Prime Minister Tony Abbott has not budged on a plan to put a vote on same-sex marriage to a plebiscite, after Coalition backbencher Warren Entsch pressed ahead with a bill to legalise it on Monday.

The highly anticipated same-sex marriage bill was introduced to Federal Parliament on Monday morning, and followed a marathon Coalition party room meeting last week on whether to put the issue to a conscience vote.

Mr Abbott said last week’s party room meeting had clearly indicated a desire for the issue to go to a public vote, with a process to be finalised “shortly”.

“It will be a people’s decision and it will be in the next term of parliament,” he said.

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Just two cabinet ministers attended the introduction of the bill by MP Warren Entsch. Photo: AAP

“It should be a people’s choice.

“This is something that has been the way it currently is for thousands of years, hundreds of years. It’s a very big decision to make a change like this.”

Coalition MPs Christopher Pyne and Malcolm Turnbull were the only cabinet minister’s present as Mr Entsch introduced the bill to a sparsely populated House of Representatives on Monday morning.

Despite knowing the bill was not likely to be debated in parliament, Mr Entsch introduced it saying it would not impact on religious freedoms or create a hierarchy of marriage.

The bill had cross-party support from fellow Liberal MPs Teresa Gambaro and Cathy McGowan, Labor’s Terri Butler and Laurie Ferguson, Greens’ Adam Bandt and Independent Andrew Wilkie.

But the bill is not expected to reappear before parliament and instead will be referred to a parliamentary committee.

“The main purpose of this bill is not a complex one, Mr Speaker, it is to give same-sex couples in Australia the same right to marry the person they love as that which is currently only granted by law to heterosexual couples,” he told parliament today.

“This bill does not create different classes of marriage. It does not establish a hierarchy or ranking system pitting a marriage between a same-sex couple above that of a heterosexual couple or vice versa.

“It provides protection of religious freedoms and does not just observe an answer to section 116 of the constitution, but because you cannot replace one form of prejudice and discrimination with another.”

The bill went before parliament following a marathon Coalition party room debate last week, that saw two-thirds of MPs support the status quo – to maintain the definition of marriage as between a man and a woman – and reject calls for a free vote on the issue.

Watch Mr Entsch’s speech below

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It was Mr Entsch’s strong stance on same-sex marriage that set Coalition party room debate in motion.

In his speech, Mr Entsch described his own change in attitude on the issue.

“As a young man in regional and rural Queensland it was quite enlightening as I came to realise that a person’s sexuality certainly has nothing to do with lifestyle choices,” he said when introducing the bill.

“I had an experience where a friend of mine transitioned from male to female, her courage in taking this step in the 1970s left a lasting impression on me while highlighting the futility of the nature versus nuture argument.”

Prime Minister Tony Abbott wants a constitutional referendum, or a non-binding plebiscite, to be held after the next federal election, expected within about a year, and he appears to have made up his mind on the timing.

“The fundamental decision is that this Government in the next term of parliament will put this very important question to the people for their decision,” Mr Abbott said on Sunday.

Mr Entsch warned colleagues against campaigning either for or against same-sex marriage last week, describing it as “grossly inappropriate”.

A Cabinet meeting on Monday afternoon is likely to see Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull on a collision course with Mr Abbott.

Mr Turnbull, a supporter of legalising gay marriage, argues a plebiscite should be held before the next election so the issue does not distract from the Government’s core messages.