The amendment has segued into some comments about families.
The mood in the public gallery is not well-disposed to those speaking in favour of the amendments, which include former prime minister Tony Abbott.
Leader of the house Christopher Pyne, who is not in favour of any amendments, says he doesn’t want to be “the Christmas grinch”.
He says he knows many people have travelled to Canberra to watch the vote but “the galleries aren’t really supposed to barrack for one side or the other”.
The barracking continues.
Liberal MP Andrew Hastie said with the defeat of the previous amendment, the government has now “effectively extinguished” the definition of marriage believed in by ‘no’ voters.
Mr Hastie is proposing a bumper amendment which, among other things, would give parents the right to take their children out of classes that mention same-sex marriage.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull abstained from voting on the amendments, his office has confirmed.
At 11.15am this morning, the amendments have been defeated comfortably 97 votes to 43.
You don’t often see so many Coalition and Labor MPs sitting together on one side of the chamber.
This is a sign the amendments should be moved through relatively quickly. Some MPs’ staff are suggesting the final vote on the legislation could be as close as one hour away.
Minsters who voted against the amendments include Christian Porter, Kelly O’Dwyer, Josh Frydenberg, Darren Chester and Christopher Pyne.
Former prime minister Tony Abbott is speaking.
“We all want this bill to proceed expeditiously through this house. We all want Australians to feel proud of the Parliament today. I think we will all feel prouder of the Parliament today if we can consider the amendments on their merits, rather than coming into the chamber with a preconceived idea,” Mr Abbott says.
His sister, Christine Forster, was in the public gallery watching.
Source: The Sydney Morning Herald
