Australia's strange vote on same-sex marriage

A wall painted with the rainbow flag and the message “Vote Yes!” in Newtown on Aug. 28 in Sydney. (Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

By Richard Glover September 4 at 8:24 PM

Richard Glover is an Australian writer and broadcaster.

How should a country decide the issue of same-sex marriage? Most hold a referendum (Ireland, for example) or they leave it to a vote of their elected leaders (such as Germany).

In Australia, though, we’ve developed our own peculiar process. We’re going for a nonbinding, non-compulsory postal vote, which — for legal reasons — has to be dressed up as a survey.

People are now busy campaigning on both sides, with television commercials and heated arguments. The voting forms — sorry, survey inquiries — are due to arrive in our mailboxes in a couple of weeks. And yet the whole project may well be illegal: Australia’s High Court this week is hearing submissions as to whether the whole caper is unconstitutional.

Even if the High Court gives approval, the postal vote will still be a peculiar piece of policy. It will cost nearly $100 million (U.S.), even though its result can be ignored by Parliament, and — in terms of statistical accuracy — could be better achieved by a polling company at the cost of a few thousand dollars.

So, how have we come to this point? Australia, after all, is a gay-friendly country. Sydney stages an annual Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras in which much of town, straight and gay, gets caught up in the excitement. Add in the opinion polls in which a thumping majority of citizens believe same-sex people should be allowed to marry: According to a recent poll, 63 percent say they will vote “yes.”

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