Reports that moderate Liberal MPs will push for the government to abandon its proposed marriage equality plebiscite in favour of a free vote are “fake news”, treasurer Scott Morrison has said. On Saturday Fairfax Media reported a group of moderate MPs will call for reconsideration of a free vote on marriage equality in the next two weeks. Asked to clarify, Christensen said issues like same-sex marriage made the government seem out of touch and it had to reconnect with its core constituency. That compared with 25% who opposed a free vote and 13% who were undecided. The Australian Marriage Equality co-chairman, Alex Greenwich, told Radio National on Monday the “political reality is that [the plebiscite] is dead”.

Source: The Guardian February 05, 2017 22:38 UTC