The University of Wollongong’s Liberal Club has thrown its support behind marriage equality, saying acceptance of all Australians must prevail.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
A motion, tabled at the club’s ordinary general meeting on Thursday night, was unanimously endorsed by members, with the supportive stance to be made known to federal MPs.
About 15 people, the vast majority of the club’s active members, were present for the vote and none spoke against it.
‘‘The voices of bigotry and prejudice must be rejected in favour of common-sense and acceptance for all Australians, regardless of sexual preference,’’ club president Sam Tedeschi said.
“The discrimination against same-sex couples is no different to discrimination against interracial couples and must be abolished.
‘‘One thing we care about is the quality of opportunity. We think all people should be treated equally before the law and this is one thing that is just not the case for no reason whatsoever, there’s no logical argument I can see against marriage equality.’’
Federal Liberal MPs have been urged to support a free vote in the party room and a bill in Parliament.
“The voice of the community is clear on this issue and support for same-sex marriage continues to grow. We want to see the votes of our representatives reflect the will of the community,’’ he said.
The club will collect petition signatures the university’s Club’s Day next week - in a move to demonstrate the support among students for marriage equality.
‘‘They [students] come from all over, you can’t nail UOW down to one electorate,’’ he said.
‘‘We’re our own community there and I think it would be good to have a voice, or a way of actually recording that voice rather, because I think it’s very clear what public opinion is, especially amongst young people.
The club has also rejected the idea of a referendum to gauge public opinion as ‘‘simply a way to delay confronting the issue’’.
‘‘It is not the job of governments to kick the hard decisions down the road - it is to act in the best interests of the country and it is in the best interest of Australia to remove this form of discrimination from the statute books,’’ he said.
A cross-party marriage equality bill - moved by Liberal Warren Entsch in late June - is expected to go to Parliament on August 11, pending a decision by the selection committee.
Mr Entsch and fellow Queensland Liberal Teresa Gambaro would then seek the support of their colleagues at a meeting on August 18 to allow frontbenchers a free vote on the bill.
While it is ‘’’slightly’’ different to Labor’s bill introduced by leader Bill Shorten on June 1, it uses the same language to replace ‘‘man and woman’’ with the words ‘‘two people’’ in the Marriage