Australia's referendum on gay marriage killed off by Senate123RF Same-sex marriage advocates opposed the referendum plan. The Australian government's proposed referendum on same-sex marriage has formally been killed off by the Senate, where it was defeated 29-33 in a late-night vote on Monday, amid a warning dumping the policy would delay marriage equality "for years". Claiming Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's stance on the referendum "disrespects us all," senator Penny Wong labelled the Coalition's actions "cruel". Australian Marriage Equality chairman Alex Greenwich said the focus would now shift to netting a parliamentary vote before the next election. Greenwich said one positive to emerge from the past year was that several Coalition MPs had put on record their support for marriage equality.

Source: Stuff November 07, 2016 13:07 UTC