Australian opposition leader tells PM to ‘get a life’ over equal marriage
Thousands of people attended a rights rally in Australia today – after Prime Minister Tony Abbott blocked progress on same-sex marriage.
A number of same-sex marriage bills were set to come before the Australian Parliament this month, but Liberal PM Tony Abbott failed to afford a free vote for his MPs – binding them to vote against equality.
He has also threatened to sack any ministers who break ranks on the issue, effectively killing the proposals outright.
However, proponents of equality rallied in Melbourne today – with thousands demanding the government recognise their unions and allow couples to marry.
Opposition Labor leader Bill Shorten attended the rally and did not mince his words – accusing the PM of “betraying the trust of Australians” and telling him to “get a life”.
He said: “This week Mr Abbott and his right-wing Liberals broke the heart of the nation.
“Mr Abbott had said that he believes in a conscience vote… but what he didn’t tell Australians is he believes in his own conscience, and he will force everyone to agree with his conscience. That is not good enough!
“What I do not understand is why he is so obsessed, so hung up, so stuck in the past about marriage equality.
“I do not understand Mr Abbott – he spends six hours with his whole brain trust [on this]… they don’t spend six hours talking about unemployment, Medicare, education, or climate change.
“Why is Mr Abbott so stuck in the past that he’s worried about who someone else marries? Get a life!”
