Statements
The Saturday Briefing … SSM
For reasons unknown, the “Yes” campaign has not put a lot of emphasis on the economic benefits of changing the Marriage Act. It’s odd, given all the evidence from other areas of social policy showing the preparedness of conservatives to overcome their moral qualms when money is at stake.
In 2015, economists at ANZ Bank reckoned a gain to the Australian economy of $500 million in the first year after legalisation. This year’s census indicates the benefit could be even greater. It counted 46,800 same-sex couples in Australia, nearly 50 per cent more than the ABS figures showed. If we assume just half of those people would like to marry, and assume also they are prepared to spend as lavishly as their straight counterparts, we’re looking at well over a billion dollars. Mike Seccombe reports.
Plus: Paul Bongiorno on Malcolm Turnbull’s attempts at shifting blame, and Richard Ackland on the trouble with suppression orders.
Read more here
The Saturday Paper