Senator Penny Wong is hugged by colleagues after parliament passed the same-sex marriage bill on December 7, 2017. Photo: Getty Images.Australia has officially passed the marriage equality legislation, making same-sex marriage legal in Australia.
The House of Representatives passed the bill shortly before 6pm yesterday with just four MPs opposing it.
Australian same-sex couples will now be eligible to lodge their notice of intent to marry from this Saturday, December 9, and be able to marry from January 9, 2018.
Up until last night Australia was the only majority English-speaking country without marriage equality. It’s now the 26th country to legalise same-sex marriage.
Here’s the breakdown.
Who voted ‘No’
Independent Bob Katter
Liberal Russell Broadbent
Nationals Keith Pitt and David Littleproud
Who abstained from the vote
Treasurer Scott Morrison
Former prime minister Tony Abbott
Deputy PM Barnaby Joyce
Assistant ministers Michael Sukkar and Alex Hawke
Liberal MPs Andrew Hastie, Kevin Andrews, Rick Wilson
National MP George Christensen
Watch the moment it all happened in Canberra below
Here’s the moment the #MarriageEquality bill passed the Australian Parliament #auspol pic.twitter.com/MUoBTgBIhk
— Political Alert (@political_alert) December 7, 2017
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