Liberal Party backs traditional marriage

#1053 for broadcast on 2CH Sydney, 29 March 2015

“It has been a tough four years in the trenches but thanks to tens of thousands of people willing to speak up, marriage continues to be preserved,” Australian Christian Lobby managing director Lyle Shelton said on Tuesday, after the federal Parliamentary Liberal Party failed to cave in to pressure to support the legalisation of same sex marriage.

“Changing the definition of marriage is not inevitable. If it ever did change, it would only be a matter of time before society changed it back,” Mr Shelton said.

“For civil society to flourish, it must organise itself around the protection of its most vulnerable. That means backing marriage.”

The Greens, libertarian Senator David Leyonhjelm and the lobby for redefining marriage wanted the Liberals to abandon party solidarity on marriage and allow a conscience vote. But after Liberal MPs received some 20,000 emails from citizens opposing change, party room support waned and the matter was not raised.

I’m Rod Benson for the NSW Council of Churches