Parkes MP Mark Coulton has committed to vote for same-sex marriage in Parliament despite marking the “no” box on his Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey form.
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He is sticking to his commitment to vote for change to the Marriage Act should “a clear majority of Australians vote yes” in the survey that asked “Should the law be changed to to allow same-sex couples to marry?”
Last week the Australian Bureau of Statistics announced 61.6 per cent of eligible voters or 7,817,247 Australians had voted “yes”, compared with 38.4 per cent or 4,873,987 who voted “no”.
In the Parkes electorate 52.7 per cent of eligible voters or 41,408 of Mr Coulton’s constituents voted “yes”, compared with the 47.3 per cent or 37,108 people who voted “no”. Mr Coulton noted the Parkes result was similar to “rural seats around NSW”.
“I think this was a predictable outcome and I will be comfortable enough in doing what I said I was going to do,” he said.
Former Narromine resident and ABC TV presenter Rowdie Walden said the survey result was “interesting”.
“I don’t think I would call it a resounding win. 60 per cent is not a reassuring number…to know 5 million Australians who participated still hate LGBTQI Australians,” Mr Walden said.
While he was disappointed at the close margin in the Central Western district, he has never felt regional towns to be homophobic or discriminatory.
“I think the stigma of regional Australia being way back is definitely not the case, and I can attest to that growing up there,” he said.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull hailed the result an “overwhelming” victory, stating he hopes to pass legislation before Christmas.
“It’s a good result, but there is still a lot of work to do,” Mr Walden said.