Australian opposition to push for gay marriage law reform to test conservative government

Opposition leader Bill Shorten used the first meeting of Parliament since the election to announce that he will propose the bill.

Australia's Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull comments in Sydney, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2016, after the Australian Bureau of Statistics shut down its website to protect data Tuesday night after four denial-of-service attacks that came from somewhere overseas

CANBERRA: Australia's opposition says it will test Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's weakened grip on power following last month's general election by proposing its own legislation to legalize gay marriage.

Opposition leader Bill Shorten on Tuesday used the first meeting of Parliament since the election to announce that he will propose the bill on Wednesday.

The bill underscores a stark policy difference between the conservative government and the opposition center-left Labor Party on gay marriage.

While Labor wants Parliament to decide the issue quickly, the government wants to first hold a popular vote on whether the public thinks Parliament should create marriage equality.

Dismayed gay rights advocates warn that the disagreement over how to proceed could mean there is no vote on gay marriage before the next election is due in 2019.