New poll shows support for marriage equality has surged
Equal marriage activists in Australia (SAEED KHAN/AFP/Getty Images)
A new poll in Australia has shown that support for marriage equality has reached its highest-ever level of public support.
An Essential Poll released this week has found that five percent more people now support legalising same-sex marriage compared to late 2015.
64% of people in the country now want marriage equality compared to 59% in late October.
The news has been welcomed by campaigners because surveys by Essential Polls normally show lower levels of support compared to others. Recently, a number of polls have shown support in the nation is in excess of 70%.
“I attribute the increase in support to everyday conversations about why marriage equality matters, as well as growing impatience with Parliament’s do-nothing approach to the issue,” said Rodney Croome from Australian Marriage Equality.
The poll comes only days after a report by PwC calculated it would cost the country $525 million (£276 million, $396 million) to hold a national plebiscite.
This week the Green Party tabled a motion to hold a vote in the Senate to pass a bill that would allow for marriage to be redefined.
However, after prioritising voting reform in the chamber, the Greens voted to postpone a debate on the issue until Thursday.
Labor Senators, in favour of the vote, hit out at Green for their actions.
Senate leader for the party, Penny Wong, said: “They had an opportunity [to bring it to a vote] this morning, and they squibbed it, and they now want to make Australians believe that somehow an hour-long debate is somehow the same.”
The bill, which would redefine marriage in the federal Marriage Act, would still have to pass the lower house should it pass the Senate.
