Tim Wilson (Goldstein, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Today I encourage people to enrol to vote for the forthcoming plebiscite on marriage for same-sex couples. This is your chance, a once-in-a-generation opportunity, to have a say on the future of the country but, more important than that, it is an opportunity to do something great for our country. If you've turned 18 since the middle of last year, all I can do is encourage you to make sure that you go to aec.gov.au to make sure that you can have your say in improving this great nation. If you would like to participate in helping make sure that the Goldstein electorate is one of the electorates with the strongest votes in the country, I recommend contacting my office on (03) 9557 4644 or contacting me at tim.wilson.mp@aph.gov.au. This is your chance to have your say but, more importantly, to make us a better country where every Australian feels equal, feels accepted by society, and where we value the commitment between people equally under the law.

I would like to encourage the voters of Goldstein to vote yes in the forthcoming plebiscite on marriage for same-sex copies. This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to make this country a better place, where every single person feels equal in their dignity and respected by the law. When you look at the challenges that our country faces, it's important that we be a united nation, where everybody has a chance to contribute to their best endeavours. It's an opportunity for individuals to come forward and form families as a foundation for community and a great nation, and it is when people come together and show that commitment to each other that we have the foundations of a great Australia into the future. That is what marriage is—it is not some legal term; it is a social construct, a cultural construct, of commitment between individuals. It is the job of the law to fully respect those people. That is why this is not just a vote yes for people who may be affected directly; it is also a vote yes for friends, for families, for co-workers and for people who want to have the type of country that we want to be. You have the chance to make that happen, and only you have that chance.

So, if your ballot paper has been sent to you, I recommend you collect it and you make your own decision. But I stress that I will be voting yes and I would encourage you to do so as well. This is not a debate between politicians. This is about you making a conscious decision about the type of country we want to be. Make sure you get that postal ballot, you take it to a mailbox and you send it back, to make sure that you have your say and we can make our nation a more perfect commonwealth.

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