Member for Blair, Shayne Neumann MP, has celebrated the passage of the Bill to legalise marriage equality in Australia through Parliament.

More than 40,000 people in Blair, 60 per cent of the survey participants, supported a change to the Marriage Act.

Speaking in Parliament, Mr Neumann said support for the Bill was about love, equality and ending discrimination.

“We voted to treat people in the LGBTIQ community—our neighbours, our families and our friends—the same as ourselves.”

Mr Neumann said he was pleased to be able to keep his commitment to the voters of Blair that he would vote for marriage equality in this term of Parliament.

“I declared this [position] openly. I said it in media interviews. I shared it with anyone who asked me what my position was. I even, clearly, stated my views and support for marriage equality in a debate hosted by the Australian Christian Lobby.”

Mr Neumann thanked advocates, friends and family of the LGBTIQ community in Blair for their tireless campaigning and courage in speaking up for equality.

The Bill was given royal assent by the Governor General on Friday and marriages will begin from January 2018.