A poll of three Nationals heartland seats shows fewer than one third of voters support Malcolm Turnbull's plan to hold a costly public vote on the fate of same-sex marriage.
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In results that suggest rural and regional voters want the Coalition government to ditch its plebiscite plan, only 28 per cent of those polled in New England, Capricornia and Gippsland support a national vote on same-sex marriage.
When voters were split by party, respondents who identified as Nationals voters had the weakest level of support, with only 23.8 per cent backing the plebiscite, compared to 32 per cent for Labor and 34 per cent for the Greens.
New England in NSW is held by deputy Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce, Capricornia is in northern Queensland and held by Michelle Landry, and Gippsland is in eastern Victoria and held by Darren Chester. Both Mr Joyce and Ms Landry have said they oppose same-sex marriage, while Mr Chester is in favour of the change.
ReachTEL polled about 1200 voters on behalf of Australian Marriage Equality last week, in the wake of Liberal senator Eric Abetz stating he would not necessarily support same-sex marriage in Parliament even if there was a "yes" result in a plebiscite.
About 63 per cent of those polled also described the estimated $160 million cost of the national vote as "poor" or "very poor value for money" and about 56 per cent of voters supported Parliament "resolving" the issue on its own.
Australian Marriage Equality said the results sent a message to the Nationals and to the Coalition more broadly that it should "abandon the plebiscite and allow its federal members a free vote".
"Rural and regional Australians want government money spent on essential services like hospitals and schools, not wasted on an what is basically an elaborate, expensive and pointless opinion poll," spokesman Rodney Croome said.
Despite arguing against a plebiscite under Tony Abbott's leadership, since becoming Prime Minister, Mr Turnbull has stuck with the Coalition's plan to hold a national vote.
"The Coalition party room ... made a decision that the matter would be put to the people," Mr Turnbull said last week.
"So that's our position. It's perfectly democratic. There will be a plebiscite."
On Monday, the government continued to defend its plans, with Finance Minister Mathias Cormann telling Radio National he fully supported the plebiscite, noting he also supported the current definition of marriage.
The polling comes as Parliament returns for 2016 with debate about same-sex marriage continuing to rage. While the government works on the wording and process for a plebiscite, Labor is pushing for Parliament to deal with the issue.
Labor leader Bill Shorten has argued "marriage equality should just happen", while opposition frontbencher Penny Wong talked about the hurt caused by opponents of same-sex marriage.
"The 'think of the children' argument is among the most hurtful in the marriage equality debate," Senator Wong wrote in an essay in The Monthly magazine.
"It posits that gay and lesbian relationships harm children, that gay and lesbian parents are bad parents."
