The majority of Wannon and Mallee residents have both supported the move to legalise same-sex marriage.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
On Wednesday morning the Australian Bureau of Statistics released the results of the voluntary postal survey on same-sex marriage.
In Wannon, 61 per cent of people marked ‘yes’ next to the question “should the law be changed to allow same sex couples to marry?”.
In Mallee, 54.3 per cent marked yes.
Nationwide, 61.6 per cent supported same sex-marriage and 64.9 per cent of Victorians marked yes.
Wimmera Pride Project co-founder Maddi Ostapiw said she was “elated and super happy” with the result.
“I expected it to be a yes but i was also very cautious on that with Trump and Brexit, which were the result of non-compulsory votes,” she said.
“I had a lot of faith in the Australian people that it would be a ‘yes’ result.”
Ms Ostapiw said her focus was now on making sure that legislation was passed to deliver “true marriage equality”.
Mallee MP Andrew Broad has previously pledged to vote in line with his own electorate’s result.
Mr Broad told ABC radio on Wednesday after the results came out that he would now vote for same-sex marriage in parliament.
“A large number of Australians participated in the postal survey regarding changes to the Marriage Act. There will be some Australians who are pleased with the result and some who will be displeased,” Mr Broad said.
“I have been impressed by the decent manner in which the people of the Wimmera, Mallee and Mildura have conducted themselves.
“The result gives direction to the Australian Parliament.”
It will now require the wisdom of Members of Parliament to work through the legislation to ensure there is balance between honouring the result and ensuring freedoms are available and maintained.”
Ms Ostapiw said she was very happy that Mr Broad would now vote in favour of same-sex marriage, saying he was “very honourable” to have kept his promise.
Wannon MP Dan Tehan had previously said he would vote in line with the national result.
Both Mr Tehan and Mr Broad were personally opposed to changing the definition of marriage.
Mr Tehan said he will vote in support of same-sex marriage following the results of the postal survey.
“I personally gave a commitment before the last election that I would vote in-line with the results of the survey, and I will honour that commitment,” Mr Tehan said.
Stawell resident Evelyn Beale watched a live broadcast of the same sex marriage survey outcome and burst into tears after the result was made public.
"I called my partner and got her out of work, we were both crying and I said, we are one step closer."
Former Stawell resident, now a part of Ballarat Pride Hub, Kirsten Holden said she was “exalted” by the result but there was still a long way to go.
“It’s a great result and we’re really really proud today,” she said.
Wannon had the 25th highest level of support out of Victoria’s 37 federal electorates and Mallee had the 32nd highest.
Wannon saw 80,869 people return the reply paid form to the ABS, with 343 people submitting answers that could not be interpreted as a yes or no.
Mallee saw 78,290 people return the reply paid form to the ABS, with 359 people submitting answers that could not be interpreted as a yes or no.
Mr Broad has twice threatened to leave the government’s ranks if Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull abandoned a promise to give every Australian voter a chance to have their say on same-sex marriage.