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One of the Australian government's leading cabinet ministers has been caught on tape saying that the same-sex marriage (SSM) will be legalized "sooner than everyone thinks," going against his party's stance of taking the matter to a public vote further down the track.
It was revealed Monday that Defence Industry Minister Christopher Pyne was recently caught telling colleagues that the Liberal National Party (LNP) coalition government's center-leaning faction was "in the winner's circle," but needed to "deliver a couple of things" for Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's tenure to be considered a success.
In the tape, acquired by News Corp and Sky News political commentator Andrew Bolt, Pyne appeared to suggest that there would be a parliamentary vote on SSM that would happen "sooner than everyone thinks," a complete turnaround from the current government policy which is a public vote, called a plebiscite.
"Friends, we are in the winner's circle but we have to deliver a couple of things and one of those we've got to deliver before too long is marriage equality in this country," Pyne said in the tape.
"We're going to get it. I think it might even be sooner than everyone thinks. And your friends in Canberra are working on that outcome."
The leak has caused an immediate rift within the Liberal Party's factions, with Treasurer Scott Morrison saying the government would not be deviating from its current policy, which would take a non-binding plebiscite to the masses.
"There is no move away from the plebiscite policy," Morrison told the Seven Network on Monday.
"We have a policy. We took it to the last election, that's the policy we've honored in this parliament. The only party standing in the way of people having their say on this issue is the Labor Party."
Former Liberal Prime Minister and current government backbencher Tony Abbott who was ousted by Turnbull in late 2015, said the leak would only serve to disenfranchise the Australian voters further.
"This is one of the reasons why the public turn off politicians, because we don't tell them what we think. It seems like one of our members has been caught out," Abbott told Macquarie Radio on Monday.
"My point is you need to be 'fair dinkum' with the Australian people and it looks like that's not been true of Christopher."
Meanwhile, the political commentator who came across the leak, Andrew Bolt, said that Pyne's comments would only further alienate Liberal voters who were 'fed-up' with the "Labor-lite" policies recently introduced by the Turnbull government, saying the adoption of Labor's same-sex marriage policy, a Parliamentary vote, could be the last straw for the prime minister.
"We've already seen the Liberals under Malcolm Turnbull copy Labor policies on global warming, debt and deficit, and on education," Bolt told Sky News.
"Now (Liberal voters) are hearing a senior Turnbull confidant saying same-sex marriage will come as well, essentially a Labor policy of letting politicians decide. They'll think 'what on Earth is the point of the Liberal Party if it does Labor things?'"
"It's just lucky for Turnbull that Parliament won't be sitting for some time, because this could seriously threaten his leadership."
Following the backlash, in a statement on Monday, a spokesperson for Pyne denied a plan was afoot to legalize same-sex marriage in the immediate future.
"The minister did not say action on marriage equality was imminent," the spokesperson told News Corp.
"The minister said that while marriage equality had failed to materialize over the last two years it would become a reality eventually."
(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)
