2 Commencement

• (1) Sections 2A and 2B commence on the day after the date of Royal assent.

  (2) If the Electoral Commission makes a declaration that a majority of the valid votes cast in the commencement referendum favour the commencement of this Act, this Act commences on—

  • (a) the date that is 12 months after the date of the declaration; or

  • (b) an earlier date that is after the date of the declaration, appointed by the Governor-General by Order in Council.

  (3) If the Electoral Commission makes a declaration that a majority of the valid votes cast in the commencement referendum do not favour the commencement of this Act, this Act is repealed on the date that is 12 months after the date of the declaration.

  (4) In this section and in section 2B, commencement referendum means the referendum of electors required by section 2A.

2A Commencement referendum

• (1) On the day appointed for the polling to take place for the general election that is the next general election to be held under the Electoral Act 1993 after 1 July 2013, a referendum of electors must be held on the question in subsection (2).

  (2) The wording of the question is “Should the Marriage (Definition of Marriage) Act 2013 be brought into force?”

  (3) The permitted responses to the proposal in subsection (2) are “yes” or “no”.

2B Conduct of commencement referendum

• The commencement referendum must be conducted in accordance with Part 2 of the Electoral Referendum Act 2010,—

  • (a) as if that Act had not expired; and

  • (b) as if the question to be answered and the permitted answers were those prescribed by section 2A; and

  • (c) as if the referendum were a binding referendum; and

  • (d) with any further necessary modifications.