Australia Votes ‘Yes’ in Marriage Equality Debate

In a landmark occasion for the Australian LGBTI community today, Australia has voted overwhelmingly in favour of same-sex marriage; with 61.6% of people voting ‘yes’, and 38.4% of people voting ‘no’.

Australian Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, has called upon politicians to consider the will of the people by announcing he would like legislation passed by Christmas. The debate on the legislation will likely commence tomorrow.

Christine Forster, sister of former Australian PM, Tony Abbott (a staunch ‘no’ voter) revealed that they had discussed their “shared view that legislation needs to happen quickly and if there are added protections put into the legislation, then that needs to be proposed, debated and voted on in Parliament and let’s get on with it”.

What about the ‘no’ voters?

While the ‘yes’ voters are indeed fantastically positive about the future of the LGBTI community, a large number of ‘no’ voters are voicing their opinions on the result. Among them was controversial One Nation leader, Pauline Hanson, who stated that she and her party have “acknowledged” the result, and announced there will be a thorough examination of any proposed bill before One Nation’s position is determined.

Former PM John Howard, who amended the Marriage Act in 2004 so that same-sex couples could not be recognised, advised politicians to respect the protection of freedom of speech, religious freedoms, and parental rights.

Statistics are showing that the New South Wales town of Blaxland had the highest number of ‘no’ voters at 73.9%, while Melbourne and Sydney led the ‘yes’ voters with 83.7%. Find out how each of the Australian divisions voted below: