There’s Only One Electorate In Australia Where A Majority Of Voters Oppose Marriage Equality
They just had to go and ruin it for the rest of us.
Trying to decide where not to take your next holiday? We’d suggest avoiding the outback electorate of Maranoa, which was recently revealed to be the only electoral division in the country where a majority of voters do not support marriage equality.
Pauline Hanson Says That If You Want Marriage Equality You Can Just Move Somewhere Else
According to a new study led by the University of Melbourne, just over 50 per cent of voters in the electorate in south-west Queensland would not back a change to the marriage act that would enable same-sex couples to marry, reports The Age.
The great news is that it appears to be the only place in Australia where such a proposal would fail to pass.
The survey shows that opposition to marriage equality is at its lowest in inner-city electorates around Sydney and Melbourne, where less than 10 per cent of voters would vote against a change to the law. Conversely, voters in electorates in rural Queensland and northern NSW expressed the highest levels of support for the status quo. But only Maranoa boasts the dubious honour of having a flat-out majority of constituents who would deny same-sex couples the right to wed.
Maranoa is considered a safe seat for the Liberal National Party and is currently held by MP David Littleproud – although it did see an almost 18 per cent swing towards One Nation during this year’s federal election.
The poll found that, overall, only a third of voters nationally would oppose a change to the law.
“Based on our data and other polling, it appears a plebiscite would pass easily,” researcher Shaun Ratcliff told The Age.
Despite this and various other surveys showing widespread public support, the future of marriage equality is currently uncertain, with Labor expected to block the government’s proposed plebiscite and the government unlikely to allow a parliamentary vote without it.
But hey, at least one out of two people in Maranoa will be happy.
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Feature image via David Littleproud/Facebook