PM will take gay proposal to cabinet

Prime Minister Tony Abbott is keeping quiet on whether he prefers a plebiscite or a referendum on same-sex marriage, insisting he will take a proposal to cabinet and the party room within weeks.

Mr Abbott has floated both ideas, insisting it should be up to the people to decide whether same-sex marriage is legalised.

"I don't want to get into precisely how or precisely when or under precisely what circumstances because I will be taking a proposal to the cabinet and the party room in the next few weeks," he told reporters in Dawesville, Western Australia, on Saturday.