Some First Thoughts on the Marriage Survey

Nov 15, 2017 by Jill

by David Ould:

Well, Australia has voted “yes” in the much-debated Postal Survey on marriage. As I write this the Prime Minister is addressing a press conference speaking about an “overwhelming”, “emphatic” and “unequivocal” decision. The actual result was 61.6% in favour on a turnout of 79.5% (12,727,920 people voted).

So let’s be clear on a few things:

It’s obviously a credible mandate. There is now an imperative for the Australian parliament to pass legislation to change the Marriage Act.
It won’t hold to argue that since this is not an outright majority (i.e. only 49% of all eligible voters voted “yes”). This was a free vote and everyone who wanted to was able to express their opinion. To effectively suggest that almost everyone who didn’t vote would have voted “no” is, frankly, silly. If we’re honest the reality is that apathy was more likely to be found in the “yes” camp given their assumption that this was a foregone conclusion.
Almost 4 in 10 voters said “no”. This is a substantial number. Despite the language of a “resounding” vote it should now be clear that there are large numbers of people for whom this move is a step too far. Their reasons for holding this position are, in the main, clearly thought through and have integrity. It would be wrong to compare the relative weights of the result with general election results; it’s a single but complex issue and quite obviously not straightforward (every pun intended). In some places there was a clear “no” vote including our electorate here. Interestingly, many of those places voting “no” were Labour seats and many Liberal/Nat seats voted “yes”.

Read here

Australia votes for same-sex marriage by Michael Cook, MercatorNet

Marriage Vote: ‘Yes’ Wins and Christian Reflections on the Homosexual Marriage Vote by Bill Muehlenberg, Culture Watch

How No campaign reacted to Australia’s overwhelming Yes to same-sex marriage, news.com