 And we're just going to take you to Parliament now where Adam Bant is speaking. The motion calling on parliamentarians to consult their community about their views of marriage equality. We did that so that it could be understood here in this place that outside views have moved on and that people in Australia want to see equality in our marriage laws. At the time I said that love knows no boundaries. Love knows no limits. And love knows when it's found its partner. There have been many attempts in history to limit love and all have failed. As we move further into the 21st century, I am confident that attempts to limit love will fail again and that we will find full equality will become a reality. Mr Deputy Speaker, today we are moving closer to that reality. This is an historic day for this parliament and the country. And it's an important step forward for human rights. So today is a good day for those who believe in the power of love and the power of love to change things for the better. This bill will amend the Marriage Act to provide equality for same-sex couples. The bill would remove discrimination under the Marriage Act so that while marriage is still a union between two consenting adults, it is not defined by gender. I want to be clear about what this bill does and does not do. This bill does apply to all marriages but it will also make clear that private religious organisations will not be required to marry anyone they don't wish to. This will mean that those churches or religious organisations that are not yet ready to change will be able to move towards change in their own time and in their own way. Mr Deputy Speaker, the Greens have worked long and hard to get us to the point that we are at now on the road to marriage equality. In 2009, my colleague Senator Sarah Hansen Young introduced a similar bill to the Senate and it was sent to a Senate inquiry. That bill and that inquiry smashed Senate records, receiving more than 25,000 submissions, more than any other Senate inquiry. It was clear that there was enormous community interest in the issue. In early 2010, the bill was put to a vote and defeated. But Senator Hansen Young and the Greens are vowed to keep campaigning for full equality and that's what we've done. As the campaign in the community has grown, we have kept the issue on the parliamentary and political agenda. The issue was a central concern in my successful election campaign in Melbourne. I think I was perhaps the only lower house candidate in the country elected on such a platform where the issue was so central to the election. And during the campaign and subsequently, I've had such strong feedback and almost universal support for the Greens' stance on marriage equality. I've received several thousand emails on the issue and over nine in ten have expressed support for marriage equality. In a survey that I conducted in my electorate in November last year, where you before, marriage equality was one of the top priority issues for respondents. And of the 475 people who responded to the survey, only one respondent expressed opposition to equal marriage rights. One of my first actions in Parliament was to move a motion on the issue and Senator Hansen Young reintroduced her bill into the Senate, which is now the subject of a Senate inquiry. Over the last two years, we have become part of a widespread and deeply felt community campaign across this country. An opinion poll shows clearly that Australia is ready for change. I am confident that it will not be long before marriage equality is achieved because love builds bridges where there are none. Love thaws hearts and warms minds. Love is a powerful force for good and a force for change. And I believe that it is love that has brought us to this place in this debate and it is love that will carry us over the threshold of discrimination and fear to full marriage equality. Mr Deputy Speaker, it is important to note that the push for equal love is not just important for those who want to get married. It sends a powerful message to the boy in the country town who is struggling with his sexuality or the girl at high school who wants to take her partner to the school formal. It makes it clear to them, to their parents, to everyone around them that this Parliament, the highest lawmaking body in the country, believes that their love is equal. Mr Deputy Speaker, I note that another member also intends to introduce a bill into this House today on this matter and I have been asked a number of times about why there is just not one bill on the issue. I want to be absolutely clear that I and the Greens would like to see one single bill proceed through this place on this issue co-sponsored by members across the political spectrum. In fact, when I announced last year that I intended to introduce this bill, I sought a co-sponsorship and Mr Wilkie, the independent member for Denison and I are in fact co-sponsoring this bill. The recent addition of people to this debate who haven't been following it for some time is welcome because the way that we are going to get this bill through this Parliament is by changing people's minds. What we cannot do is seek to have anyone party own this issue because the state that we are in with the government and Labor divided on the issue, we will need members of Goodwill from the coalition benches to get this through. And that is why if we don't have a successful chance of reform, we must proceed softly, softly and carefully and aim to work together with members from all sides of the House, from all backgrounds, to have reform this year. The worst thing we could do is bowl this up for a vote to make a political point only to have it defeated. And I am hopeful that through that co-operation, through co-sponsorship from members from all across the chamber, we will progress the issue and we will see reform this year. I am also concerned that if we bowl it up for a vote, we may end up where, if we bowl it up for a vote prematurely, we may end up where some media reports have suggested and that is with a vote that fails and then a renewed push for civil unions. Let's be absolutely clear about the status of civil unions. That would entrench two tiers of citizenship in this country. We need to push for full equality. I know that there are many in the coalition who do believe that an individual should have the right to do what they like in their private life so long as it does not impinge on someone else. That classic definition of liberalism should lead members of the coalition to support this bill and I know there are many who already in their hearts wish to support it. We need to allow the Senate inquiry to continue. We need to allay some of the fears that exist about this issue and by doing that it is my hope that over the coming months we will get more and more people on board. Last week, members of the Washington State Legislature, Republicans and Democrats did exactly what we need to do in this House. They worked together to overcome partisanship and party allegiance to pass a law for marriage equality. If they can do it, we can do it too. It's not just there. Many countries around the world have taken this step. If Catholic Spain can allow two people of the same sex to marry each other then I am confident that modern, tolerant, democratic Australia can do the same. There have been times throughout history when the civil rights of a group of people have been violated, often with legal sanction. Many of those struggles continue. The struggle to end discrimination here and for full equality did not begin with marriage equality and it will not end when it is achieved. But it is an important turning point in that struggle. Last year I referred in this place to the famous aphorism that love conquers all and I think we are showing the truth of that statement today. Love has brought us here and love will bring us through this impasse because I believe the power of love will eventually bring this parliament into the 21st century when we vote to make this bill law. I commend the bill to the House. That was Adam Bant live from Federal Parliament introducing a same sex marriage bill saying this is a historic day for those who believe in the power of love. Now we believe Andrew Wilkie is going to speak on this bill very shortly too. So we'll just hold that shut up and listen in when Andrew Wilkie talks.