After months of anticipation, the votes of the same-sex marriage postal survey have been counted and it is official: Australia votes ‘Yes‘ to marriage equality.
This morning, thousands of people flocked to Prince Alfred Park in Sydney, waiting in anticipation for the results which were broadcast live as they were read out by Australian Statistician David Kalisch at the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ office in a suburb of Canberra.
Kalisch confirmed that over 79.5% of Australians voted in the survey with a final count of over 12,72700 people voting.
61.6% of Australians voted yes.
Though it’s an exciting day for Australia, we have to remember that the $122 million postal survey was non-binding.
Members of parliament will now be asked to vote on whether they want to see our marriage laws changed, informed by the will of the general public.
Thankfully, with the resounding ‘Yes’ vote, parliament will be under immense pressure to allow same-sex couples to marry.
Now, time for celebration!
Love is love, after all.
UPDATE: Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull says the law will be changed to allow same-sex couples to marry this year – before Christmas.
“Now it is up to us here in the parliament of Australia to get on with it, to get on with the job the Australian people have tasked asked to do and get this done. This year, before Christmas – that must be our commitment.”
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