Why the Australian gay marriage referendum was a cheap stunt to win votes

So in world news, Australia just answered the question “should we discriminate against people because of who they want to have sex with?” with a resoundingly ‘no’. Whilst of course this is a huge and historic step forward for the Australian LGBT+ community, I’m not here to talk about why gay marriage is good (to my mind it is an obvious point). Instead, let us appreciate how painstaking it was watching this referendum play out, even from half the world away.

Scores of Liberal and National party politicians campaigned vociferously against Australian Labor’s key 2016 pledge to legalise gay marriage. But they suddenly came out as if they were kings of social justice and LGBT+ rights backing the yes vote. Then there were was a minority of vocal no voters, whose justifications for opposing gay marriage at times bordered on the comical – one campaigner quite seriously suggested creating a different institution for gay couples getting married called… garriage.

Hearing Kevin Andrews, an Australian Member of Parliament, actually compare the relationship he has with his cycling buddies to that of an intimate gay couple was utterly ridiculous. Add to this the eclectic mix of head-butts and pies to the face campaigners on different sides received and it could all resemble a scene from a satirical sketch show. That is if it weren’t so unbelievably and tragically real.

It could all resemble a scene from a satirical sketch show. That is if it weren’t so unbelievably and tragically real

When it comes to referendums it seems our cousins down under should take a leaf out of our book. When we hold an expensive, culturally divisive referendum in which integrity goes out the window, at least it is on an issue upon which the debate isn’t completely settled. Having a referendum on gay marriage, in a country in which between 63% and 80% of the population were already in support, is about as useful as going to the public to ask – child sacrifice, good or bad?

As a referendum that wasn’t even legally binding, is it impossible to stress quite how meaningless the vote was. Australia’s government has no obligation to adhere to its result and if they do pass a law legalising gay marriage, it will have to go through parliament anyway. Essentially, it was nothing more than an expensive opinion poll. Calling it a waste of time would be giving it too much credit.

This is without even touching on the cost of the referendum – somewhere between 120 and 500 million Australian dollars depending on how you calculate it. To put that into some context that’s 170 Australian dollars for every man, woman and child in the country below the poverty line. Spending this much money should be done on issues upon which public opinion can’t be gauged, not one that the vast majority of people support. Debating issues that are pretty much settled in the public’s eyes would be a lovely luxury in a world of infinite time and money. Sadly, as I’m reminded every time I want to go for a pint the day before an essay deadline, such a world does not exist.

Spending this much money should be done on issues upon which public opinion can’t be gauged, not one that the vast majority of people support

We have to ask why this referendum was called. The Liberal-National coalition government of Australia has something of a questionable history. They have little history of support for gay marriage. Their economic programme of cuts to benefits, disability allowances and hospitals rivals those in the UK. Their environmental policy has allowed for bleaching of the Great Barrier Reef. No wonder their ratings in opinion polls continue to slide. The image of a magician using distraction comes to mind. Maybe the reason gay marriage wasn’t just legalised without a referendum like almost all other developed nations is that this was some sort of prolonged PR exercise for PM Malcolm Turnbull and his government?

Given that this is half way around the world, you’d be within your rights to ask: ‘why should I care?’ Maybe you shouldn’t. Maybe Australia should be able to waste their money how they like. But maybe it isn’t just me who finds a historically backwards government using LGBT+ rights for political gain just a little bit disgusting.