Attitudes towards same-sex marriage are softening within the Liberal party, consistent with community views, the assistant treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, said.
A private member’s bill on legalising gay marriage, brought by the Liberal Democratic senator David Leyonhjelm, has been pulled from the Senate schedule for Thursday, the last sitting day before budget week in May.
“There’s not a lot of point kicking off the debate if the Liberals haven’t changed,” Leyonhjelm told Sky News, adding that it would be “premature to speak” in the Senate on the issue if there was no chance the bill would pass.
The Liberal party room did not discuss the possibility of holding a conscience vote on same-sex marriage when it met on Tuesday. “We haven’t had that debate in the party room, and my strong view is that we should have a conscience vote,” Frydenberg told ABC radio.
“If we are [granted a free vote], then a lot of people will probably express a view in favour of gay marriage.”
Frydenberg is confident that views within the Liberal party have shifted in favour of same-sex marriage, but said he “can’t put my finger on what the number would actually be”.
“The Liberal party, like the Labor party, has a wide range of views of its parliamentary members,” he said.
Labor MPs have been granted a free vote on the issue, and both the opposition leader, Bill Shorten, and the deputy opposition leader, Tanya Plibersek, are strong advocates.
Frydenberg admitted that “community attitudes are changing both here and abroad”, but stopped short of saying the Coalition’s views were lagging behind.
He said several of his constituents in his Melbourne seat have shared their personal stories with him.
“I’ve had two women come to see me who clearly have a great love for each other and been in a long-term relationship. The meeting ended in tears. That did have an effect on me.”
