December 8, 2017
True to his promise to his electorate, Member for Maranoa David Littleproud voted against the same-sex marriage Bill passed in Federal Parliament on Thursday.
Mr Littleproud was a lonely figure on the left side of the Speaker’s Chair as the vote was taken; he was one of just four MPs who voted “no” in the decisive House of Representatives division.
The others were Bob Katter (Ind), Russell Broadbent (Lib) and Keith Pitt (Nat).
However, a string of other conservative MPs – many of whom had spoken publicly against the Bill – left the Chamber before the vote.
These included Tony Abbott (Lib), George Christensen (LNP), Barnaby Joyce (Nat) and Scott Morrison (Lib).
In November, Mr Littleproud said he would vote “no” in Federal Parliament, in line with how his electorate voted in the postal survey on same-sex marriage.
In Maranoa (which includes the southern sections of the South Burnett, Kingaroy and Nanango), only 43.9 per cent of voters ticked “yes” in the survey (35,475 votes), while 56.1 per cent voted “no” (80,783).
A total of 78.2 per cent of eligible voters returned their survey forms.
“While Maranoa didn’t return the highest ‘no’ vote in Australia, survey results revealed 56.1 per cent of Maranoa voted no and I will use my vote according to my electorate’s wishes,” Mr Littleproud said at the time.
Member for Flynn Ken O’Dowd and Member for Wide Bay Llew O’Brien both voted “yes” in Parliament, in accordance with the results of the postal survey results in their electorates.
