Julia Gillard will back a conscience vote for Labor MPs on gay marriage, as the Age/Nielsen poll shows a growing majority of Australians favour legalising marriage equality.
But in a stand that will deeply disappoint those arguing for change, the Prime Minister also wants opposition to gay marriage to stay in the ALP platform, which will be debated at next month’s party conference.
Sixty-two per cent of voters would like to see gay marriage legalised, a rise from 57 per cent a year ago, according to the poll. Thirty-one per cent are opposed, compared with 37 per cent in November 2010.
Ms Gillard, who has repeatedly defended the status quo, has announced her position in an article in The Age today. The issue is one of the hottest for the conference, with many in the left arguing the platform should not just embrace marriage equality but that MPs should be bound to support it.
A conscience vote would doom a private member’s bill because Labor MPs would be split, while the Coalition would vote solidly against.
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