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© Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Australian opposition decides to block gay marriage vote
By ROD McGUIRK CANBERRA, Australia©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.
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wildwest
This article fails to mention an important issue which is the cost of a plebiscite.
ThePBot
No true secular society would even have debates whether or not gays are allowed to get married.
goldorak
Well said 'thePbot'.
A referendum would not only have been costly but also potentially damaging to vulnerable gay individuals especially teens questioning their own sexual orientation. Don't think I or anyone else needs to hear church-goers proselytize again about what's 'right', that a marriage is and will always be between a man and a woman etc, we have heard it all before.
Would have turned into a morality debate.
dharmadan
I'm actually anti gay marriage, but I will say the whole gay marriage issue has brought the institution itself into sharp focus. Without some metaphysical binding, marriage is fairly meaningless. It's just a civil agreement, and humans will ALWAYS find reasons or excuses to break such agreements when it suits them. And the more selfish and individualistic a society gets, the more this will happen. So the whole concept of marriage is devalued to the point of meaninglessness by divorcing it (pun intended) from its religious context.
CH3CHO
I agree. The gay marriage challenges the whole concept of marriage, and opens a can of worms.
Is bigamy or polygamy OK, if the the people involved want?
Is parent-child marriage or brother-sister marriage OK, if they want?
don-in-japan
How on earth do you arrive at that, from gay marriage being allowed???
Same question.
Chop Chop
Sometime Left wing liberal peoples think democracy is dirty words. So Leftist Liberal Gay and Lesbian and Labor peoples think the plebiscite doesn't need for to legalize of same sex marriage because they don't need to care about majority of Australian peoples who oppose same sex marriage legislation. Labor and Gay activists said the plebiscite will cost $ 175 millions and it shouldn't be spending on same sex marriage plebiscite. Who care about $ 175 millions for same sex marriage plebiscite? We have wasting $ 25 billions more by building submarine in Australia instead of buying foreign built Submarine for $ 25 billion. The democracy will be died in Australia if Labor wins election and Labor has legislated same sex marriage without plebiscite by help with cross benchers.
Steven C. Schulz
And the Liberal-Nationals won't allow passage without a referendum. A referendum might be the only way for public opinion enough to pressure them to approve it in a final vote. Not having a referendum now will stop legalization for a generation. The Labor party is putting political principle before the real public benefit to same-sex couples.