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THE AUSTRALIAN PRIME Minister Malcolm Turnbull recently raised the possibility of a “postal vote” on marriage equality in Australia in the coming months.
Unlike the Marriage Equality Referendum, which guaranteed a change in the law here in Ireland following a successful outcome, the result of this postal vote would be non-binding on Australian politicians; Australia’s Federal Parliament could still decide whether or not to legislate for marriage equality following the outcome of the postal vote.
Striking similarities
Despite this practical difference between the outcome of our constitutional referendum process and that of a postal plebiscite, there are striking similarities between the meandering political approaches to marriage equality in Ireland and Australia.
The High Court in each jurisdiction indicated that it was within Parliament’s power to simply legislate for same-sex marriage, but the political will to do so simply did not exist and a circuitous yet similar route to attempting to achieve marriage equality was adopted by the governments in Ireland and Australia.
in Ireland, a Constitutional Convention was established by the Fine Gael/Labour coalition in 2011 to consider whether provision should be made for marriage equality in our Constitution. The Constitutional Convention was comprised of a chairman and 33 Members of Parliament, but the vast majority of its members were ordinary citizens, 66 to be precise.
In 2013, a majority of the members of the Constitutional Convention voted for marriage equality to be enshrined in our Constitution. Since amending our Constitution requires a referendum where a proposal to amend is put to a vote of the Irish people, the then Fine Gael/Labour coalition government committed itself to holding a marriage equality referendum in 2015.
A political masterstroke
However, the coalition government should not be lauded for agreeing to hold a referendum on this significant human rights issue – it only agreed to do so because the Constitutional Convention, a body comprised largely of ordinary Irish citizens, voted in favour of including marriage equality in the Constitution.
Indeed, sending the divisive issue of marriage equality to the Constitutional Convention for deliberation was something of a political masterstroke. If the Fine Gael/Labour coalition had simply announced that it was holding a referendum on the issue without any intervention from the citizen-led Constitutional Convention, it might have lost much public support from those in Irish society opposed to such a move.
Instead, the government made it look as though it was giving the Irish people the chance to “have their say” through a referendum, because this is what the Irish people, as represented by the members of the Constitutional Convention, had indicated that they were in favour of. In May 2015, the Marriage Equality Referendum was a resounding success, making Ireland the first country in the world to legalise same-sex marriage by means of a popular vote.
Australia’s proposed “postal vote” on marriage equality is as politically convenient as Ireland’s Constitutional Convention was. As a voluntary nationwide opinion poll with an estimated AU$122 million price tag, the postal plebiscite is simply a far more extensive (and expensive) means of gauging public opinion on marriage equality before the current Australian government commits to allowing a free vote on the issue in Parliament.
Letting the people “have their say”
Similar to the experience here in Ireland, Australia’s current political leaders are not willing to make marriage equality a reality without first letting the Australian people “have their say” via some ostensibly fair and transparent medium.
However, if the Australian government is so resolutely committed to letting the nation decide the issue by means of a non-binding postal vote, then it should attempt to go one significant step further and hold a marriage equality referendum, whereby the nation’s decision would be binding and lead to marriage equality being enshrined in the Australian Constitution, just as it was enshrined in the Irish Constitution following the successful referendum result here.
Although Australian LGBT people would be subjected to heated and often hateful anti-LGBT debate during a referendum campaign, just as their Irish counterparts were in early 2015, they will also be subjected to this with a postal plebiscite and at least a successful referendum result would provide greater protection for marriage equality than legislation.
Indeed, any legislation providing for marriage equality could hypothetically be repealed by a future anti-LGBT administration in Australia. Making marriage equality part of the Australian Constitution would ensure that only the Australian people themselves, through a future successful referendum, could ever remove the constitutional protection for marriage equality.
Since the politico-legal approach to marriage equality in Australia has mirrored Ireland to quite an extent thus far, maybe Australia could learn from the Irish experience.
Dr Brian Tobin lectures in law at NUI Galway.
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Maybe peer pressure, but I suspect a bit of the old culture is still there!
@Brian Hunt: That’s the attitude that will keep the country divided.
@Vincent Alexander: good
@John Murphy: so are you saying over half the population of the 6 counties don’t work ???
You don’t half talk a load of old bollocks
@J B: why is it good pray tell???
No surprise, tis full of prods and run by prods, and is beholden to the Brit government
@qffaffaf affrafrfraf: Reply was to qff****. That’s the attitude that will keep the country divided.
@qffaffaf affrafrfraf: There’s only one way to change that.
@qffaffaf affrafrfraf: Belfast Army Council is more attractive to the shinners.
@Tim Brennan: are the shinners in the room with you now ?
You thick bollocks
Why didn’t the UK give NI back to Ireland in the 1960s it gave many countries back.
It should of also been a condition to join the EU in the 70s.
There needs to be All Island police force and justice system that can enter both jurisdictions without being told “we’re approaching the Irish invisible line” as crime doesn’t stop here at this invisible line, it gets worse.
The GFA/BA should have included this in 1998 that we would have a united front on these Departmental issues from Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Justice and Law Reform Enforcement, Transport and Sport, Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Health
@Tommy: Eh no thanks. Regardless of what you think Ireland isn’t a country it’s an island. An island with 2 separate countries which means 2 separate police forces. Let’s keep it that way thanks
@Ger Whelan: Northen Ireland isn’t a country, just 6 counties of the 9 counties province of Ulster.
@Lulu: Northern is indeed a country. 1 island 2 countries on the island
@Ger Whelan: feck me ,thank god you weren’t around in 1916,you would have ran to help the Tans
does anybody else think the journal releases very (and i hate to use the word) triggering articles in the late hours of the eve to get the comments section going…? lol .. the journal staff are on the ball I have to say..
Public Relation nonsense. The RUC trying to convince us that they’re interested in native recruits while today they’re still fighting tooth and nail in the courts so the families of victims that were killed by Loyalist paras, British army and themselves don’t get the information they deserve.
@Uí Braonáin: PSNI not RUC,but yes you are correct,the organisation itself is completely corrupt,it was set up to properly up the British state and that is all it has ever done ,which makes it all the more astonishing that the top 2 jobs in the Garda are held by two ex RUC .
Colour me seacht
15 years of tory government, The assembly not sitting for years and the grubby deal done between the Dup and the tories has stagnated any really change up north
Who would want to join that inbred bigoted organisation who couloided with loyalist terrorists in the murder of innocent nationalists civilians. It is a cesspool of vipers
Had to relocate up to brookbourgh just outside Enniskillen for 10 mths from south,,returned south last June. I couldn’t get back fast enough. Minute heard accent some literally turned heel . Once a month orange lodge doors down had parade passing my bungalow on road,, literally death stares at me looking out window. My Southern reg vehicle was constantly gobbed on. Enniskillen town itself was better but still had my moments. The hatred is well and truly alive above unfortunately.
@J B: That place is so bad that even many on the nationalist side could have gobbed on the car, many of them hold the southern Catholics a very close second to their Unionist neighbours in the hate stakes. The whole place is a cess pit.
@J B: Seems like you have some hatred yourself . Sure there’s no hate from people in the 26 counties towards people in the North is their .
@J B: when you call Ireland. The south and keep.saying southern reg no wonder you get funn y looks . You moved from the republic and had an Irish reg. Get it right.
@Jack Moss: nope,,grew up almost in Portadown during 80′s/90′s as older brother married girl from there. He lived above 18 years during troubles. Seen hatred then esp at checkpoints returning up from south at hands of British soldiers on my brother and mother so know exactly what went on. I just taught maybe it had changed since but f me I was wrong. Hatred is very much alive and their blood runs orange.
@Oweke 68: your typing is horrendous.
No way!
Maybe they should adopt the approach. We have down here by giving loads of public senior jobs to people from Northern Ireland essentially forcing forcing the move towards 32 counties. If the chief of police was from the 26 counties and he was Catholic that might encourage more Catholics in the north to join
More targets the RUC have missed I see :-)
I’d image it’s police work in general that is off putting not anyone’s religion. Not for half a million a year would I do it. Give me a handy gig typing scutter in a cozy office anyday with weekends and big holidays off all the time.
Why would you . In 40 yrs time when you’re an OAP the relatives of terrorists and criminals will be hiring solicitors to have you prosecuted for doing your job . Apparently the IRA were soldiers fighting a war but when one of their soldiers was killed by the security forces then it was murdered . Your easy pray for the compo generation and their army of solicitors and the government won’t back you up .
@Jack Moss: start from the start jack.. the British island of Scotland Wales and England is basically across the water from Ireland.. its different country completely …. so one has to think wtf are you lot even doing in Ireland? did the irish invite the British army over to murder the Irish and take their land?
@Stiles: The British army was form up on both islands . The Irish were the British army . The armies history goes back about 350 yrs . There was 21 Irish infantry regiments based in Ireland . Many of them were older than English regiments. The problem with Irish people today is that they can’t accept who they were in history .
@Jack Moss: so we invaded ourselves and then starved a million of ourselves. thanks Jack. I’ll update the books on the morn . FO..
I served with the RUC when I was a soldier in NI . Very professional people . 56 people were killed by the RUC during the 26 yrs of the troubles . 44 Catholics 9 Protestants 3 not from NI . It clearly shows their respect for human life in the conditions they had to operate in . The IRA murdered over 300 Catholics .
@Jack Moss: Considering the RUC was made up of Loyalist paras I’d also like to thank you and them for your respect for some human lives.
@Jack Moss: and how many innocent irish died by the hand of the British government.. let’s make it easy for you and round the famine of at a million.. how many counties wud we have in the Republic today is it wasn’t for the irish people fighting back.. they’re wudnt be a republic ..it wud just be another part of the colonial kingdom … you can’t simplify the actions of the IRA without context..
@Stiles: Rubbish get over yourselves
@Tim Brennan: I only stated facts Timothy .. difficult as you might find it to accept them.. I’d ask you to read a history book not written in England… same for Jack above.. believe it believe not, the British government didn’t send their army over to our island to help us, as I’ve read in British history books.. jokers trying to rewrite history.. GFY ..
@Stiles: The majority of people that died in the famine died from contagious diseases. Smallpox , Cholera, Fever and Dysentery were the big four killers . 10 yrs after the famine Ireland was one of the first countries to get the Smallpox vaccine . Everyone was vaccinated free of charge . It was the first vaccine that was giving to the world and Ireland was one of the first countries to get the vaccine . The 32 counties came about between the 13th and 17th centuries. Wicklow was the last county in 1608 . There has never been an independent 32 county country called Ireland . Ireland only became one Irish nation in what is the UK today .
@Jack Moss: lies and propaganda. While there was never a 32 county United ireland there was an independent Irish kingdom loosely under the control of a high king, who was at least nominally the king of Ireland.
@Jack Moss: oh yeah now I have it… the fact that the British regime withheld irish food taken from irish farmlands (that the British had taken over by force) and sent same food back to Britain had nothing to do with the million starving irish people that died during the famine.. hmm yeah ok. ? ya prk… Jack FO…
@Stiles: Jack’s bs just shows how easy it is to rewrite history,.. he’s just spouting what he’s been taught/and read… like I said English history books are completely different than ours.. Jack’s incorrect condensending replies are the very reason most country’s despise English Tuesdays.. but in reality its not their fault. it’s what they’ve been taught..
@Fergus Peter Smyth: Ireland was not one country before the Norman conquest of 1169 . It was split up into 5 provinces that were broken up into 150 kingdoms that was knocking the shite out of each other . No 32 counties or one Irish nation . Ireland has only ever existed as one Irish nation in what is the UK today . The ROI that exists today is a breakaway state of the UK that form its own government and became an independent sovereign nation for the first time in the history of the island of Ireland.
@Stiles: Actually I was educated in a Christian brothers school in N Dublin .
No Catholics join. Then complain it’s all Protestant lol
The shinners need to get off the fence and encourage nationalists to join
We can send them up Muslims Arabs all sorts down here
The Six-County state is abnormal, undemocratic and deeply sectarian, no amount of window dressing will change that fact. Changing the name and the cap badge does not change the nature of what is a colonial police force
@Whichsideruon Saoirse: The 26 counties was a 98 percent Roman Catholic state govern by republican parties . Northern Ireland is a shared state made up of Catholics and Protestants . Its political system is made up of unionist and nationalist political parties . You sure you got it right about which part of Ireland is sectarian.
Religion is a crackpot. No surprise here.
North of Ireland actually…apparently Trump wants to own it and turn it into the Riviera of Ireland . Clown
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