That’s a question worth pondering after the Labor Party scuttled the Coalition’s plan for a plebiscite on whether the definition of marriage should be changed to encompass gay couples.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull took a policy of allowing all adult Australians to have a say on the issue to the federal election in July.

But a bill for the vote has foundered after the Labor Party said it would not support it in the Senate.

It means the $160 million plebiscite, slated for February, will not be held.

Gay community advocates have largely welcomed the move, on the basis of concerns about a debate raising mental health and suicide fears among their fraternity.

But Mr Turnbull and the Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce point out Australia is a mature country that should be able to cope with such a campaign.

If Mr Turnbull maintains the Coalition’s policy, the marriage debate will remain on the table for at least three years with its fate to be decided by the result of the next federal election.

No doubt it will bubble along during that period with pressure on Mr Turnbull to agree to a parliamentary vote to alter the Marriage Act.

That takes us back to the mandate given to the Coalition in the election.

By Labor, the Greens and Senate cross-benchers ignoring that argument it will give fuel to a future Coalition Opposition wanting to waiver the will of the majority of voters.

Politics at play again.

A wide argument against the plebiscite is that opinion polls show the majority of Australians do support homosexual marriage and therefore why is there a need for a non-binding vote at great expense.

That proposition has won increasing support in the weeks since the federal election.

But there is a reasonable argument that Australians would feel more comfortable with a change to the definition of marriage if every adult has been given a say.

After all this is a matter where parliamentarians have no more specialist knowledge than the average person.

It is a fundamental relationship in society and can be likened to other major issues such as Australia becoming a republic and the recognition of Aborigines that require community votes.