Prime minister says Australian vote to decide gay marriage

MELBOURNE, Australia – Australia’s prime minister has given a personal assurance that his government will legalize gay marriage if a majority of Australians choose marriage equality in a popular vote.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull told Melbourne Radio 3AW on Friday that his centre-right government will keep its promise to hold a plebiscite on the gay marriage question if the government is re-elected at elections due this year.

A number of the government’s most conservative lawmakers have recently announced that they might vote down gay marriage against the wishes of a majority of Australians.

But Turnbull says his government would “absolutely” follow the result of the plebiscite.

The centre-left opposition Labor Party supports gay marriage. But the ruling coalition is bitterly divided on the issue.

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