Sydney councillor Christine Forster has sent two pretty pointed tweets to her big brother Tony Abbott after the former prime minister spoke against same-sex marriage to a conservative group in the U.S.
Abbott told the ultra-conservative Alliance Defending Freedom that allowing same-sex couples to wed would damage the institution of marriage.
He mentioned Foster and her partner Virginia Edwards in his speech, saying “Two of my sisters are divorced. One has a new partner. Another has a same-sex partner. To me, my sisters’ partners are first-class members of our extended family."
“Policymakers shouldn’t be judgmental about people’s personal choices but we can’t be indifferent to the erosion of family given its consequences for the wider community," he said.
Now Forster, a passionate advocate for marriage equality, has clapped back at Abbott.
Marriage is good for our society. That's why it's better for all of us if more can be married @TonyAbbottMHR
Allowing same sex couples to marry doesn't damage the institution in any way. It honours it @TonyAbbottMHR
While the siblings have long disagreed on the matter, Forster's tweets are some of the most direct public rebukes she has delivered to her brother.
In 2015, Abbott described the issue as one "upon which there are sharply divided views inside this parliament, inside our respective political parties and even inside my own family."