Add this one to the ‘yeah, righto mate’ pile.
Treasurer Scott Morrison, who is one of the more powerful social conservatives in the Liberal Party, has never been a big fan of same-sex marriage. He’s a devout Christian representing Sydney‘s second Bible Belt, so the prospect of him being a same-sex marriage supporter were never going to be particularly high.
But some of his rhetoric, geez. He appeared on RN Breakfast this morning, chatting the plebiscite. A bit of background: the conservatives in the Coalition are mad at Penny Wong at the moment for suggesting that opposition to same-sex marriage is motivated by homophobia.
Morrison reckons he understands Wong’s concerns perfectly, because he’s faced bigotry for being against same-sex marriage:
I know it from personal experience. I have been exposed to that sort of hatred and bigotry for the views I have taken from others who have a different view to me but I think the best way is for all of us to have a say on this, deal with it and move on.
Look, someone needs to tell Morrison to dry his tears – he’s one of the most powerful people in the country by the very nature of his job, and copping it for not letting LGBT couples get married probably doesn’t constitute hatred and bigotry.
I respect Penny’s fears that she has raised. Equally, there are many who have a different view to Penny and to others over what should happen to same sex marriage. I have a different view to that and people have strong religious views, they have also been subject to quite strong hate speech as well. It is not confined to one side of the debate. That said, I have a bigger view of the Australian people more broadly which says we can once and for all deal with this issue where everybody gets their say.
Strong hate speech isn’t confined to one side of the debate, guys. This plebiscite is gonna be a real shit time, hey?
Source: ABC RN.
Photo: Getty Images / Stefan Postles.
