Two Tasmanian Labor MHAs refuse to say if they support legalising same-sex marriage.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The 15 Liberals and three Greens made their views clear when contacted by Fairfax, as were five Labor MHAs.
However, Labor pair David Llewellyn and Madeleine Ogilvie would not reveal which way they would vote in the national postal survey.
Both were among nine MHAs who voted against in-principle support for same-sex marriage in 2015.
Labor Leader Rebecca White is firmly in the yes camp.
Legalising same-sex marriage has majority support among MHAs, but a significant minority opposes it.
All three Greens MHAs support legalising it.
The Liberals have MHAs on both sides of the debate, as does Labor, assuming Ms Ogilvie and Mr Llewellyn have not changed their views since 2015.
Eight Liberals support same-sex marriage being legalised, including Premier Will Hodgman.
Ministers Michael Ferguson and Rene Hidding are among those who oppose it.
In 2015, MHAs voted 15-9 in favour of a motion from Greens Leader Cassy O’Connor to give in-principle support to marriage equality.
‘Male, female’
Braddon Liberal MHAs made their diverging views clear during that debate, with Jeremy Rockliff, Adam Brooks and Roger Jaensch in favour and Joan Rylah against.
“(Tasmanians) see that marriage differentiates the long-term relationship between adults of opposite sex couples,” Mrs Rylah said.
“It is quite clear from the hundreds of emails I have received that the majority of my constituents sit in this position.
“The greatest number want to retain the diversity that is the current position; that is, that marriage is between a male and a female.”
‘Who am I to say?’
Mr Brooks spoke of his sister’s same-sex relationship.
“They have a beautiful daughter ... and they live in a loving, caring relationship,” he said.
“Who am I to say whether they should be able to get married or not?
“If they want to get married in front of their friends and family, then that is up to them, not me.”
‘Sky won’t fall’
Braddon Labor MHA Shane Broad will vote yes.
Dr Broad said he had friends living in legal same-sex marriages in Europe
“They have children, they have just the same issues as everyone else; the sky hasn’t fallen in, the world hasn’t ended,” he said.
He said most points made by the no side were not supported by evidence from countries where same-sex marriage had been legalised.
He said he understood when people had a “religious perspective”.
‘Love, equality’
Ms O’Connor said: “Andrea, Rosalie and I are big believers in love and equality, so we'll be voting yes in the postal survey.”
“All three of us have LGBTI friends and family so we'll also be voting for the love of them and for fairness.
“If two consenting, same-sex adults love and are committed to each other, we believe they should have the same right to marry as loving heterosexual couples.”
“The Greens are proudly the first Australian political party to table marriage equality legislation, when Nick McKim tabled a bill in the Tasmanian parliament in 2007.”