Same-sex marriage: Bill with tortured past passes the House with scarcely a hug or a handshake

By Michael Koziol
Updated October 20 2016 - 9:08pm, first published 3:18pm
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten passes Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to vote against the plebiscite bill on Thursday. Photo: Andrew Meares
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten passes Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to vote against the plebiscite bill on Thursday. Photo: Andrew Meares
Gay Liberal MP Tim Wilson, a plebiscite sceptic-turned-enthusiast, sat next to Queensland's maverick Bob Katter during the vote. Photo: Alex Ellinghausen
Gay Liberal MP Tim Wilson, a plebiscite sceptic-turned-enthusiast, sat next to Queensland's maverick Bob Katter during the vote. Photo: Alex Ellinghausen
Lower house MPs vote on the same-sex marriage plebiscite bill on Thursday afternoon. Photo: Andrew Meares
Lower house MPs vote on the same-sex marriage plebiscite bill on Thursday afternoon. Photo: Andrew Meares

In the end, the ceremony was a fizzer. Fourteen long months after the same-sex marriage plebiscite first emerged from its Coalition party room cocoon, it passed the House of Representatives with barely a whimper or cheer.

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