If your relationship is sound, then you don’t need to get married.

To show how commercialised marriage is visit: http://www.businessinsider.com.au/anz-here-are-a-billion-economic-reasons-to-bring-about-marriage-equality-in-australia-2015-10

"Based on a 2010 University of Queensland study, that found quarter of (34,000 same sex couples) would marry within 12 months of being allowed, and with an average wedding spend of $51,000, that’s up to a $550 million boost to the economy in the first year."

“If half of the population of same sex couples chose to marry within one year, the benefits to the economy in the first year of legislation would be over $1 billion”, adding that the figures do not include honeymoon expenditure and wedding tourism from foreign couples coming to Australia."

Another argument that gets thrown into the (wedding cake) mix is people having to pay the costs of a marriage celebrant.

I take the view there are enough, who would easily support paying for someone, as a gift to receive a certificate which would be seen as some as binding their relationship along with the rest of a wedding element to occur.

Then there is also the reality, where a "final commitment" doesn't always stack up (say the cake tips over). In 2015 ABS statistics show Australia had 113,595 marriages registered and 48,517 divorces granted.

I can't honestly see why marriage needs to be legislated. Any reasons to link marriage to material items based on divorce questions marriage and child related matters should be dealt with through relevant agencies.

Those who don't like same sex marriage will never change, those who question the value of marriage, may not either. Those left "picking up the pieces" from the expensive cracked vase that once had a bouquet of flowers in it, see their wedding ceremony and ask "why?"

According to this logic, marriage should not be allowed to last more than 6 months, then each couple would be required to divorce and re-marry. Just imagine the billions coming in - Australia would soon be out of debt and in surplus!

Say everyone bought a skipping-rope for $10, that's a $230M to boost our economy.
What about a pack of condoms for a similar price?
What if everyone started smoking? We would all become billionaires and would no longer have to pay any other taxes...

Right?

Would you like to buy my goose for only $100,000? the golden eggs it will lay will return your investment in less than a year!

I am all for marriage equality, whereby everyone can marry anyone(s) and anything(s) they want, no questions asked and no records kept by the state about people's totally-private relationships.

Rubbish. University twats.
If this is what passes for intelligence then all university people should just be euthanised.
I thought spending millions on things like 'studies that state the bleeding obvious' and 'sjw gender studies' was a symptom of how bad things are getting, but just exeplifies that slide into idiocy.

They are only going to spend money on weddings that they would have spent elsewhere.
There is no gain to the economy.
The money gets spent here, the money gets spent there.
What's the difference?
Its all part of the same pie.
In order to help the economy you need to create something for export or somehow bring more money into the pie to make it bigger.
Where someone spends the funds available to them doesn't mean squat.
So what they spend less at gay bars and more on gay weddings, how in the hell does that help anyone?

Total crap.

And the estimate for divorces was?

The lawyers are laughing already and all thanks to that bottle redhead and her idealistic Roxon. - 'Nek nimit, whooska' and what gays used to decide themselves is now foreve to be ruled upon by Big Sister's bureaucrats, and those entrepreneurial lawyers are buying the most expensive wines to go with their restaurant lunches. 'Happy days are here again..'.

Gays want the church too, to prove they have shafted 'society'? But they have already lost through allowing the feminists to lead them by the nose into legalised de facto marriages. Make that 'de facto relationships', the feminists can't abide marriage.

Nathan, I chose to marry for the sake of my children having a mum and dad with the same name. To me, it's all about the kids.

You need to have a licence to drive a car.

You need to have a licence to practice medicine,
architecture, dentistry, and other professions.

You need to even register your dog.

Births, deaths, and marriages need registering.
Those are the laws of the society in which we live.

Get over it.