Tony Abbott's seat voted overwhelmingly in support of same-sex marriage
Despite his stance on same-sex marriage well known among Australians, Tony Abbott's electorate have turned their back on the Northern Sydney in the postal vote with resounding effect.
A staggering 75 per cent of residents in his seat of Warringah, on Sydney’s North Shore, voted ‘yes’ in an embarrassing snub for the former Prime Minister.
The figure was the fourth highest in the state, well above the 61.6 per cent national average.
Mr Abbott's support of the 'No' vote had previously caused tensions within his family, with his sister Christine Forster and daughter Frances supporting the 'Yes' vote.
Despite his views on the matter, Mr Abbott said he was now pleased it had been resolved and praised the success of the vote.
“I always said this was an issue where the Australian people wanted their say and today’s result demonstrates that seeking their views was the right thing to do,” he wrote in a statement.
He also moved to thank the voters who voted against the majority.
“I also thank the 4.7 million Australians who supported marriage between a man and a woman.”
Mr Abbott's Facebook page was awash with comments with opinion divided over the 60-year-old.
Some users praised his grace in defeat, while others called for the MP to step down following the decision.
"Let’s get him out of parliament! He doesn’t represent modern Australia’s viewpoints at all - isn’t that the role of a politician?," one popular comment read.
Western Sydney drags down NSW 'yes' vote
Western Sydney has topped the nation for 'no' votes in the same-sex marriage survey, resulting in NSW overall returning the lowest 'yes' result of any state or territory.
The postal survey results, released on Wednesday, revealed 57.8 per cent of NSW participants said 'yes' compared to 61.6 per cent Australia-wide.
The NSW 'yes' result was dragged down by much of western Sydney voting 'no' in a big way.
Blaxland, at the foot of the Blue Mountains, returned the nation's highest 'no' vote with 73.9 per cent of respondents opposed to gay marriage.
The neighbouring electorate of Watson was the only other division with a 'no' response of almost 70 per cent.
Nearby McMahon (64.9 per cent 'no'), Werriwa (63.7) and Fowler (63.7) also recorded very high rejections of gay marriage.
"I'm not surprised, Blaxland is a very socially conservative electorate," local federal member Jason Clare told AAP in a statement.
"I've always known the views of my electorate on this issue and I've always been upfront with them about mine.
"Good people with good hearts can have different views on this important issue."
Australian National University demographer Liz Allen says the cultural background, religion and education level of western Sydney residents paints a picture of social conservatism.
"People from non-English speaking backgrounds, reporting higher levels of religion and religiosity, are less likely to support marriage equality," Dr Allen told AAP.
"That's a function largely due to the more traditional views and culturally diverse views and so it's not surprising, in fact, that we would see this result."
In the 2016 census, just 14 per cent of Blaxland residents said they had "no religion", compared to 30 per cent of Australians overall.
Some 29 per cent of people in the electorate identified as Islamic with just over 19 per cent Catholic.
Western Sydney federal MP Anthony Albanese believes the region voted 'no' due to the large ethnic and faith communities in the area.
"Whether that be the Islamic community or the Greek Orthodox or the Coptic Christians - they are groups that have strong views and have organised in their communities," the Labor frontbencher told 2GB.
The electorate of Sydney recorded the equal highest 'yes' votes in the nation with 83.7 per cent supporting gay marriage.
Grayndler in Sydney's inner south recorded the highest participation rate in NSW at 85.1 per cent, while Fowler recorded the lowest (72.4 per cent).
The state's older residents were the biggest participators with 89.8 per cent of people aged between 70 and 74 taking part in the survey.
NSW had more women taking part (81.3 per cent) than men (77.5 per cent).
