EXTRACT FROM
PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES
HANSARD

Ms SHING
Eastern Victoria

MEMBERS STATEMENTS
Australian marriage law postal survey

Thursday, 16 November 2017

Australian marriage law postal survey
Ms SHING — On another matter, I would also like to say thank you to everyone who voted in favour of marriage equality. In Victoria we achieved a yes vote of 65 per cent, making us the most progressive state in Australia. This was a debate and a survey that extracted a significant toll on so many us. It was hurtful, it was divisive and it added to the pain, the anguish and the distress that so many of us feel every day simply for being ourselves.
Dr Carling Jenkins interjected.
Ms SHING — As Dr Carling Jenkins has indicated, the debate itself did turn nasty, and it was difficult and it was traumatic. It is, however, so wonderful to see that Australia has with a huge, landslide victory for the yes vote indicated that it is well beyond time that we see marriage equality become law in Australia so that we can all have the right to marry under law and enjoy the same freedoms that so many of our straight friends within our communities have enjoyed for decades before us. Thank you to every advocate and to every activist who played such a big role.