Ferntree Gully
Belgrave
Mail Covering the Dandenongs in the Yarra Ranges & Cardinia Shires
Cancer fund-raiser for grandparents
5 Tuesday, 14 July, 2015
7
A Mail News Group publication
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■ Electorate pulse on changing marriage act...
Same-sex sur vey
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Nature classes in the outdoors VICTORIAN Deputy Premier James Merlino last Saturday officially opened the Outdoor Classroom at the Yellingbo Nature Conservation Reserve. Designed as an education space for primary schoolaged children, the amphitheatre-style design will be a welcome addition to the region. Interestingly, the finished product was built partly out of rubbish collected from around the region. The Outdoor Classroom was made possible from both a government grant and the work of the Friends of the Helmeted Honeyeater community group. About 50 people attended the opening. See further pictures on page 8. 141690 Picture: GREG CARRICK
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VOTERS in the federal electorate of La Trobe will have the chance to directly influence their MP’s position on samesex marriage by replying to the #LATROBEVOTES survey. The office of La Trobe MP Jason Wood will be sending out the survey between 20 and 25 July this year, and voters can directly give their opinion on changing the marriage act. A representative of Mr Wood’s office said as far as they were aware no other MP had conducted this type of survey. Mr Wood said the survey would give him the chance to fully represent the views of the La Trobe electorate. “I need to represent the electorate on this issue as it’s so important to so many people in the community,” he said. “It brings out such passion in people either for or against, and I need to properly represent the people.” While Mr Wood has said previously he supports a conscience vote on this issue, his personal position on changing the marriage act is listed as undecided. Mr Wood said many people from his electorate were contacting him on the issue, so he realised the best thing to do was to take the question directly to his constituents. The results of this survey will be used to deter-
mine the way Mr Wood votes if the Liberal Party allows a conscience vote on marriage equality. For constituents’ views to be counted towards the survey results, they must meet criteria to make sure the survey is conducted fairly. Voters wishing to reply to the survey must be enrolled in the electorate of La Trobe with the AEC or VEC, include a full name and street address in their response, and complete the form with matching details to those with the AEC or VEC. Voters are only permitted to reply once to the survey but have a few avenues to do so. Once constituents receive their survey, they can call Mr Wood’s office to vote, scan the QR code on the survey to record their response online, or return the survey via a reply paid envelope. A poll commissioned by Australian Marriage Equality and conducted by social research and political polling firm Crosby-Textor in June 2014, revealed strong support for legalising same-sex marriage across the Australian population. According to the poll, 72 per cent of Australians support legalising samesex marriage, including around 48 per cent ‘strongly supporting’ it. Also 21 per cent of respondents opposed legalisation of same-sex marriage to any degree with those strongly opposed at 14 per cent.
1161391-HM44-14
By VICTORIA STONE-MEADOWS
32 years.
5 Fitzgerald Street, Ferntree Gully
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