The Coalition for Marriage was an Australian lobby group that advocated the definition of marriage as being between a man and a woman, as found in the now superseded
Marriage Amendment Act 2004
The ''Marriage Act 1961'' (Cth) is an Act of the Parliament of Australia which regulates marriage in Australia. Since its passage in 1961, it has been amended on numerous occasions and applies uniformly throughout Australia (including its exte ...
.
Campaigning
The organisation had a lead role in lobbying for the "No" case - associated with the
Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey
The Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey was a national survey designed to gauge support for legalising same-sex marriage in Australia. The survey was held via the postal service between 12 September and 7 November 2017. Unlike voting in ...
. Other organisations partnering with the Coalition for Marriage,
in opposition to same-sex marriage, include the
Australian Catholic Bishops' Conference, the
Australian Christian Lobby
The Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) is a conservative right-wing Christian Advocacy group, advocacy organisation based in Canberra. It is similar to the other international Christian lobby groups, and seeks to represent Christian citizens and v ...
and
Marriage Alliance A marriage of state is a diplomatic marriage or union between two members of different nation-states or internally, between two power blocs, usually in authoritarian societies and is a practice which dates back into ancient times, as far back as ear ...
.
The first Coalition for Marriage advertisement on TV featured three women and focused on the
Safe Schools education program. In the ad, the womenHeidi McIvor, Cella White, and Pansy Laiask about potential
gender confusion issues for children. The ad was supported by
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
senator
Cory Bernardi
Cory Bernardi (born 6 November 1969) is an Australian conservative political commentator and former politician. He was a Senator for South Australia from 2006 to 2020, and was the leader of the Australian Conservatives, a minor political party ...
and by social commentator
Andrew Bolt
Andrew Bolt (born 26 September 1959) is an Australian right-wing social and political commentator. He has worked at the News Corp-owned newspaper company The Herald and Weekly Times (HWT) for many years, for both '' The Herald'' and its succe ...
. The ad was criticised as being inaccurate and for linking the survey (and same-sex marriage in general) to Safe Schools, and by Opposition Leader,
Bill Shorten
William Richard Shorten (born 12 May 1967) is an Australian politician currently serving as Minister for Government Services and Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme since 2022. He previously served as leader of the opposition ...
who said, "Malcolm Turnbull ... gave the green light to this rubbish". Mothers of transgender children criticised the ad for bringing their children into the same-sex marriage debate. The three women and supporters of the yes position have all commented on the responses to the ad.
Minister for Environment and Energy
The Australian Minister for the Environment and Water is a position which is currently held by Tanya Plibersek in the Albanese ministry since 1 June 2022, following the 2022 Australian federal election, Australian federal election in 2022.
In ...
Josh Frydenberg
Joshua Anthony Frydenberg () (born 17 July 1971) is an Australian former politician who served as the treasurer of Australia and deputy leader of the Liberal Party from 2018 to 2022. He also served as a member of parliament (MP) for the divisi ...
expressed that he "did not have a problem" with the advertisement, stating that he has "great confidence in the public's ability to make their own decisions as to whether they'll be voting yes or no".
One of the women in the ad (Dr Lai) was threatened that she would be shot “this week” and a campaign was initiated (subsequently pulled) to revoke her medical registration.
Partners
See also
*
Australian Catholic Bishops' Conference
References
{{reflist
External links
WebsiteFacebookTwitter First TV ad for the campaign
2017 establishments in Australia
Political advocacy groups in Australia
Organizations established in 2017
Same-sex marriage in Australia