At the next election, Australians will have a choice. The Labor Party will say, 'Vote for us and marriage equality will be dealt with by the politicians, by the parliament, in a free vote after the election.' And we will say, 'If we're re-elected to government, every single Australian will have a say.' We all respect members of parliament—after all, we are all members of parliament—but we are just representatives and we are just 150 in number. Every single Australian will have a vote on the issue after the next election if we are returned to government. How can the opposition seriously and credibly say that that is anything other than thoroughly democratic? When did it cease to be democratic to let the people speak?

Mr Brendan O'Connor interjecting—