And that’s probably no bad thing.

The major parties have both made plain their stance on the issue, with Labor vowing to make same-sex marriage law if it wins government and the Coalition committing to a plebiscite.

So regardless of what happens on July 2, the months following the election should finally see real action taken to bring marriage equality to our country, years after most of our closest friends across the globe.

But that will also be where the real fight starts – particularly if Malcolm Turnbull is returned as prime minister, as expected.

The plebiscite promised by the Coalition might seem the most democratic way to gauge the community’s view of marriage equality, but it is also the messiest.

Gay groups have already begun campaigning against a plebiscite – not because they fear losing the vote but because they fear the prejudice that such a vote might unleash. And who can blame them?

While it’s fine for the PM to say he trusts the decency of the Australian voting public, he is also aware that there exists a minority – a small minority, thankfully – that will delight in hijacking the debate for their own base ends.

The small minority will delight in making life uncomfortable for supporters of same-sex marriage and even the children of same-sex couples.

And the real shame is that there is no need for any of it.

We don’t need a plebiscite and we don’t need the pain and expense that will come with it. Worse, the result of the plebiscite will have no binding power over parliament, so could prove to be an expensive waste of time.

Instead, marriage equality could have been delivered quickly and [relatively] painlessly by any of our recent governments by passing a law on the floor of parliament.

How did something so simple become so difficult? It beggars belief.