Nobody has to 'ban' gay marriage: it doesn't exist in Australia yet: the issue is - do we introduce it?
One word:
PLEBISCITE!
(it's like a referendum, only based on simple majority of votes cast across the country - referenda are limited to constitutional issues and have a more demanding criterion before acceptance)
Its supporters say the majority of Australians support them - great: so the advocates of gay marriage will support a plebiscite?
No, of course they don't- they might lose.
In recent years we had a referendum on Republic vs Monarchy - necessarily so because no act of parliament can alter Australia's monarchical status, but would not we all agree that it was an appropriate question to be put to the people?
In the 1970's we had a plebiscite on our national anthem. A trivial question, but one which touched upon 'how do we see ourselves, who are we?'
The gay-marriage advocates see politicians as easy targets, and they're right.
Try it on the majority of your fellow citizens..? Yeah sure.
The definition of marriage is a social question, not a political one. It can be neatly encapsulated in a simple yes/no question (not so for other national issues: economics, defence, even immigration)
Advocates have told me a plebiscite is bad because it would be "divisive" (this coming from rent-a-crowd political activists).
One hopes the conservatives in parliament have the brains to demand a plebiscite before some ugly mishmash of politicians gets stampeded into this.
Disclaimer: I am a greenie. Disclaimer: it's not easy being green. Least of all in the Green party.
