COALITION OUT OF STEP WITH VOTERS ON MARRIAGE EQUALITY CALL ON ABBOTT TO ALLOW CONSCIENCE VOTE / RULE OUT CIVIL UNIONS

Australia's marriage equality advocates say continued Federal Coalition opposition to same s-x marriage is out-of-step with the views of Coalition voters.

During today's debate in federal parliament on allowing the territories greater autonomy, Shadow Attorney-General, George Brandis, made it clear the Coalition continues to oppose same s-x marriages.

Australian Marriage Equality spokesperson, Peter Furness, said several recent polls show Coalition voters across the nation, as well as voters in Coalition electorates, support the issue.

"Polling consistently shows that more Coalition voters support marriage equality than oppose it, and an overwhelming majority of voters in key Coalition-held electorates where surveys have been conducted also support equality", Mr Furness said.

"Coalition MPs in electorates where there is strong support for marriage equality deserve the right to represent their voters, so we call on Tony Abbott to allow a conscience vote on the issue."

"We also call on Mr Abbott to rule out Coalition support for a national civil union scheme, because such a scheme would entrench a second-class status for same-sex relationships and not help remove discrimination."

National polls by Galaxy Research have consistently found about 50% support for allowing same s-x marriages among Coalition voters, with about 45% opposed.

On 10 August federal Liberal MP, Teresa Gambaro, released a survey of her Brisbane electorate which found 73% support for marriage equality. Malcolm Turnbull found 72% support in his electorate of Wentworth while Joe Hockey found 78% support among young people in his electorate.

78% of Australians support a conscience vote on same s-x marriage, with 75% support among Coalition voters.

The surveys by Ms Gambaro and Mr Turnbull both showed very low support for a national civil union scheme recording 27% and 16% respectively.

Senator Brandis moved an amendment to remove the power of the territories to legislate for same s-x marriage which was voted down by the Government and the Greens.

Mr Furness said Australian Marriage Equality supports the right of states and territories to legislate for same-s-x marriages if they wish.

Next Wednesday federal MPs will report back on the community consultations they have conducted on this issue.

Links to poll results are included below.

Galaxy poll results on same s-x marriage a conscience vote can be found here.

Teresa Gambaro's survey results can be found here and also here.

Malcolm Turnbull's survey results can be found here (PDF).

Joe Hockey's results can be found here at SSO.