Dear Paul,

Thank You for your kind words.

The way our current political system seems to
work is according to party platforms - and
politicians usually are made to toe the party
line as we know. Personally I would
like a "conscience vote" to be allowed as well as
letting the public have more of a say on these
really important issues. A Referendum would be
one way to possibly sort things out.

Religious leanings should not come into voting of public matters. If persons want that sort of relationship there should be another word to cover the relationship, so mail being sent to the lady of the household would be recognized as female. The word marriage has already been taken as man and woman. Man and man or woman and woman could be registered as [ similar relationship.] with full man and woman advantages and disadvantages.
Is it that important of an issue, referendums are usually to do with constitution. Does it matter if a union is held at church or a beach.

Bear in mind that that total membership of the ALP is only about 40,000 nation wide, they don't represent the values and aspirations of the wider community at all and their "grass roots" are the bourgeoisie and public servants. I've never met a "working class" ALP member save for a couple of old die hards in their eighties, they've all been academics,businessmen or bureaucrats, the type of people who run for the local council.

Jay,

I was a working class member of the ALP, I was recruited in a branch stacking move by a then sitting MP.
I didn't know that a stack was the purpose but as my father and his father had both been members (although expelled for expressing views that didn't sit well with the party) I decided to give it a go. I lasted about 6 months till Paul Keating did his 'other residence' bit to the tune of $10,000 from the Public Purse.
A few days later I got a couple of raffle ticket books, in the mail, from the party to raise funds.
I wrote "I resign and I have $10,000 good reasons" on one of the books and sent them back collect; never heard from the ALP again.

I have met many supporters but few members.

Is Mise,
Given the widespread "ghosting" in the branches the true number of ALP members may be as low as 20,000, according to this article:
http://insidestory.org.au/the-parties-democratic-deficit

Paul1405, "As MP's are the parliamentary representatives of the party, and therefore the grass roots membership, and if something has been voted as party policy"

No that is NOT true at all. The factions decide Labor pre-selections and Labor policy.

Of course the totalitarian Greens would believe that the 'Party' should decide and have final say, with all members being required to act as automatons, in lock-step together.

How typical of the leftist 'Progressives' aka Fabians aka International Socialists who have taken over the Labor Party to be doing their best to destroy the social institutions like marriage. They readily admit they don't even want marriage to exist and would abolish it now if they could.

Like the feminists who oddly support Marxism (while appealing to capitalism for a leg-up as materialistic capitalists themselves), the 'Progressives' are for highly centralised State control, restriction of individual choice and anti-family.

Where is the electoral office supervised poll that proves homosexuals are in favour of State control and bureaucrat/court decision deciding their personal relationships? Homosexuals are a small percentage of the population and of that small percentage it is only a small number (most likely public servants) who would favour gay marriage.

The 'movement' for gay marriage is a front for a few 'gay pride' activists but mainly the self-described leftist 'Progressives', the international socialists who dabble in social policy for their own secondary agenda, personal influence and power.

Male lefties were very lazy and shortsighted allowing the feminists in particular to bully them and to control the agenda. The gays among them must be wondering how they lost control over their own lives and if that is really what they wanted.