The Morrison Government crossed the line and was caught out

The House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics was charged by Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg on 19 September 2018 with conducting an Inquiry into the implications of removing refundable franking credits.

The Standing Committee is composed of:

Liberal MP for Goldstein Tim Wilson (Chair)

Labor MP for Kingsford Smith Matt Thistlethwaite (Deputy Chair)

Along with committee members

Liberal MP for Brisbane Trevor Evans

Liberal MP for Mackellar Jason Falinski

Liberal MP for Hughes Craig Kelly

Liberal MP for Reid Craig Laundy

Labor MP for Freemantle Josh Wilson

Greens MP for Melbourne Adam Bandt

And supplementary member

Labor MP for Hotham Clare O’Neil.

The Inquiry has received approximately 1,000 submissions and by 8 February 2018 will have held 11 public hearings.

To date no transcripts of those public hearings have been published, just partial lists of those giving 'evidence'.

On 31 January 2019 The Sydney Morning Herald noticed the structure of these public hearings:

With no formal witnesses scheduled for any of the 12 special economics committee hearings to be held across the country before May, Coalition MPs appear set to continue to use the meetings to rally against the Labor policy. At one recent hearing an MP went so far as to hand out Liberal Party membership forms to the audience.

The Standing Committee has issued a total of 5 media releases, 4 of which contained details of where and when Inquiry public hearings would be held.

However, this particular Standing Committee dominated as it is by Liberal Party MPs decided to go one step further.

Its Chairman began to advertise public hearings on social media by directing interested persons towards a privately owned website created in October 2018 which deliberately conceals ownership by using My Private Registration to block full details appearing on its Whois entry.

This is one such invitation on Twitter:

Now a number of people have attempted to take up this irregular invitation to register in order to obtain a seat at a public parliamentary committee hearing and found that registration could only be completed by having their name attached to an anti-removal of funding credits petition.

It should be noted that this privately-owned website carries no visible link to a privacy policy. So users of this site receive no undertakings that any personal information they divulge, such as name, gender, postal address. telephone number and address will be protected from exploitation.

One Twitter user remarking on the situation 0nn2 February 2019:

This petition text reads as follows:

Attention: Tim Wilson MP (Chair) & Committee members,

I want to formally register my opposition to scrap refundable franking credits and the attack on full tax refunds.

This policy will:

- Unfairly target retirees who have worked hard and sacrificed for their retirement.

- Unfairly hit many people on low incomes, including hundreds of thousands of retirees that receive full tax refunds and with 97% of people who receive these refunds having incomes below $87,000.

- Unfairly target retirees on low incomes who will now face double tax, while those on higher incomes will be able to reduce their tax bill by the full value of overpaid tax.

The impact of the retirement tax has not been thought through. It will directly harm my financial security. It should be abandoned.

Right at the bottom of the website’s home page is this alleged authorisation:

The placement of this authorisation appears to authorise both the website and the digital petition and, the individual doing the authorisation is Tim Wilson in his role as Chair of the Standing Committee on Economics Inquiry into the implications of removing refundable franking credits.

Under the leadership of the Member for Goldstein this parliamentary inquiry has lost what little legitimacy its Terms of Reference bestowed and it has been turned into a public manifestation of taxpayer-funded Liberal Party political campaigning against one of the Labor Opposition's current policy positions.

The political dishonesty of the Standing Committee on Economics and this blatant attempt to deceive the general public, stack the hearings with people who support the Liberal Party's position and deny registration to those that didn't, cannot be ignored.

It is my honest opinion the Chair of the Standing Committee on Economics by his actions may be guilty of contempt of parliament, and therefore may be liable to be prosecuted under the provisions of the Parliamentary Privileges Act 1987.

Wilson may have shrugged off comment by mainstream media, but he reacted to Twitter (and the fact that at least one person appears to have approached the Australian Parliament to express concern over the Standing Committee's actions).

Here he is alleging an error had occurred when setting up the digital petition which supposedly remained undiscovered for about three months:

UPDATE

An IT savvy journalist Richard Chirgwin has tweeted that the stoptheretirementtax domain is registered to BERFAWN PTY LTD, an  ATO Regulated Self-Managed Superannuation Fund first registered by ASIC in 1993. 

This super fund is possibly associated with Lawrence Gerard Mccrossin.

The Conversation, 8 February 2019:

On Monday, a page for the inquiry was added to the Australian Parliament’s website describing itself as the “the official page of the committee”. It states that submissions to the inquiry can be made via the Parliament’s submission system or by email. It also explains that “pre-registration is not required to participate” in the hearings.

The Guardian, 8 February 2019:

The fund manager Geoff Wilson has admitted to part-funding the website through which the Liberal MP Tim Wilson has coordinated opposition to Labor’s franking credit policy, while chairing an inquiry into it.

Late on Friday Geoff Wilson issued a statement clarifying his involvement in stoptheretirementtax.com.au, after a growing controversy over whether the pair – who are first cousins once-removed – have inappropriately politicised the parliamentary inquiry.

On Friday Labor asked the Australian federal police to investigate whether Tim Wilson inappropriately shared electoral roll information for commercial purposes while campaigning against the opposition’s franking credit policy.

The referral was based on a Fairfax Media report that a constituent of Wilson’s received material both from the Liberal MP and from Wilson Asset Management, the funds management company chaired by Geoff Wilson, after responding to a robopoll.

Scott Morrison's secretive new public sector corruption division with no teeth - not even a set of badly fitting dentures

Alan Moir Cartoon

A federal statutory body, the Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity (ACLEI) has been in existence since December 2006 and is headed by the Integrity Commissioner. The current Integrity Commissioner is Michael Griffin AM.

There is also a Parliamentary Joint Committee on the ACLEI.

The Morrison plan for a new Commonwealth Integrity Commission (CIC) intends to retain the ACLEI as one of two divisions within the CIC and expand the number of government agencies within this first division’s jurisdiction from twelve (12) to sixteen (16) – otherwise it is business as usual for the multi-agency ACLEI.

At the same time the Morrison Government intends the over-arching CIC to have a second division – the Public Sector Division - without the full powers of statutory anti-corruption commissions.

It is this division which will be charged with investigating corruption allegations based on interactions of sitting members of federal parliament and departmental staff with corporations, lobby groups and private individuals.

Members of the public will have no right to lay complaints or concerns before the Deputy-Commissioner who will head this second division. Only departmental heads and the Australian Federal Police appear to have the right to refer a matter to the Public Sector Division.

The division will not hold public hearings or publish the results of any secret hearings. There will be no transparency in its processes.

This second division represents business as usual for federal parliamentarians, as the government of the day will be able to keep even the most egregious matters under its adjudication by asserting the matter should be classified as a straightforward Code of Conduct breach or a simple matter of non-compliance.

The new Commonwealth Integrity Commission is expected to have an annual budget of around $30 million. A sum which reflects its toothless status.

BACKGROUND

Commonwealth Integrity Commission — proposed reforms, December 2018, excerpts:

The Australian Government proposes to establish a Commonwealth Integrity Commission (CIC) to detect, deter and investigate suspected corruption and to work with agencies to build their resilience to corruption and their capability to deal with corrupt misconduct. The CIC will consist of a ‘law enforcement integrity division’ incorporating the existing structure, jurisdiction and powers of ACLEI and a new ‘public sector integrity division’. Both the law enforcement and public sector divisions of the CIC will be headed by separate deputy commissioners, who will each report to a new Commonwealth Integrity Commissioner. The two divisions will have different jurisdictional coverage, powers and functions, tailored to the nature of the entities within their jurisdiction. The law enforcement division will retain the powers and functions of ACLEI, but with an expanded jurisdiction to cover several further agencies that exercise the most significant coercive powers and therefore present a more significant corruption risk. The public sector division will cover the remaining public sector. As such, its powers and functions will be different to those of the law enforcement division and will be appropriately tailored.

Jurisdiction 

Law enforcement division

The law enforcement division will have jurisdiction over those agencies already within ACLEI’s remit, being:

• the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission

• the AFP • the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC)

• the Department of Home Affairs, and

• prescribed aspects of the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources (DAWR).

 Its jurisdiction will also be expanded to cover additional public sector agencies with law enforcement functions and access to sensitive information, such as the:

• Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC)

• Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA)

• Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), and

• Australian Taxation Office (ATO)……

Public sector division

The public sector division of the CIC will have jurisdiction over:

• public service departments and agencies, parliamentary departments, statutory agencies, Commonwealth companies and Commonwealth corporations

• Commonwealth service providers and any subcontractors they engage, and

• parliamentarians and their staff.

By extending the jurisdiction of the public sector division of the CIC to service providers and contractors, the CIC will have the capacity to oversee the integrity of entities which expend or receive significant amounts of Commonwealth funding where there is evidence of corrupt conduct that meets the relevant criminal threshold proposed. The CIC will also be able to investigate members of the public or other private entities that receive or deal with Commonwealth funds (and might not otherwise be within jurisdiction), to the extent that their suspected corrupt conduct intersects with a public official’s suspected corrupt conduct….

The public sector division of the CIC will be responsible for investigating ‘corrupt conduct’ where the commissioner has a reasonable suspicion that the conduct in question constitutes a criminal offence. Notably, the public sector division will investigate conduct capable of constituting a nominated range of specific new and existing criminal offences that will constitute corrupt conduct in the public sector.

 ‘Corrupt conduct’ will include abuse of public office, misuse of official information and non-impartial exercise of official functions. A range of consolidated and new public sector corruption offences will be included in the Criminal Code Act 1995 (the Criminal Code). The information below under the heading ‘Amendments to the Criminal Code’ outlines a preliminary summary of ways in which amendments might be made to relevant legislative offences that will collectively form the jurisdictional basis for the CIC. 

It is intended that the public sector division will focus on the investigation of serious or systemic corrupt conduct, rather than looking into issues of misconduct or non-compliance under various codes of conduct. Misconduct that is not defined as a criminal offence at Commonwealth law is considered more appropriately dealt with by the entities where the misconduct occurs: public sector agencies for public servants; Houses of Parliament for parliamentarians; the Prime Minister for Ministers; the Special Minister of State for ministerial staff….

Powers

Law enforcement division

The law enforcement division of the CIC will have access to the coercive and investigative powers that ACLEI currently does—these are necessary because the agencies within jurisdiction themselves have access to significant coercive powers and in many cases, sensitive intelligence, personal or other information. The consequences of corruption in circumstances where public officials have access to law enforcement or other coercive powers is generally more significant than for public officials without access to such powers. Those with access to coercive powers and knowledge of law enforcement methods are better able to disguise corruption and corrupt conduct can have a greater impact (for example, where millions of dollars of illicit drugs are permitted to enter the Australian economy). 8 The law enforcement division will have the power to:

• compel the production of documents

• question people

• hold public and private hearings

• arrest

• enter/search premises

• seize evidence

• undertake controlled operations and assumed identities, and

• undertake integrity testing.

Public sector division

The powers available to the public sector division reflect the different nature of the corruption risk in the areas it will oversight. The public sector division of the CIC will have the power to:

• compel the production of documents

• question people

• hold private hearings, and

• enter/search premises.

It will not be able to:

• exercise arrest warrants

• hold public hearings, or

• make findings of corruption, criminal conduct or misconduct at large.

The extent to which the CIC public sector integrity division will have the ability to access telecommunications and surveillance device powers will be part of the consultation process on the proposed model. The law enforcement integrity division will retain all powers that ACLEI currently holds......

Referrals about parliamentarians and their staff 

The public sector division could receive a referral regarding a parliamentarian or their staff that met the CIC’s threshold for investigation from the IPEA, the AEC, the AFP or other integrity agencies. For example, if the IPEA observed potentially corrupt conduct that it reasonably suspected was capable of constituting a criminal offence, it could refer that activity to the CIC for investigation. 

The public sector division of the CIC will also be able to investigate parliamentarians or their staff where an existing CIC investigation into suspected corruption within a different part of the public sector revealed evidence that will meet the investigation threshold. For example, if the CIC was investigating suspected criminal corrupt conduct within a procurement process involving a department, and through that investigation it found evidence suggesting corrupt activity by any Member of Parliament or member of the executive government which it reasonably expected met the relevant criminal threshold, the CIC could initiate an investigation into that matter. 

The CIC will not investigate direct complaints about Ministers, Members of Parliament or their staff received from the public at large.......

Australian Politics 2018: let's leave the premises as fast as possible and don't show our LNP faces in parliament until after the federal election

It's official - The Morrison Coalition Government is a lame duck federal government incapable of functioning.

Why?

The Australian Parliament goes into end of year recess on 6 December and does not come back until February 2019.

After the opening Parliament on the later than usual date of 12 February 2019, the House of Representatives will probably sit for no more than seven days in total. There appears to be no plan to conduct parliamentary business after that except perhaps to table the 2019-20 Budget Papers between 2- 4 April.

The Senate is scheduled to sit for two days (11th or 12th and 14th) with four estimates hearings beginning on the 18th. The senate does not sit in March and only sits for one day in early April. 

Parliament needs to be dissolved sometime in early April to comfortably meet the requirements of a 2019 national election timetable for the joint election of the House of Representatives and half the Senate.

As it appears from the article below that interim Prime Minister and Liberal MP for Cook Scott Morrison is ready to go to a general election in May, the parliamentary timetable looks suspiciously as if Coalition Government MPs and senators intend to hide from national scrutiny as much as possible before polling day.

Given that the Morrison Government is now two MPs shy of a majority (having only 74 MPs in the 150-strong House of Representatives), closing down parliament in this way also means that the Labor Opposition and cross benches will not have an opportunity to pass legislation in their own right in a parliament the Lib-Nats government of the day no longer controls.

The West Australian, 27 November 2018:

Scott Morrison has effectively revealed the date of the next election just as one of his backbenchers announced she was leaving the Liberal Party to sit on the parliamentary crossbench.

In a dramatic 20 minutes in Canberra, the PM confirmed the Federal Budget would be brought forward and handed down on April 2 next year.

Saying “you can do the maths”, the date means the Federal election will be held on either May 11 or 18. May 18 was the last available date for a full House and half Senate election.

Mr Morrison said the Budget would show a surplus.

In this year’s Budget, the Government was already expecting a small $2.2 billion surplus for the 2019-20 financial year.

However, a surge in tax revenue and a tight rein on spending is expected to show a bigger than expected surplus. That should be confirmed in the mid-year Budget update that will be released on December 17.

What you see is what you get from the shallow depth that is Senator David Ean Leyonhjelm

Liberal Democrat Senator David Ean Leyonhjelm is the man who said John Howard “deserved to be shot” for introducing restrictive gun laws, and who said that he’d be happy to let police who want to enforce anti-bikie legislation “lie on the side of the road and bleed to death” rather than help them. He’s the man who invited Milo Yiannopoulos – a professionally offensive provocateur who is on no reading a serious commentator – to speak at Parliament House.

The politician who this week called Network Ten’s Angela Bishop a “bigoted bitch” on air and last week implied during the Sky News "Outsiders" program that Senator Sarah Hanson-Young had multiple partners, then added that "she has a right to shag as many men as she likes" and, now appears to have posted that film clip online.

It may be a little too hard for the Senate President to admit that this self-described political "alpha male" has gone completely off the rails or for the mainstream media to resist allowing him air time to defame, insult and incite at will, however the Australian Medical Association is made of sterner stuff.

Crikey.com.au, 4 July 2018:

Rowan Dean off medical journal board.

The Medical Journal of Australia has distanced itself from Sky News presenter Rowan Dean, who was hosting Senator David Leyonhjelm on his Sunday program to repeat abuse of Senator Sarah Hanson-Young.

Dean, until Saturday, was on the board of AMPCo, the publishing arm of the Australian Medical Association which publishes the MJA. His term ended on June 30, and an MJA spokeswoman told Crikey the journal had been receiving questions about its relationship with Dean after the Sky News segment became news.

NOTE: Senator Leyonhjelm is also a  man who as a crucial crossbench senator repeatedly voted in support of Adani in Parliament while owning a corporate bond issued by the group's Abbot Point coal terminal.

Is the war about which political party showed the most disrespect towards the Australian Constitution and Parliament about to spill more blood?

Newcastle Herald, 18 May 2018:

The citizenship crisis could claim more government MPs after Attorney-General Christian Porter said they had to prove their possible dual citizenships were renounced.

Labor says this puts Treasurer Scott Morrison, Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack, and 12 other coalition MPs in danger.

Mr Morrison's maternal grandfather was born in New Zealand, while Mr McCormack's was born in Greece in 1896.

The citizenship test in the constitution has already forced more than a dozen MPs to quit because they were citizens of foreign countries at the election.

"The requirement is that you have to show that you've completed the renunciation process," Mr Porter told reporters in Perth on Friday.

"You need to evidence not merely the start of the renunciation process but its completion.

"So when people haven't done that, no matter who they are, they need to do so."

Shadow attorney-general Mark Dreyfus says it sets a new benchmark that goes too far.

"Mr Porter has created a test that many of his own MPs fail. This is a very dangerous path for the government to go down," Mr Dreyfus said.

He says 14 coalition MPs have not shown evidence of completed renunciations, despite having parents or grandparents born overseas.

Mr Porter had earlier attacked Labor MP Emma Husar because she had not provided documented proof she had renounced Polish citizenship, which she was entitled to through her paternal grandparents.

Ms Husar says she wrote to the Polish consulate to renounce any entitlement 16 days before her nomination for federal parliament in 2016.

But Mr Porter says Ms Husar had not put on the citizenship register any documented evidence her renouncement was accepted.

Ms Husar told The Australian on Friday she had nothing more to add.

"You have to have something to renounce. You have to have something in order to give it back. I am not a dual citizen," she said.

Under new rules set to be introduced before upcoming by-elections, candidates have to give their citizenship information to the Australian Electoral Commission.

It will then be made public, but the AEC won't be given the power to adjudicate the eligibility of candidates.

News.com.au, 18 May 2018:

NEW TEST FOR MP CITIZENSHIP?

* If renunciations are required, as the Attorney-General suggests, then there are eligibility doubts over more federal MPs.

COALITION

* Scott Morrison: Maternal grandfather born in NZ, no renunciation confirmation provided.

* Michael McCormack: Maternal grandfather born in Greece. Greek Embassy does not have him registered on Greek municipal records, a requirement of being a citizen.

* Zed Seselja: Both parents, all grandparents born overseas, no renunciation confirmation provided. Croatian embassy says he is not a citizen.

* Julia Banks: Greek father and four Greek grandparents. Greek Embassy does not have her registered on Greek municipal records, a requirement of being a citizen.

* Alex Hawke: Mother and maternal grandparents were born in Greece. Greek embassy does not have him registered on Greek municipal records, a requirement of being a citizen.

* Craig Kelly: South African maternal grandfather, no renunciation confirmation provided.

* Nola Marino: No documents proving she does not get Italian citizenship from her husband. Father born in the USA, maternal grandfather born in Sweden, paternal grandparents born in Italy.

* Llew O'Brien: Paternal grandfather born in Canada, no renunciation confirmation provided.

* Ken O'Dowd: Paternal grandmother born in the Netherlands, no renunciation confirmation provided.

* Tony Pasin: Italian mother and father, grandparents on both sides, document says he is not eligible to apply for Italian citizenship, but not whether he is a citizen.

* Angus Taylor: Maternal grandparents born in NZ, no renunciation confirmation provided.

* Alan Tudge - Maternal grandfather born in Canada, no renunciation confirmation provided.

* Tim Wilson: Maternal grandfather born in India, no renunciation confirmation provided.

LABOR

* Emma Husar: Polish grandparents, checked that she did not have citizenship but renounced it anyway, no renunciation confirmation provided.

* Mark Dreyfus: Jewish father and paternal grandparents fled Nazi Germany and stripped of their citizenship. No renunciation confirmation provided.

* Michael Danby: Jewish father and paternal grandparents were born in Germany. Father was stripped of citizenship when he arrived in Australia. No renunciation confirmation provided.

How easily this politician forgets the terms and conditions of being elected to the Australian Senate

“The Senate shall be composed of senators for each State, directly chosen by the people of the State, voting, until the Parliament otherwise provides, as one electorate”  [Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act, compilation in effect as of 4 September 2013]

“Under the Constitution, each state of the Australian federation, regardless of its population, has an equal number of senators. The Senate currently consists of 76 senators. Twelve senators represent each of the six states elected for a period of six years.”  [Parliament of Australia, About the Senate]

This is Liberal Senator for Queensland Matt 'my mother made me do it' Canavan explaining a change in how he views his responsibility to the people of Queensland.

NEW TO THE PARLIAMENT IN 2014

“Mr President I am honoured to give my first speech in the Senate and I am honoured to have been elected by the Queensland people to represent them. I will do my best to serve their collective interests with courage, integrity and humility.” [Nationals Senator for Queensland Matt Canavan, Maiden Speech to the Senate, 16 Jul 2014]

LESS THAN FOUR YEARS LATER IN 2018

"I stand on a platform that is unashamedly pro-coal, I got elected on that basis. I got elected on the basis I will support the resources sector." [Nationals Senator for Queensland Matt Canavan, ABC TV Special address to the National and Rural Press Clubs, 28 March 2018]

[my yellow highlighting]

26th Newspoll loss in a row for Turnbull Government

In the same week the 2018 Australian Parliament commenced business for the year Malcolm Bligh Turnbull was just four Newspolls short of the benchmark he created when he successfully challenged Tony Abbott in September 2015 and became Australia’s 29th Prime Minister.

As of 4 February 2018 Newspoll shows the Coalition is just one point ahead of Labor on the primary vote and on a Two Party Preferred basis it is four points behind.

While net satisfaction with leaders’ performance sees Turnbull a slender four points ahead at minus 13.

Should we expect a Libspill sometime in April-May 2018 if the polls continue this trend? Or are the Liberal and Nationals powerbrokers going to grit their teeth and soldier on until the forthcoming federal election?

Turnbull was out and about in an orgy of self-praise in the days following Australian Parliament vote for same-sex marriage

“I've personally delivered the marriage bill to the Governor-General. Same sex marriage will be the law of the land at midnight!” [Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, Twitter, 8 December 2017]

Coffs Coast Advocate, 8 December 2017:

AUSTRALIAN Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has hailed the passage of same-sex marriage legislation in Canberra as a "huge success" in a "day of joy".

"What a day. What a day. What a day in history. What a day for love," the Prime Minister said on The Project.

"What a day to put our arms around same-sex couples and say we love you, we respect you, you have all the rights that everyone else has had for so long - now we're all at one."

While he acknowledged the postal survey had a "few critics", Turnbull said it allowed the country to have their say and he was "so proud" to be the country's leader "when we have made this big decision."

When shown comments from same-sex marriage advocate Magda Szubanski accusing him of "gloating and taking credit" for what has been a painful and divisive few months for many, the PM was unrepentant.

"We have delivered this. But we've delivered this in a way that is respected all Australians and it's now the law of the land," he said.

Speaking to Leigh Sales on 7.30, Mr Turnbull expressed similar sentiments.

"I am so proud this has occurred while I'm prime minister, while the Liberal and National parties are in government," he said.

"Surely you would also like to acknowledge that the Labor Party has played a role in getting this legislation through," Ms Sales shot back.

"Well, look Leigh, this is not the time to do the usual tit-for-tat. I mean, Labor certainly supported it, and that's good. They had six years in office and did nothing about it. That's not so good.

And of course they did everything they could to stop every Australian from having their say."

That is not exactly how I remember it, Mr. Turnbull……….

On 3 December 2011, Australian Labor Party’s policy platform was amended to include support for same-sex marriage, with Labor parliamentarians allowed a conscience vote on the issue.

Then on 19 September 2012  Marriage Amendment Bill 2012, A Bill for an Act to amend the Marriage Act 1961 to establish marriage equality for same-sex couples, and for related purposes, introduced by Labor MP for Throsby Stephen Jones on 13 February 2012, voted down in Division on 19 September, Aye votes included – Shorten, WR, Noe votes included - Turnbull, MB.

It took until 8 August 2016 before the Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey was announced and, as a voluntary, national non-binding postal survey on the question of same-sex marriage it did not require a vote in the Australian Parliament in order for this survey to be conducted.

By 10 August 2017 Leader of the Opposition Bill Shorten had delivered the Matter of Public Importance – Marriage speech in the House of Representatives supporting same-sex marriage survey:

But we cannot let illegitimate tactics deter us; we cannot sit on the sidelines. I can understand LGBTI Australians' sense of frustration and of betrayal by the parliament. But the most powerful act of resistance is to vote yes for equality. Maintain your hope, maintain your enthusiasm and vote yes. And make sure your friends, relatives, colleague, classmates and teammates vote yes too. Get your name on the electoral roll today; make your voice heard. Voting yes is not about endorsing this illegitimate process, it's about refusing to walk past our fellow Australians when they need us. This is my message for business leaders, sporting clubs, the union movement and community groups: it's time to get involved; it's time to organise and fight for equality……I will be voting yes. I will be campaigning for a yes vote. I will do my bit, and I encourage people to join the movement for marriage equality, because no true leader is ever too busy to fight for the fair go in this country.  

Australian Marriage Law Survey forms began to be posted out to eligible voters on 12 September 2017.

However, the only person stopping the tabling of a new bill amending the C'wealth Marriage Act 1961 between August 2015 and September 2017 was you, Prime Minister Turnbull and your personal fear of the far-right in your own government.