Australia: Three Liberal MPs and a Senator have stated they will cross the floor and vote in favour of legislation supporting same-sex marriage. Teresa Gambaro is among those who will cross the floor MP Warren Entsch will stand firm and introduce a cross-party bill to allow same-sex marriage on Monday, although it's doomed to fail because the Coalition has voted against giving its MPs a free vote on the issue. Entsch has stated he will still vote in favour of the legislation. He's been backed by fellow Liberal MPs Teresa Gambaro and Wyatt Roy. Gambaro is a co-sponsor and says "I wholeheartedly support the purpose of this Bill in removing the barriers that currently prevent same-sex couples from making a public declaration of their love." She says she is deeply disappointed the Coalition decided against allowing a conscience vote on gay marriage but would "exercise the full liberties available to me as a Liberal backbencher" and support it. West Australian Liberal Senator Dean Smith has also announced he plans to back the bill. Backbenchers are allowed to vote against the party line, however Prime Minister Tony Abbott says any frontbenchers who do will be sacked.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Thursday, 13th August 2015 - 7:57pm