CANBERRA (CathNews) — Australian Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has indicated the Coalition he leads will hold the party line against gay marriage, and Coalition MPs may have to cross the floor to exercise a conscience vote, said an AAP report in the Sydney Morning Herald.
In contrast to Liberal front-bencher Malcolm Turnbull, who says he is keeping an open mind on the issue, Mr Abbott said on December 6 that his view remained unchanged and he would always support the traditional position on marriage.
“The second point I make is that my sense of my party colleagues is that there will be very strong majority support for the traditional position,” Mr Abbott told reporters in Perth.
Mr Turnbull has asked Mr Abbott to allow coalition MPs a conscience vote.
“My view is there should be a conscience vote,” he told ABC Radio on Tuesday.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard has also appealed to Mr Abbott to allow a conscience vote on the issue when a private member’s bill is presented to the parliament early next year with the aim of changing the Marriage Act.
“For some people this is about their most deeply held aspirations for their own lives,” she told reporters in Canberra.
For some people it was about their religious convictions.
“I think it’s appropriate people should speak from their hearts,” the prime minister said.