Updated at 5:50 a.m. ETAustralia's Parliament has voted to approve same-sex marriage following a protracted and often bitter debate that was finally settled in a nationwide referendum last month that overwhelmingly backed the move.In the capital Canberra, applause welled up from the House gallery after the chamber on Thursday followed Australia's Senate in approving the Marriage Amendment Bill of 2017."What a day! What a day for love, for equality, for respect! Australia has done it," Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said in a speech following the vote."It's time for more marriages, more commitment, more love, more respect," Turnbull said. "This belongs to us all. This is Australia — fair , diverse, loving and filled with respect for every one of us. This is a great day — it belongs to every Australian."Australia's Attorney-General George Brandis described the vote as "a truly historic moment."Marriage in Australia is now defined as "the union of two people" instead of "union of a man and a woman."Lawmakers had tried and failed some two dozen times in the past to make the change.The country's first gay marriages are expected in January, according to The Sydney Morning Herald.While the votes were not immediately tallied, in the House of Representatives, it was clear that 130 to 140 members of parliament voted "yes," according to the Herald. With the Senate last week approving the legislation by a 43-12 margin, Australia becomes the 26th country in the world to allow same-sex marriage nationwide.Turnbull has been an advocate for the change all along, in contrast to his predecessor, former Prime Minister Tony Abbott, who was a vocal proponent of traditional marriage.As the Herald reports: