Alex Greenwich against marriage equality plebiscite bill

Sample of the plebiscite debate

Gay independent senator for NSW and head of Australian Marriage Equality gives a report on the plebiscite bill currently before parliament, after waiting 14 months to do so. He tells how complicated and one sided the whole thing is, and calls for simply a free vote in parliament. 

He particularly expresses concern over the gov funding both sides of the argument, in that WTF is the gov funding anyone against a group of Australians. Mostly, that we never asked for a plebiscite, but for politicians to just do their job.

Facebook video of it here.

Mandate is a word that was thrown around a lot during the first week of parliament. Our leaders need to remember mandate means action. The leaders of all major political parties went to the election in support of marriage equality and therefore they have a shared mandate to deliver it together. 

This brings us to the government's complicated plebiscite proposal, which is divisive by nature, and understandably deeply unpopular among the LGBTI community. 

After waiting 14 months for the detail of the legislation, the proposal creates an uneven playing field and provides public funding for opponents of marriage equality who intend to waste it on unrelated campaigns as a distraction. 

Australian taxpayers should never fund campaigns against other Australians. 

Advocates of marriage equality never asked for this plebiscite. We know it will be hurtful, costly and wasteful. 

In an ideal world we would have a parliamentary free vote tomorrow and have gay couples getting married by the summer. 

But no one should ever confuse Australian politics with an ideal world. Sydney Morning Herald