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CANBERRA, Dec. 7-- Australia has legalized same-sex marriage after hundreds of hours of debate in the nation's parliament. The House of Representatives, the lower house of Australia's parliament, overwhelmingly voted to legalize same-sex marriage on Thursday evening with only four Members of Parliament (MPs) opposing the bill. It came after 61.6 percent of the 12.7 million respondents Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey voted "yes" to changing the law to allow same-sex marriage couples to marry. Upon the result of the vote being read out, MPs and members of the public gallery, many of whom arrived on Thursday morning to ensure they would witness the historic moment firsthand, broke out into applause. "What a day. What a day for love, for equality, for respect," Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said. "Australia has done it. Every Australian had their say and they said it is fair, get on with it," Turnbull said. "This is Australia: fair diverse, loving and filled with respect. This is a great day." Bill Shorten, leader of the Opposition Australian Labor Party (ALP), echoed Turnbull's sentiment moments before the final vote, calling on all Australians to celebrate the historic achievement regardless of whether they voted yes or no in the survey. "Australia we are going to make marriage equality a reality in minutes," Shorten said. "When this bill is passed we should declare we are no longer a nation who voted no or yes, we are simply Australians all," Shorten said. | 
