The moment you missed: Malcolm Turnbull slapped down on TV
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has celebrated the passage of legislation of same-sex marriage in Canberra, describing yesterday’s events as a “huge success” and a “day of joy”.
“What a day. What a day. What a day in history. What a day for love,” the Prime Minister said on The Project.
“What a day to put our arms around same-sex couples and say we love you, we respect you, you have all the rights that everyone else has had for so long — now we’re all at one.”
Turnbull admitted that the postal survey had a “few critics”, however, he said it allowed the country to have their say and ultimately make this “big decision”.
Turnbull was shown comments from Magda Szubanski accusing him of “gloating and taking credit” for what has been a few painful months for some, but the Prime Minister was unrepentant.
“We have delivered this. But we’ve delivered this in a way that is respected all Australians and it’s now the law of the land,” he said.
In an interview on 7:30 with Leigh Sales, Turnbull expressed similar remarks.
“I am so proud this has occurred while I’m prime minister, while the Liberal and National parties are in government,” he said.
Leigh responded, “Surely you would also like to acknowledge that the Labor Party has played a role in getting this legislation through.”
“Well, look Leigh, this is not the time to do the usual tit-for-tat. I mean, Labor certainly supported it, and that’s good. They had six years in office and did nothing about it. That’s not so good. And of course they did everything they could to stop every Australian from having their say.”
The same-sex marriage bill passed in Canberra on Thursday evening.
The bill passed without amendment about MPs voted to dismiss a series of last-minute changes to the legislation.
From Saturday, same-sex couples will be able to lodge a notice to marry and once they notify a celebrant, they will then wait a month before tying the knot.