Blaxland MP Jason Clare has indicated he will vote for same sex marriage. His electorate voted 74% No
The Labor politician whose seat most overwhelmingly voted No to same sex marriage will still vote for it.
Blaxland MP Jason Clare’s seat voted 74% No – but the frontbencher has told reporters he will vote for same sex marriage on the floor of Parliament.
Meanwhile, some of the most prominent Liberal and National politicians who campaigned for No found their constituents actually voted Yes.
Former prime minister Tony Abbott (74%), former deputy PM Barnaby Joyce (52%) and Immigration Minister Peter Dutton (65%) all found their seats voted Yes.
As did outspoken Liberal Senator Eric Abetz (his state voted 63.9% in favour) and controversial Nationals MP George Christensen (55%), from rural Queensland.
Mr Abbott’s sister Christine Forster will marry her partner Virginia Edwards will marry in 2018.
‘The people have spoken and, of course, the Parliament should respect the result,’Mr Abbott said in a statement.
Leading light of the No campaign Tony Abbott found his electorate of Warringah voted 75% Yes
The seats of No supporters Barnaby Joyce (left) and George Christensen (right) also voted Yes
Both Sky News and the ABC reported Mr Clare plans to vote for marriage equality.
‘I’ve always known the views of my electorate on this issue and I’ve always been upfront with them about mine,’ he was quoted saying.
Daily Mail Australia called his office for comment.
Mr Clare’s colleague Tony Burke’s seat of Watson also voted No (70%), the second highest vote against the change in the nation.
Mr Burke tweeted on Wednesday: ‘I went to the last election with a commitment to vote yes. That doesn’t change.’
Only 17 of 150 electorates voted No nationwide. The top seven seats giving marriage equality the thumbs down were in western Sydney.
At least one No supporting MP, Gosford’s Lucy Wicks, announced she would support the will of her constituents after her seat voted Yes.
‘My position hasn’t changed – while I voted “no” in the survey and explained why, I will honour the voice of the majority of our community by voting “yes” to change the law,’ she tweeted.
Twelve seats voted No in New South Wales, the only state to report a Yes vote below 60%.
Meanwhile, just three seats voted No in typically conservative Queensland and two in regional Victoria.
We do! Celebrations have broken out across Australia (here in the Melbourne CBD) after the YES vote won 61.6% of the vote – but not everyone was on their side…
Close to eight million people – representing 61.6 per cent of the population – voted ‘Yes’, bringing this Sydney woman in a rainbow wig to tears
SYDNEY: These are the seats, highlighted in redthat voted majority NO in the country’s biggest city. Meantime the seats in green all voted majority YES
MELBOURNE: Most of the city voted YES – but the seats of Calwell, in the north-west, and Bruce, in the east, voted NO
QUEENSLAND: The expansive rural seats of Kennedy and Maranoa voted NO. All Brisbane electorates voted YES. Not pictured is the Toowoomba-based seat of Groom, which voted NO
Blaxland, NSW: The seat – which takes in part of Bankstown – had the highest NO vote in the land with 73.9% of the vote
Parramatta (CBD pictured): The electorate voted 61.6% against same sex marriage
Maranoa, QLD: The seat which took in the town of Roma (pictured) in rural Queensland voted 56% No
The country as a whole voted 61.6% in favour of gay marriage, and 34% against it, Australian Bureau of Statistics boss David Kalisch announced.
Close to four fifths of eligible voters cast their ballots.
A jubilant Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said Parliament needs to ‘get on with it’ pass the same sex marriage bill by Christmas.
No campaign spokesman Lyle Shelton said he was disappointed, but will respect the result.
‘We will now do what we can to guard against restrictions on freedom of speech and freedom of religion, to defend parents’ rights, and to protect Australian kids from being exposed to radical LGBTIQ sex and gender education in the classrooms,’ he said.