11-year-old girl calls out Australian Prime Minister over same-sex marriage
An 11-year-old girl has lambasted Australia’s prime minister for calling for a costly popular vote on same-sex marriage.
Isabella Mills, who has two mums, appeared on The Project on Thursday night, to share her views very publicly with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull regarding a proposed plebiscite — or popular vote — on same-sex marriage.
She called the plans for a plebiscite after the next election, which is estimated to cost $160 million, a “complete waste of time.” Staring straight at the camera, she addressed Turnbull and asked him to reconsider the need for the public vote.
“That 160 million dollars that you are willing to waste on a pointless plebiscite is totally unnecessary,” Mills said, reading a pre-written letter. “I mean, the public has already expressed their views and made it quite clear that they want same-sex marriage for Australia. I may not be the Prime Minister, but even I know that Australia could use that money elsewhere.”
A Fairfax/Ipsos poll, conducted in June 2015, found 68% of voters supported same-sex marriage. A similar poll by News Corp, completed at the same time, found 58% of voters supported a change.
ICYMI: 11-year-old Isabella Mills reads out her letter about the plebiscite on #MarriageEquality #TheProjectTV
https://t.co/YBfVAEKbh6
— #TheProjectTV (@theprojecttv) January 28, 2016
Mills’ point is in line with that of other same-sex marriage activists who are in favor of a speedy parliamentary vote on the matter and argue that a plebiscite would delay marriage equality. A plebiscite is a vote by the people, but the government can choose to do what they like with the result — it is not binding.
Some fear that even after the public vote, parliament won’t act on the decision, and if they do it will be a slow response. According to activist group Australian Marriage Equality, the last plebiscite vote, which focused on the national anthem, was in 1977 and it took seven years to implement the result.
What’s the other option? Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has instead pushed for a conscience vote in Parliament, which would see politicians vote with their personal opinion instead of their party’s. That’s what Mills and Australian Marriage Equality want, too.
For his part, Turnbull has stated that if the people say they back same-sex marriage in the plebiscite, the government will support a change of the Marriage Act. In addition, parliament is discussing having legislation ready to push through as soon as the plebiscite results are in.
“When the Australian people make their decision, that decision will stick. It will be decisive. It will be respected by this Government and by this Parliament and this nation,” Turnbull said in October 2015. “If you imagine that any government … would spend over $150 million consulting every Australian on an issue of this kind and then ignore their decision, then they really are not living in the real world.”
Isabella Mills has been contacted for comment.
Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.
No comments:
Post a Comment