Labor has today denied formality for a motion supporting free speech in the marriage debate.

The following motion was put forward for consideration by the Senate with the majority of the crossbench as co-sponsors:

That the Senate, while not expressing a view on the contents of the booklet issued by the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference entitled Don’t mess with Marriage, fully supports the rights of members of the Catholic Church, including Archbishop Julian Porteous, to distribute it.

The motion follows a Federal Greens candidate lodging an anti-discrimination complaint against the Archbishop of Tasmania for circulating a booklet produced by the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference.

“Free speech is a key pillar of our society and the tricky tactics used by Labor in an effort to shut down debate and run a protection racket for the extreme Greens flies in the face of the open discussion we should be having about marriage”

“The fact that Labor and the Greens don’t think that the Australian people are mature enough to discuss an important societal pillar like marriage should be a huge matter of embarrassment.”

“Let’s be clear, Labor were so concerned about this motion being discussed that they shut it down without a word spoken on it.”

“The motion firmly supports not only the right of the Catholic Archbishop of Hobart and the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference but all Australians to engage in open discussion about the truth of marriage.”

“I will continue to fight to uphold the institution of marriage and defend the right of people to speak up in defence of this vitally important societal institution.”

“I look forward to the motion coming back on in the next sitting week and thank the Senate crossbench for supporting free speech in this important debate,”