So far the bill has faced stiff opposition from all sides. Its only successful amendment was on Wednesday, which saw the removal of Section 38(3) of the Sex Discrimination Act. This gave religious schools the right to discriminate on sexual orientation, gender identity and marital status in accordance with the tenets of its faith.

The amendment followed weeks of claims that Christian schools will use religious freedom laws to discriminate against LGBT students. Proposals by the Government to address this issue were not considered comprehensive enough by advocates and progressive MPs.

The bill accordingly did not proceed to a Senate vote. As the Senate will not sit again until the Budget is handed down on March 29, the bill will either wait until then or be put on the back-burner indefinitely.

Meanwhile, religious leaders are urging both sides to get it done in this term of parliament amid concerns it could be sidelined.

They are concerned Labor could face difficulties legislating religious protections while balancing concerns of interest groups.

They want the Coalition to have another go when parliament returns for the March 29 budget.

In a homily last Sunday, Maronite Catholic Bishop Antoine-Charbel Tarabay said "Freedom of religion is one of a few rights specifically protected in the Australian Constitution.

"And ... we are mostly disappointed … for the way in which people of faith were spoken about during the debate of the bill and denied protections to practise their faith and their values away from any discrimination".

Melbourne Archbishop Peter Comensoli says many people probably think the main purpose of the religious discrimination bill was to allow religious schools to expel students because of their sexuality or gender. That's because debate about the bill circulated rather than what the bill actually said.

However, expelling kids for such reasons "is antithetical to the notion that all children are created in the image and likeness of God. This was not the intention of the bill, nor what it would have done," he says.

"People of faith might have gained something had the Government found a way to deliver the law it promised", he added.

They would have received "a positive message that being a believer, holding to that belief and living by that belief is a valuable thing in our society".

Furthermore, it would have added religion to sex, age, disability and race as attributes protected under Commonwealth law.

Source

• The Australian
• The Age
• Catholic Weekly
• Image: YouTube

Instead, Morrison insisted, people of faith must be defended from those who seek to marginalise and silence them.

After tabling the government's religious discrimination bill in parliament on Thursday, Morrison said faith groups and individuals should be shielded from the "prevalence of cancel culture in Australian life".

"It's true, it's there, it's real," Mr Morrison said.

"Australians shouldn't have to worry about looking over their shoulder, fearful of offending an anonymous person on Twitter, cowardly sitting there abusing and harassing them for their faith, or transgressing against political or social zeitgeists.

"We have to veer away from the artificial, phoney conflicts, boycotts, controversies and cancelling created by anonymous and cowardly bots, bigots and bullies."

Opposition legal affairs spokesman Mark Dreyfus said Labor would "carefully review the bill" and speak with religious bodies, civil society and community organisations, LGBTIQ groups and legal experts.

The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference has welcomed the introduction of the Religious Discrimination Bill. They say it will provide basic human rights protections for Australians of all faiths to express their beliefs.

Archbishop Peter A Comensoli, chair of the Bishops Commission for Life, Family and Public Engagement, has commended the bill. He said it offers "a positive expression of religious freedom" that will be "an important progression towards parity with other anti-discrimination laws in Australia."

"All Australian citizens, regardless of their religious belief or activity, should be able to participate fully in our society. They must be entitled to the equal and effective protection of the law. They should not be discriminated against based on their religious belief or activities in public life."

Trade unions on Thursday opposed the religious discrimination bill, with the ACTU warning the new laws would "undermine the mental health and safety of Australian workers."

ACTU president Michele O'Neil said the proposed religious protections would hand "exemptions to religious employers to discriminate against workers on religious grounds."

Sources

The Australian

Australian Catholic Bishops Conference

Morrison's religious discrimination bill, a 2019 election pledge, will shield Australians from prosecution if they express reasonable and genuinely held faith-based views despite offending others.

Senior government sources said the revised bill removed some of the more controversial or "extreme" measures in earlier drafts and offered a "sensible compromise".

The government has removed the ‘Folau clause' but retained exemptions guaranteeing that professional bodies cannot dismiss people based on religious beliefs. The clause refers to rugby union player Israel Folau who was stripped of his contract in 2019 after posting "hell awaits" gay people on social media.

It is understood faith-based groups have adopted a pragmatic approach to the bill, realising that outcomes gained from the proposed laws would offer more protections than they currently have.

Catholic Bishops Conference spokesman Peter Comensoli, the Archbishop of Melbourne, said a religious discrimination bill was "an important progression towards parity with other anti-discrimination protections".

However, doctors have called for a halt to draft federal laws to enshrine religious freedom out of concern the changes would curb access to health services for women. They believe it will also compound discrimination against gay and lesbian Australians.

"It's unnecessary to introduce ‘religious freedom' laws when these rights are already protected under Australian law," said Dr Karen Price, president of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners.

"Furthermore, we remain concerned about the potential impact of the bill on the delivery and access to some women's health services, and vulnerable groups' access to suitable healthcare or particular health services.

"The proposed law could compound negative community attitudes toward those most vulnerable, including minority groups and the LGBTQI+ community.

"Given Australia is already in the grips of a mental health crisis, we must do everything in our power to prevent this."

The religious discrimination bill will be debated by the lower house next week. It will then be sent to the Senate, where it is expected to be referred to a committee process.

Sources

• The Australian
• The Sydney Morning Herald
• Sky News Australia

New South Wales Liberal MP Julian Lesser spoke out at a St Thomas More Society meeting saying, while preparing for the upcoming religious discrimination debate in parliament, he canvassed faith-based leaders across his Sydney electorate.

In doing so, he said he heard stories he never believed he would hear expressed in Australia.

"Anti-Semitism is sadly on the rise in this country, with a 60 per cent increase in attacks on Jews in Australia over the last 12 months.

"When I have consulted Muslims, Sikhs and Buddhists in my electorate about their religious freedom, they have told me of people...[being asked]...to remove ­articles of clothing that denote their religious devotion and of public libraries not wanting to stock their holy books.

Lesser said that although Christians have fewer physical threats made against them, "there is a cultural and existential threat to Christianity as people are ­trying to delegitimise the place of Christ­ianity in the public square and force it off the national stage."

Lesser said Christians presented eight specific concerns during the consultation. In essence, they are worried about:

• Their freedom to quote the Bible
• Their ability to preach and share Jesus's message
• What their children are being taught about gender and sexuality
• What they will be allowed to teach about gender and sexuality to the next generation
• Employees continued right to follow their conscience and object to work-based ­corporate social ­responsibility programmes without their jobs being threatened
• Attacks on the right of church institutions to preach, teach, employ (or not employ) and ­provide (or not provide) services in ­accord­ance with their faith
• People using the discrimination law in the name of human rights as a weapon against Christians
• The media culture and in particular the ABC bias against Christians and Christian leaders.

Targeting the church and Christian organisations is "a bad development" for Australia, he says.

"Christianity is not a religion to be afraid of."

He said he wants Christians in the community to make submissions about the draft religious discrimination bill.

Source

• The Australian
• Head Topics
• Image: Eternity News