Doorstop: Marriage Equality Rally

SENATOR PENNY WONG, LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION IN THE SENATE: …so many South Australians –families, kids, parents – people who have come out to say ‘you know what? Yes, we believe in equality. We’re prepared to stand up and march for equality. And I hope this mood, this momentum continues in the days to come. The most important thing is if you want marriage equality, make sure you post your postal survey back

 

JOURNALIST: Penny, a lot of numbers and surveys coming out at the moment. There’s one in the Daily Telegraph overnight with 67 per cent no. Is that a concern with the momentum you have got?

 

WONG: To win this we’re going to have to fight, we’re going to have to campaign, we’re going to have to get out the vote. We’re going to have to make sure people vote yes, and put their survey in the post. I’ve never thought this was easy to win. I’ve always known that the opponents of equality are going to fight hard. They’ve thrown everything they can at this, so if we’re going to win we need every Australian who believes in equality to make the effort to vote yes, and to make sure you post your survey back.

 

JOURNALIST: If this postal survey ends in a no, what does that do for the campaign?

 

WONG: That would be a bad thing for the campaign, but you know what? It would be a bad thing for the country. It would be a retrograde, backward looking moment for the country.

 

JOURNALIST: With something like this, very loud, lots of colour, how do you make sure the Yes campaign still appeals to more conservative voters?

 

WONG: I think if you walk through that crowd it’s a whole range of people isn’t it? It’s mums, dads, families, grandparents as well as kids. And that’s because the people who support equality in this country are from all walks of life. And what they are saying is we just think this country should ensure that the people are equal before the law.

 

JOURNALIST: ..coming here to protest about the plebiscite and show their support for marriage equality. What does that say to you about the community and their views?

 

WONG: It’s wonderful isn’t it to see so many people prepared to come out and march for equality? And it shows you, this is an idea, I think, the community has accepted. Unfortunately our politicians have been behind the eight ball for too long. But we’ll only win this if we have this sort of momentum and this sort of campaigning that we see today continue. We need people to vote, vote Yes and don’t forget to post your survey back.