A FEDERAL Labor backbencher has accused Opposition Leader Tony Abbott of “trotting out his daughters’ views” in support of gay marriage to counterbalance his own opposition to marriage equality.
Frances and Bridget Abbott have told News Limited they believe same-sex couples should be able to marry and they have discussed the matter with their father.
But Mr Abbott on Sunday reaffirmed the coalition’s position that marriage should remain between a man and a woman.
“As long as it is party policy – and that’s a matter for the party room – there’s no conscience vote,” he told Sky News.
Labor MP Graham Perrett, who has two gay brothers, said Mr Abbott’s stern opposition to a conscience vote was puzzling.
“He’s saying it’s set in stone,” Mr Perrett told Sky News on Monday.
“(Mr Abbott is saying) because it’s the policy now, it must be the policy forever, which is a bizarre approach.”
He added that Mr Abbott was “trotting out his daughters’ views to counterbalance his hardcore views about marriage equality”.
“I would’ve thought it’s the sort of issue that Tony Abbott, with that free-thinking family of his, might allow his party … to have a conscience vote,” Mr Perrett said.
Liberal MP Paul Fletcher said he’d consulted widely with in his upper North Shore Sydney electorate of Bradfield and had found a “strong majority view” in favour of maintaining the status quo on marriage law.
Publication: AAP
Publication Date: April 1, 2013
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