Australian politician apologises after comparing same-sex marriage to gun control

George Christensen asked if Australia would want to relax its position on gun control if they were keen to follow the US on same sex marriage

George Christensen tweeted, 'How many Aussies who want to follow the US on 'gay marriage' want to follow them on the right to bear arms as well?' File photo. (Getty Images)

An Australian politician has issued an apology on his Facebook page after he compared same-sex marriage reform to gun control.

George Christensen, an MP for the ruling Liberal party, sparked controversy on Sunday when he reacted to renewed calls for an equal marriage debate on Twitter, wondering if they followed America’s lead on the issue how long it would be before they adopted its views on gun control.

The comments came just two days after the USA’s Supreme Court legalised equal marriage in all 50 states.

In a now deleted tweet he said: “How many Aussies who want to follow the US on "gay marriage" want to follow them on the right to bear arms as well?”

But just a day later he backtracked and apologised for comparing the two. He said his intention was just to say “not everything the United States does should be followed” but “on reflection” decided that it was a “poor analogy”.

George Christensen's apology (Independent)

This is not the first time the Queensland MP has attracted controversy. Since he was elected in 2010 he has labelled Greenpeace and other environmentalists as “terrorists” and claimed that Australian consumers who buy Halal products could be funding extremism.

According to Buzzfeed Australia, the country is known for its strict gun laws enacted by former prime minister John Howard in 1996 after a mass shooting in Port Arthur, Tasmania.

Through a government funded buy back programme, over 640,000 guns were collected and destroyed and the sale of certain high powered weapons were destroyed.

Christensen believes the bill due to be put before parliament in August will fail telling ABC News: “Of all of the feedback that's come into my office, come to me personally, the figures are four to one against.”

He thinks there should be a nationwide referendum: “We want to have another measure that looks at this issue. I think that that measure should be a vote by the people, not the politicians.

"I have already asked the Prime Minister about that and I note that it is something that's supported by all sides of the debate."