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Turnbull Missed His Own Deadline to Draft a Marriage Equality Plebiscite Bill

It's looking very unlikely same-sex marriage will be legalised in Australia in 2016.

The Government's controversial plebiscite on marriage equality has hit another roadblock, with the shadow Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus revealing the Liberal Party missed its own deadline to hand over a draft bill to Labor.

Attorney-General George Brandis had promised to show the Opposition a bill before the end of last week but none was delivered, Dreyfus told the Guardian.

During the election, Malcolm Turnbull promised that Australia would vote on marriage equality, "before the end of 2016." However, the Prime Minister later back-peddled on these comments, telling ABC's 7.30 that the plebiscite may be pushed to 2017.

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"We would like the plebiscite to be held as soon as practicable, but again, that will depend on when the legislation is passed," the PM explained to the program back in July. Given the bill will need to pass through three readings in both the House of Representatives, as well as three more in a hostile Senate—before a vote can be even held—it's looking increasingly unlikely a plebiscite will be held this year.

"If it is not held, you know, in the latter half of this year, and recognising that parliament will be sitting for the first time on 30 August, then it would be held early next year," Turnbull told 7.30.

Labor has pounced on the Liberals' tardiness, renewing calls to scrap the plebiscite entirely and vote on the issue in parliament. If the Opposition does block the bill it won't have the numbers to pass, given the Greens and the Nick Xenophon Team already say they won't support a plebiscite.

However, Fairfax is indicating that Labor may compromise on a plebiscite if it's "self-executing." This means a national "yes" vote would immediately usher marriage equality into law, rather than requiring an additional vote in parliament that could, conceivably, fail. Essentially, this would mean the plebiscite could function as a legally binding referendum.

WATCH: VICE Breaks Down Plebiscite Vs Parliamentary Vote

Labor's equality spokesperson Terri Butler dismissed this, telling the Guardian, "We've made our opposition to the plebiscite very clear." She explained the fact that a "yes" vote could be ignored by the Coalition is just one concern for Labor. Making it "self-executing" would just make "a terrible idea more palatable."

One of these issues is the cost of a plebiscite, which, on paper, would come in at least $160 million. However, modelling by PriceWaterhouseCoopers suggested the figure could be as high as $525 million—once you factor in the time cost of voting ($281 million), the cost of the vote itself ($158 million), campaigning ($66 million) and the mental health harm to the 50,000 Australians who identify as LGBTQI ($20 million).

While it's widely cited that 70 percent of Australians support a plebiscite on marriage equality, a poll earlier this year found—once voters are aware of the costs—support drops below half.

"The government committed to holding a plebiscite as soon as practicable," Attorney-General Brandis restated to the Guardian. "This was endorsed by the Australian people at the recent election."