They are the group in Federal Parliament who are the key to passing historic reform on same-sex marriage. But despite their potential power, they remain in the closet.
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A new analysis from Australian Marriage Equality shows that the lower house is just four votes shy of a majority in support of same-sex marriage. In the Senate, there is a majority of one.
Supporters include many MPs - from Labor's Tanya Plibersek to the Coalition's Dean Smith - who have been vocal about their wish to see same-sex marriage legislated.
But there is also a group of almost 30 MPs and senators who only support same-sex marriage privately. The group contains MPs from across the Parliament, but the majority do come from the Coalition.
Why are they staying quiet?
Australian Marriage Equality has met with many MPs behind the scenes.
National director Rodney Croome says that the reason for silence his organisation hears the most is that Liberal MPs are waiting for a free vote before they declare their position. Croome notes that there was a big increase in ALP supporters of same-sex marriage after the party allowed a conscience vote in 2011.
"[Liberal MPs] don't want to be seen to be against party policy," he said, before adding, "that may not be the whole reason".
Indeed, as MPs weigh up their public positions on same-sex marriage, they also have to weigh up how it might be viewed by their party's leadership, membership and their electorates.
Not only does the Liberal Party have a policy that backs the existing definition of marriage, but Prime Minister Tony Abbott is a firm opponent of same-sex marriage.
Some Liberal MPs will be especially mindful of the delicate preselection process ahead of the next election. Liberal Party members - who have a say in who gets to run - are, as a rule more socially conservative that Liberal voters.
MPs have also suggested that people do not reveal their public positions because they don't want to distract from "bigger" issues - such as the economy, the budget or jobs. Or as one Liberal MP suggested, staying quiet is also the "easy way out".
In terms of non-Coalition MPs who have chosen not to declare their position, Croome suggests they believe some of their supporters will be "disappointed" by their views. So they are waiting for the right time to explain their position to the electorate.
Many people in the electorate, however, may not be too fussed.
A much cited recent Crosby Textor poll (the Liberal Party's own pollster) found that support for same-sex marriage was at 72 per cent in Australia. It also found that nearly 80 per cent of swinging voters support same-sex marriage.
This of course comes as Australia is on verge of becoming the only developed English-speaking country that does not have same-sex marriage - except for Northern Ireland.
Ireland will hold a referendum on the issue on Friday, which is tipped to be successful. If so, it will join Canada, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and more than 35 US states (including Utah) where same-sex marriage is legal.
And where life for conservative governments, like David Cameron's and John Key's, has continued to go on.
