The majority of the Australian public have voted for new legislation for gay marriage, the ‘Yes’ vote winning 61.6%.
The Australian Senate will now be asked to support a bill to permit same-sex couples to get married on Thursday.
The proposed bill will be debated in both houses of parliament but
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull remains insisted the historic law could be passed by both houses by the end of this year.
“The Australian people have spoken in their millions,” said Prime Minister Turnbull. “They have voted overwhelmingly yes for marriage equality. They voted yes for fairness. They voted yes for commitment. They voted yes for the love. Now it is up to us, here in the parliament of Australia, to get on with it. To get on with the job the Australian people have asked us to do and get this done, this year, before Christmas.”
79.5% of Australians participated in the postal referendum, and every single state and territory in Australia voted for the legislation that parliamentarians had thus far dodged by putting it to the country.