A majority of Australians have voted in favour of making same-marriages legal.
The country has been surveyed via a postal vote with 61.6 per cent voting ‘yes’ to allowing same-sex couples the same rights as heterosexual couples.
The final count was 7.8 million responses in support of same-sex marriage, and 4.9 million against.
Every state and territory voted Yes, and only 17 electorates in the whole country voted No.
Speaking today after the results were announced, Australia’s Prime Minister Malcolm said Australians had voted “overwhelmingly yes” for marriage equality.
“They voted yes for fairness, yes for commitment, yes for love. And now it is up to us here in the Parliament of Australia to get on with it, to get on with the job the Australian people have tasked us to do and get this done.”
Does this mean gay marriage is legal in Australia?
Not quite. Now it goes back to the politicians to sort things out, with Malcolm Turnbull previously saying he expects his government “will facilitate a private member’s Bill to make same-sex marriage legal before the end of the year”.
What about New Zealand?
New Zealand legalised same-sex marriage four years ago and the tourism industry has benefitted with gay couples travelling from overseas to get married here.
In 2016, 471 same-sex marriages or civil unions were registered in New Zealand to overseas residents. The total number of same-sex Kiwi couples who tied the knot in last year was 483.
