, two to one is the number that want the definition left the way it is,” Mr Billson told Drive show host Rafael Epstein. A “caller Steve from Frankston” subsequently challenged Mr Billson live on air and asked the Dunkley MP to substantiate the claim. Mr Billson said the statistic was arrived at from “emails, correspondence and calls to my office from my electorate”. When contacted by The Times on Friday last week Mr Billson revealed there have been 634 calls and emails to his office on the subject of same-sex marriage with 105 supporting samesex marriage and 529 “for maintaining the status quo”. “It appears I had actually been understating the views expressed by saying publicly in the past it was more than two to one, when in fact it appears to be six to one,” Mr Billson said. The caller from Frankston who challenged Mr Billson on ABC radio last week is Steve Toms, a Labor Party member and marriage equality advocate, who introduced himself to Mr Billson and fellow Drive show guest federal Isaacs Labor MP Mark Dreyfus as being “familiar to both Mark and Bruce”. Neil Walker
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