“Come on, we are all the same in the end, who cares what gives you a boner”.

The government has come up with a “responsible” target that would not harm Australia’s resource-driven economy, Xinhua cited Prime Minister Tony Abbott as saying on Tuesday.

The numbers against a free vote were bolstered by most of the 21 Nationals MPs and senators.

Queensland LNP backbencher George Christensen warned that attempts to exclude the Nationals would backfire on the Government.

Environment groups have accused the government of ducking its fair share in limiting global warming to the internationally agreed level of 2 degrees Celsius.

The news comes after months of intensified media coverage and pressure from advocates for the Coalition to adopt a conscience vote on marriage equality.

Mr Turnbull also talked down the idea of a plebiscite, which Mr Abbott has raised as a way to resolve the issue after the next election.

Mr Abbott’s line resonated with the monarchists as well as the direct-elect republicans who opposed the model on offer which would have seen Parliament play a role in selecting the president.

Bill Shorten says Abbott is proving just how stuck in the past he is.

“The way you test public opinion on vexed social issues or important social issues is by plebiscite”. Opposition leader Bill Shorten, who introduced a same-sex marriage bill in June, has not given up hope that the Parliament will legalize gay marriage before the next election. Marriage is defined as being between “a man and a woman” in legislation, not in the constitution, and the High Court has already ruled that the Federal Government can make changes to the definition of marriage.

“Frankly, I am surprised at why some in the government are so obsessed about stopping marriage equality”, he told the Seven Network.

The prime minister does not support marriage equality and indicated he wants to postpone tackling the issue until after next year’s elections, and suggested holding a non-binding referendum at that time.

“In contemporary Australian society, it is no longer defensible for the state to deny proper and equal recognition of a marriage between two consenting adults, simply based on their sexuality”, says Smith.

“It’s a rort, it’s a joke, it’s a false premise and frankly we need to call it for what it is and that is bullshit. We want to look at the ramifications of each option”.

After a six-hour debate brought on by Abbott, coalition lawmakers held an informal ballot on whether to allow a so-called free vote, which was defeated about 2 to 1. It got him into enormous trouble with his colleagues but worked a treat among the public, which always likes to be told it is collectively smarter than the noongs it sends to Canberra.