In case you’ve missed the past month of politicking, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull & Co. have been warning the Australian public that marriage equality might be a far bloody way away if their dang plebiscite doesn’t go through. Still, it ain’t going nowhere without crossbench support, which Labor has been very unwilling (read: not at all willing) to give, and Bill Shorten’s posse hasn’t showed any sign of relenting.
So, today’s meeting between Attorney-General George Brandis and his ALP counterpart Mark Dreyfus was meant to provide a pathway for the plebiscite to move forward in some sort of mutually beneficial manner.
Senator Brandis said he tried to get Dreyfus to budge, but by his estimations, “on some nine occasions, I said to them: ‘What do you want?’”
“I’m disappointed that on every occasion, when I asked Mr Dreyfus… to state what the Labor Party’s position was, [he] refused to do so.”
In turn, Dreyfus said “the Attorney-General did not suggest anything that the Government is prepared to change.” Essentially, Australia’s two largest political forces played an elaborate game of “I’ll show you mine if you show me yours,” and both came away with sweet FA.
Perhaps both of ’em were too shy to pony up for fear of displaying some kind of political weakness. Perhaps Labor knows they’re in a position of power, so they’re using plebiscite concessions as some kind of bargaining chip. Best yet, maybe they really, truly, don’t want a massively expensive vote that’s been criticised in too many ways to list right here.
Photo: Krystle Wright / Vince Caligiuri / Getty.
