It is widely believed that the Labor Party conference in Sydney will support a national policy platform that includes redefining marriage to include same-sex relationships.
Despite desperate attempts by the Prime Minister to limit the scope of the policy to the recognition of same-sex civil partnerships only, it seems a forgone conclusion that she will fail to gain the support of delegates and MPs.
The Australian Christian Lobby's Managing Director, Jim Wallace, said he was disappointed the party had followed the Australian Greens lead on the issue, despite its election promise to protect the traditional definition of marriage.
"It has been disappointing to see elements of the ALP so keen to follow the Greens on same-sex marriage that they have forgotten their party's vow to the Australian people before the last election," said Mr Wallace.
"Labor cannot afford another broken election promise and this should be foremost in the minds of delegates at this weekend's conference, and particularly that they don't force that on their leader.
"If Labor rejects marriage between a man and a woman, it risks permanently alienating a large constituency of voters for whom marriage is deeply held.
"In contrast, based on the 10 of 196 countries which have same-sex marriage, the take up rate is just 0.2 per cent of the population," he said.