Broadbent: it's still no

17/11/2017

By Catherine Watson

MCMILLAN Liberal MP Russell Broadbent will not be voting to legalise same-sex marriage despite overwhelming support for marriage equality within the McMillan electorate.

Mr Broadbent did not return calls from the Post but his spokesman said he would vote against the bill or abstain.

His decision puts him at odds with most of his electorate, with 62.7 per cent of those who responded to the postal survey supporting marriage equality, while 37.3 per cent opposed it.

In an interview with ABC Gippsland on Thursday, Mr Broadbent said his views on same-sex marriage had never been a secret.

Asked whether he was failing to represent the views of the majority of his electorate, he said he was one of 36,500 McMillan electors who had voted no. “I have a long-standing position on this. I believe I can also represent the 36,500 that voted no.”

But Mr Broadbent said he would not be “obstructionist”. “There are some trying to wind back anti-discrimination laws. That’s an impossible situation. We have very strong anti-discrimination laws in this country and they cannot be amended by any change in this legislation.”

Support for marriage equality was even higher in Bass Coast’s other federal electorate, Flinders, where 70 per cent of respondents voted yes and 30 per cent no.

Flinders Liberal MP Greg Hunt welcomed the result. “I was one of those who voted yes and I will be one who supports the bill in Parliament in line with my own beliefs, the majority view of my electorate and the majority view of the country.”

Mr Hunt said he understood that not every member of the Flinders electorate supported marriage equality and the Government would ensure recognition of religious freedom within the bill.

An overwhelming number of MPs in both houses have said they will support a bill to introduce marriage equality with appropriate safeguards for religious freedom.

Bass Coast Mayor Pamela Rothfield also welcomed the strong support for marriage equality within the Bass Coast Shire.

Speaking at a council meeting just hours after the results were announced, she said, “I’m so proud to be part of a community and council that supports equality. There are a lot of very happy people around our community today.”

The Cape Paterson tavern was the scene of rainbow revelry on Wednesday night as the local LGBTI community and many friends and supporters celebrated overwhelming public support for marriage equality.

20 Comments

Ray McNamara

16/11/2017 09:29:09 pm

Russell, Have you not heard that democracy is of the people, for the people, by the people.
Your people have voted.
Your people have said YES.
Your duty as their representative is to vote YES.
If you don't get that message - resign.

Julie Tyrrell

17/11/2017 08:22:45 pm

Russell Broadbent hasn't heard any of the above, especially the YES, and more unfortunately, the RESIGN. He seems to forget that we pay his wages to represent us. Why would he bother responding to Bass Coast Post? He doesn't bother to respond to his constituency about anything. And as for responding to the ABS survey results... Go on Russell, have a 'conscience vote' based on your own personal opinion and values. That's far more important than betrayal of the electorate's opinion and wishes. A NO vote is a vote for homophobia and divisiveness. And always remember, the heterosexual marriage between a man and a woman is always the marriage that produces the gay, lesbian & transgender offspring.

Ruth Partridge

18/11/2017 12:37:09 am

Whoa, whoa Julie, you have to understand that, although you think that gay marriage is OK, other people have the right to disagree without being labelled homophobic or divisive.
It is possible to hold a view that accepts homosexual relationships as a loving and joyous part of our society, and also consider marriage to be the union of a man and a woman.

rosemary

19/11/2017 08:34:57 am

exactly - please leave now and close that door behind you ............................When the majority of your electorate speaks you should have listened

Frank W Schooneveldt

17/11/2017 08:48:59 am

Russell,
I voted yes because I believe in equality.
I understand that you have a conscience vote on the SSM Bill and are not restricted to vote along party lines or how your electorate voted. I note that a number of NSW elected members have said they will support the bill even though the majority of their constitutants voted no.
We need to respect a persons right for a conscience vote because this is democracy.

Fran Carroll

17/11/2017 07:28:48 pm

As a voter in this electorate, I would like my YES preferences to be reflected along with the majority of voters in the region. I would like any member of this community to have equal rights or better to my own as a old and therefore almost invisible member of our community.

Geoff Ellis

17/11/2017 07:42:00 pm

"Yes" or "No" not "MAYBE, EH? Can't decide?"

What message would abstention send in a conscience vote? Wow.

Some party. Two members who represent different chunks of Bass Coast with opposing responses to similar data, cancel each other out.

$120 million for a void.
This is a void:( ). This one's free.

Some other party: Next time rainbow revelry reigns in Cape P extend the invitation, please. People in Flinders have more to celebrate, apparently.

Frank W Schooneveldt

17/11/2017 09:29:53 pm

Geoff,
Your use of the English language is beyond me. Please write in simple ways that we can all understand. You need to respect a conscience vote and what that means in a democratic society.

Geoffrey Ellis

17/11/2017 10:39:19 pm

Frank - Thanks for the instruction but I am used to writing to a word limit - I completely respect a conscience vote - every time I raise my hand at a council meeting it's a conscience vote. I was democratically elected.

Comment decoded-

Cape Paterson residents live in McMillan and their representative is going to vote No or abstain which is essentially saying no but not owning it.

By accident I live in Flinders and my federal rep is going to vote YES so I have more to celebrate than if I lived in Cape Paterson as I voted YES.

If the vote was going to be based on the member's conscience why did they spend $120 mill to ask us what we thought only to ignore it? The connotative definition of a conscience vote in this context is equivalent to a 'free' vote ie not guided by party lines, rather than guided by their conscience. It's the collective conscience of the electorate that informs a conscience vote, not the bias of an individual.

The federal government did the same thing with the Uluru statement so at least they are consistently ignoring OUR views.

Cheers Mate.

Sandra Guy

17/11/2017 08:28:33 pm

Bye bye Russell

Mark Robertson

17/11/2017 09:20:14 pm

Russell, most of the dinosaurs became extinct 120 million years ago........

Fran Carroll

17/11/2017 10:57:52 pm

I think the YES is.....Russell... RESIGN if you cannot agree with the people who elected you.

Frank W Schooneveldt

18/11/2017 05:41:40 am

Geoff,
The Australian electorate voted Yes in 133 electorates and no in 17 electorates. The majority of the No electorates are in NSW.
This is one of the most strongest endorsements of the importance of people’s equality there can be and sends a clear message to politicians in Canberra to pass the SSM Bill and quickly. I have no doubt the the bill will pass regardless of how Russell Broadbent votes.
I think Russell Broadbent as already said he will not be contesting the next election which is a good thing. This is an an opportunity to bring in some young progressive thinkers into the electorate.
Cheers.

Geoff Ellis

18/11/2017 09:16:24 am

Frank, I totally agree with your first points though I haven't heard about Mr Broadbent's plans to contest, or not contest. Who ever stands I hope they check their compliance with our constitution. Hopefully Mr Broadbent will be the last member for McMillan! He was the last member for Corinella but that didn't deter him.........
Cheers

Catherine Watson

18/11/2017 12:08:53 pm

This is where conscience votes get tricky. Should they represent the MP's own views or the views of the majority of the electorate? The answer probably depends on whether they vote according to our own views.
But we can't have it both ways. After all, in 2006 many of us applauded Russell Broadbent when he crossed the floor to vote against his own party’s immigration policy, which involved mandatory processing of asylum seekers off-shore. Only a minority of voters in his electorate would have supported his action then, but he voted according to his conscience.
So while I don't agree with Mr Broadbent's view on marriage equality, I do agree that he should vote according to his own conscience, not ours.

Pamela Jacka

24/11/2017 05:04:48 pm

There's been some discussion about this in my little neck of the woods, and I've come the conclusion that the vote in Parliament should be as per the MP's electorate. Conscience votes were for the survey.
An acquaintance of mine said that Mr Broadbent should vote as electorate voted but didn't apply the same "logic" to Mr Jason Clare who has also decided to vote against his electorate. The only difference is that Mr Clare is going to vote Yes whereas his electorate of Blaxland voted No. It's a funny world, isn't it?

rosemary

19/11/2017 08:38:07 am

The whole saga of EQUALITY has been handled poorly by our Parliament - this is far from over but lets face it they love our taxes at work

Mohan de Run

19/11/2017 07:08:28 pm

Let's not forget that freedoms include freedom of conscience. Russell Broadbent is entitled to his own freedoms. He has served this community well over many years and deserves respect just like every voter who voted No and every voter who voted Yes. The people who cannot understand that are displaying a low level of intelligence.

Geoff Ellis

20/11/2017 12:01:35 am

Let's not forget that this was but a survey, not a warrant and sans obligation.

Glenn Sullivan

25/4/2019 02:26:53 pm

Don’t forget – Broadbent voted NO!

As you go to the polls for the Federal election just give a thought to the plebiscite that was forced upon us by the Liberal government in 2017. We were asked to vote Yes or No about Marriage Equality and the voters in Monash voted a strong NO! 62.7% of the electorate voted NO but when it came time to vote in parliament Russell Broadbent chose to ignore our wishes and voted NO on our behalf!

Now to put that into perspective only four politicians chose to vote No. Two of them were in Queensland electorates that had a very slight majority vote No in the plebiscite. The only politician, apart from Broadbent, to vote AGAINST his electorate was the LNP representative of Hinkley which voted 51% in favor of the Yes vote. The were ten Liberal or National representatives who abstained.

Broadbent claimed that he was representing the 37.3% who voted No! So, I ask, what was the point of our vote, that was forced upon us by Broadbent’s “team”? As soon as they chose to ask our opinion each “representative” then had the responsibility to vote the way we directed them to vote.

This was a huge slap in the face for the voters of Monash. Broadbent doesn’t represent us at all. He just sits in comfort for two and a half years and then comes down our way when he needs our vote and throws some insignificant cheques around. It’s time we elected someone who will represent us – let him know what you think by putting Broadbent LAST on the ballot in this election.

Broadbent: it's still no

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