September 26, 2016
The South Burnett seats of Maranoa and Flynn – and the neighbouring seat of Groom – are the top three Federal electorates in Australia which oppose marriage equality, according to analysis published in Fairfax media this week.
But of the three seats, only one has a majority of voters opposed to the concept of legalised gay marriage.
Maranoa – which includes Kingaroy, Nanango and Blackbutt – is the only electorate in Australia where more than 50 per cent of voters oppose marriage equality.
However, if undecided voters in Flynn – which includes Wondai – and Groom also chose to vote “no”, then a whole swathe of Queensland would be voting against the social change.
The analysis of voting intentions comes from a University of Melbourne-led study which found that opposition to changing the Marriage Act ranged from 40 to just over 50 per cent in a handful of rural Queensland and northern NSW seats to less than 10 per cent in inner-city electorates in Sydney and Melbourne.
The study was based on responses to the ABC’s Vote Compass survey in 2013 and will be presented at a conference in Sydney this week.
Not surprisingly, the electorates most in favour of marriage reform were inner city seats in Sydney and Melbourne, including Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s seat of Wentworth.
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David Littleproud
Member for Maranoa David Littleproud sprang to the defence of his electorate on Monday.
He said Maranoa was “leading a respectful conversation ahead of the same-sex marriage plebiscite debate”.
“The view of the people of the Maranoa is just as precious as those who live inner-city Sydney or Melbourne,” Mr Littleproud said.
“A difference of opinion is the foundation of a healthy democracy and this debate can happen nationally.
“Maranoa is leading the way in terms of a respectful conversation because everyone is entitled to have their say on this issue which could potentially alter our social fabric.
“I’m out and about in my electorate and I can say there has been no seismic shift of opinion on this.
“I will always use my vote to represent the views within my electorate.
“Same-sex marriage is a private, emotive issue and one that should be put to the people of Australia to enable parliamentarians to do their job as representatives and vote accordingly.
“The Coalition Government made it clear during the election campaign that this issue would be resolved by way of a plebiscite.
“I call on the Opposition and crossbenchers to support the plebiscite and deal with the issue once and for all so the Parliament can get on with addressing the Budget deficit, job creation in the regions, creating new markets for our producers and building key water infrastructure.”
