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CANBERRA, Australia, May 28, 2015 (LifeSiteNews.com) — Australian Opposition Labor leader Bill Shorten announced earlier this week that he plans to present a private member's bill to legalize same-sex “marriage” in Parliament on Monday.

Despite “gay marriage” legislation having been consistently rejected in the past, and the federal government under Tony Abbott staying true to its election policy of supporting traditional marriage, Shorten said in a May 27 statement, “The time has well and truly come for the Parliament to debate marriage equality.”

“Our current law excludes some individuals – and to me, that is unacceptable,” Shorten said.

He added, however, that he has little hope the bill will succeed. “I know this Private Member’s Bill will not have the universal support of my colleagues. It will challenge the deeply held personal beliefs of MPs and Senators on both sides of politics.”

Shorten told reporters following his announcement that his initiative rides on the coattails of the last week's referendum in Ireland.

“There is no doubt that at the weekend the Irish referendum has, I think, reignited momentum for the marriage equality debate on the other side of the world in Australia,” Shorten said.

“If a country which is religiously conservative by cultural history can vote for marriage equality, then surely a modern Australia can endorse marriage equality in 2015,” he said.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott responded by saying that while Shorten's bill would be given due consideration, his government's priorities are focused on the economy. He added that whether the issue warranted a free conscience vote, as opposed to members voting the party line, would be decided in joint party room meetings.

“If the matter… is coming again before the parliament for vote, it's a matter that the party room will consider, as you'd expect,” Abbott told reporters in Canberra.

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“I'm sure at that time we'd have a very full and frank and candid and decent debate inside the party room. But I do have to say that my absolute priority… will be getting our small business budget boost through the parliament.”

Earlier this year same-sex “marriage” advocates were hopeful that Abbott's government would have a party room discussion on whether to have a conscience vote on the issue, which, if passed, would have allowed members of the government party to vote in favor of same-sex “marriage.”

However, in a party room meeting on March 24 the issue of a conscience vote was not listed on the agenda nor raised by any government member of Parliament, so government MPs are still bound to vote against same-sex “marriage” on a party basis if a bill is put forward.

In 2012, Australia’s federal Parliament overwhelmingly voted down a bill that proposed to institute same-sex “marriage” throughout the country, in a vote of 98 to 42.

A year later, in a unanimous ruling, the Australian High Court struck down a same-sex “marriage” law passed by the Parliament of the Australian Capital Territory.

The Court ruled that the Australian Capital Territory's Marriage Equality (Same Sex) Act 2013 was inconsistent with the Federal Marriage Act, which defines marriage as the union of a man and a woman, and was therefore unconstitutional.

The Court also determined that only the federal Parliament, not a state or territory, has the power under the Australian constitution to legislate on same-sex “marriage.”