Australia's prime minister said Tuesday that he supports legalizing same-sex marriage in a possible nationwide vote, and he expects the Australian people to vote with him.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said he expects the country to vote "yes" on the issue that has divided his center-right Liberal Party, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. Turnbull ran in 2016 on the promise to let voters decide the issue, but the Australian Senate must still approve the plebiscite before it can officially go before the Australian people.
Turnbull wants to make sure the Senate does not stop him from following through.
"Strong leaders carry out their promises; weak leaders break them," Turnbull told reporters.
The Senate blocked the plebiscite back in November. On Monday, Turnbull's party held a crisis meeting over the issue, and decided to put legislation before the Parliament for the plebiscite.
Such a vote would not make law by itself, but would instead act only as a non-binding poll. If the country voted in support of same-sex marriage, then legislators could move to actually change the law.
If the Senate blocks the plebiscite again, Turnbull is ready to hold a mail-in vote. He believes that would not require Senate approval, but it would not be mandatory like the plebiscite would.
Deputy Senate leader Mathias Cormann said Turnbull's government is "absolutely committed" to "give the Australian people a say on whether or not the definition of marriage should be changed," after their meeting Monday.
Polls have found majority support for same-sex marriage, and the opposition Labor Party has used Turnbull's trouble legalizing it to attack him.
"There is only one reason why this failure to deal with marriage equality has dragged on as long as it has — it is because of the complete failure of leadership and weakness of the prime minister," opposition leader Bill Shorten said.
The plebiscite would cost about $135 million, and many do not even consider it necessary because only a minority of Australians oppose same-sex marriage. Activists have pointed to polls showing 72 percent of Australians in favor.
If approved by the Senate, the plebiscite would take place on November 25.