Speaking of democracy. The issue of SSM has been put to Parliament more than 15'times since 2004. On virtually all of those occasions both sides of Parliament decided to uphold traditional marriage.
This current Parliament is widely considered the first one for which a conscience vote of both sides would result in SSM getting up. It wouldn't have previously.
Interestingly, it's Labor that is insisting on a binding vote on its members over this issue. It's seen one Labor senator resign over the issue and may see other long serving MPs replaced if they vote with their beliefs rather than what they're told by head office.