Senator BRANDIS (Queensland—Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate, Vice-President of the Executive Council, Minister for Arts and Attorney-General) (14:53): I am not aware that the Prime Minister has said anything contradictory about this matter. In the statement you quote, the Prime Minister said that a referendum would not be necessary for the parliament to deal with this matter. That is correct. That is also my view, and this is not an area of legal doubt. I know there are some who are not lawyers who have commented on it, but this is not an area of legal doubt. Senator Kim Carr interjecting— The PRESIDENT: Senator Carr! Senator BRANDIS: This is a matter about which the coalition parties had a long discussion on Tuesday. We have settled a position. The Prime Minister gave a press conference at which he raised the possibility of a popular vote on the question in a future parliament. Because a constitutional amendment is entirely unnecessary to enable this parliament to deal with the matter, were there to be a popular vote, that plainly would be a plebiscite.