With just days before the final cut-off for all same-sex marriage postal surveys to be returned, the City of Sydney has made a powerful pledge.
On Monday night, the City of Sydney council backed a motion to offer free wedding venue hire if same-sex marriage is legalised. The offer, which will be extended to same-sex couples, will see prominent parks and buildings provided free of charge for 100 days, The Sydney Morning Herald reports.
Lord Mayor Clover Moore said the offer represented a โcelebratory gesture for a hundred days for a group that has been so sidelined and discriminated against for so longโ.
However, โYesโ campaigner Councillor Christine Forster opposed the motion with her liberal peers in a move to have free venues offered to all couples.
โThis is about equality for every Australian before the law, and itโs just not right in my view to say that suddenly now weโve won the battle and weโre more equal than the rest of the community,โ Councillor Forster said, the ABC reports.
The Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages has also approached the council to plan a mass wedding at Sydneyโs Town Hall if same-sex marriage is legalised.
All Australians are reminded to post back their surveys back by Friday, October 27 to make sure they arrive in time to be counted.