Australia’s Liberals draw the line at same-sex marriage

Every year Sydney throws open its doors to gay, lesbian and transgender communities from around the world for a Mardi Gras parade and street party that helps project an image of Australian tolerance. Yet despite the celebrations, Australia is now among the last English-speaking countries still prohibiting same-sex marriage.

This may be about to change. As parliament prepares to resume on Monday after a winter break there are signs Australia could follow Ireland and the US and legalise gay marriage.

High quality global journalism requires investment. Please share this article with others using the link below, do not cut & paste the article. See our Ts&Cs and Copyright Policy for more detail. Email ftsales.support@ft.com to buy additional rights. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/c801d712-3b66-11e5-8613-07d16aad2152.html#ixzz3i9lROxDg

Several bills proposing to legalise same-sex marriage will come before parliament this month with at least one co-sponsored by members of the governing Liberal party and the opposition. Polls show that the public backs liberalising marriage laws and campaigners for gay marriage have delivered the best lines on the issue.

“We are your brothers and your sisters, your sons and your daughters, your friends and your fellow Australians, and this is a debate about us,” said Penny Wong, a Labor senator and lesbian, in a debate at the National Press Club in Canberra last week with Cori Bernardi, a Conservative lawmaker and opponent of change. Mr Bernardi, who in 2012 said allowing gay marriage could open the door to recognising relationships between animals and humans, countered that redefining marriage on the basis of equality would lead to a “dictatorship of relativism”.

The successful referendum in Ireland — a country seen by many Australians as more conservative than their own — struck a chord with many people. For some there was a sense of national embarrassment following the Irish vote and this has intensified since the US Supreme Court backed gay marriage in June.

“The fact that same-sex couples can now marry in Galway and Mississippi but not Sydney or Melbourne is quite humiliating for a country that prides itself on being tolerant and inclusive,” says Rodney Croome of the Marriage Equality Alliance.

Business has also weighed into the debate with Wesfarmers and Qantas among more than 300 big companies publicly backing gay marriage. But in politics here, rational arguments do not always win the day. Under Prime Minister Tony Abbott, Australia became the first country to scrap a national carbon tax — a move that is causing emissions to rise just as the country comes under international pressure to tackle climate change.

Tony Abbott’s ability to stifle debate within the Liberal party and stall a vote is far from guaranteed given his own fragile grip on power

Mr Abbott, who quit a seminary before entering politics, is a staunch opponent of marriage equality and a conservative who has drawn support from his party’s right wing. Even the intervention of his sister, Christine Forster, a Liberal councillor and lesbian who campaigns on gay rights, failed to shift the position of a leader who once told a television interviewer he felt “threatened” by homosexuality.

Last month, when Mr Abbott learnt a cross-party bill on gay marriage would be tabled, he downplayed the prospect of it ever being voted on in parliament. His opposition could prove fatal if he can delay any vote on it into next year when an election is likely. But his ability to stifle debate within the Liberal party and stall a vote is far from guaranteed given his own fragile grip on power.

He narrowly survived a leadership challenge within his own party in February following a series of gaffes, policy missteps and poor poll ratings. The resignation last week of parliamentary speaker Bronwyn Bishop — a close friend and ally of his — over an expenses scandal has further dented his standing.

Mr Abbott’s ability to postpone a vote on marriage equality will be a test of strength within the Liberal party. If he pushes back against the bill too hard he risks alienating the liberal wing of his party, while capitulating too easily could see him lose support among his allies on the conservative right.

Even if supporters of the bill can force a parliamentary vote, there is no guarantee it will pass. Analysts say the numbers on each side of the debate in parliament are almost equally matched, and to ensure its passage the Liberal party would have to allow its MPs a conscience vote. The Labor party has already done so for its MPs. But giving the same freedom to Liberal lawmakers could mean Mr Abbott delivers one liberal reform he does not support.