In a vigorous and robust democracy, such as exists in Australia everyone will have an opportunity to voice their opinions and politicians will work together to find a common consensus that the electorate can agree with. It is a proud tradition and what has happened over the previous 116 years.
If only that were true today. The political class is dominated by self interest - power. Bill Shorten doesn't give a rats about gays being "married", but he needs the support of the greens to gain power. The Marxist greens couldn't really care less about LGBQTI either but it's a convenient bandwagon with which to push their agenda against anything deemed western culture.
If I wanted to really gain an insight into, or better still represent the average QANTAS pilot, I wouldn't simply go and read the graffiti on the Sydney sim base toilet wall and assume superior knowledge of the QANTAS constituency. And yet this is exactly what our politicians do. They hang around the dunny door of social media (thanks Bill Leak) in order to gain "likes" from the screeching nutters and fringe dwellers, then pat themselves on the back for their "knowledge and understanding" of the people they represent. Except they don't represent the majority, which is demanded by our democracy.
This is why I want a vote in the plebiscite.