Today, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, who last month refused to allow a vote for marriage equality in the Parliament, was ousted from his position and replaced by Malcolm Turnbull through a leadership ballot.
Liberal Party members voted 54 to 44 to replace Abbott with former party leader and Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull, who had called for the leadership ballot just hours earlier amid flagging opinion polls for the 2-year-old conservative coalition government, reports ABC News.
“It’s encouraging that such a staunch opponent to marriage equality is no longer in a position to stand in the way of progress for LGBT Australians,” said Ty Cobb, Director of HRC Global. “We urge the new Prime Minister to stand on the right side of history by moving quickly to allow a vote on the critical legislation that will finally allow loving and committed same-sex couples in Australia the right to marry.”
Last month, Prime Minister Abbott overrode the nearly three-quarters of Australians who believe in marriage equality by denying Members of Parliament the right to vote according to their own conscience on national marriage equality legislation. Prime Minister Abbott met with members of the governing coalition who determined that party members will be forced to vote according to party lines, even if they wish to support marriage equality legislation. Members of his own party support the proposal and were expected to cross party lines if a conscience vote had been allowed.
