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Australian MP Ian Hunter (L) holds hands with his partner Leith Semmens during their wedding in the town of Jun, southern Spain, December 19, 2012. Hunter told Australian media that the two had decided to marry in Spain as gay marriage is not legal in Australia. REUTERS/Pepe Marin

Australian Labor Senator Penny Wong came hard on Liberal backbencher Cory Bernardi on same-sex marriage. The most high profile lesbian in the country challenged the Bernardi on the true meaning of liberalism.

Wong has two children with her long-term partner whom she is not allowed to marry as same-sex marriage is still illegal in Australia. Bernardi, on the other hand, is known for his strong opposition against same-sex marriage. He said in 2012 that legalising same-sex marriage would lead to polygamy and "consensual sexual relations between humans and animals."

Bernardi said at the National Press Club on Wednesday that same-sex marriage had nothing to do with equality. It was more about “personal desire and self-interest of a vocal minority.” “There is no need to redefine marriage on the basis of equality,” The Guardian quoted Bernardi, “To do so is to live in a dictatorship of relativism where nothing is real, truths are denied if they’re considered inconvenient by the politically correct system.”

Wong started in agreement with Bernardi against bestiality being legalised. She said that, with an exception of same-sex marriage reforms, there should not be any changes to the Marriage Act. In addition, Wong said that Australia had “nothing to fear” to legalise same-sex marriage, Sydney Morning Herald reported.

Wong said that legalising same-sex marriage would make a “profound change.” She, unlike Bernardi, believed that preventing same-sex couples from getting married was “fundamentally an issue of discrimination.”

Bernardi, on the other hand, said that he would respect it if a plebiscite comprehensively endorsed same-sex marriage. He said that he was nobody to argue with the verdict.

According to Wong, same-sex couples in Australia experience injustice on a daily basis. She said that most things would still remain the same even if they achieved marriage equality. However, she added that Australia would make a statement by legalising same-sex marriages that homosexual people were accepted. It will mean that their relationships matter too, she said.

The Labor senator stressed that people would have to fight for progress and reform. Otherwise, it will never happen, she added.

Contact the writer: s.mukhopadhyay@ibtimes.com.au