There’s not enough singing in Australia’s Parliament. Not like across the ditch …

As the Marriage (Definition of Marriage) Amendment Bill passed the House 77 to 44 — making New Zealand the 13th country in the world to enact same-s-x marriage — the public gallery erupted into sing-a-long of the traditional Maori love song Pokarekare Ana. The lyrics roughly translate as:

The waves are breaking, against the shores of Waiapu,
My heart is aching, for your return my love.
Oh my beloved, come back to me, my heart is breaking of love for you.
I have written you a letter, and enclosed with it my ring,
If your people should see it, then the trouble will begin.
Oh girl, come back to me, my heart is breaking of love for you.
My poor pen is broken, my paper is spent,
But my love for you endures, and remains forever more.
Oh my beloved, come back to me, my heart is breaking of love for you.
The sun’s hot sheen, won’t scorch my love,
Being kept evergreen, by the falling of my tears.
Oh girl, come back to me, I could die of love for you.