Anthony Albanese has warned if the religious discrimination bill is not fixed it will “drive us apart”, signalling Labor will insist on amendments to prevent religious vilification, discriminatory statements and protect LGBTQ+ students.
Debate on the bill resumed on Wednesday evening after Labor caucus agreed not to oppose it in the House of Representatives, although the opposition will seek amendments in both houses, setting up a possible standoff with the government.
After Scott Morrison urged the Coalition to vote together on the bill, Liberal MP Warren Entsch revealed on Wednesday he would not oppose it, claiming parliament needed to “bank the successes” of improvements to the bill despite his remaining concerns.
The House will sit late on Wednesday to deal with the bill. The government still faces substantial opposition to the bill, with Liberal Bridget Archer, independent Helen Haines and Centre Alliance’s Rebekha Sharkie indicating they do not support it in its current form.
Liberal MP Trent Zimmerman confirmed that he would vote against the government in favour of amendments on the statements of belief clause and to give broader protections for LGBTQ+ youth.
Labor and several of the government’s own members have been galvanised by the Morrison government revealing it will protect gay students from expulsion – but not other forms of discrimination – without protecting trans students at the same time.
Zimmerman said the parliament could not send a message by “omission” by moving to fix sexuality discrimination but not gender identity discrimination. “I could not live with myself if I didn’t seek to address those issues.”
Labor is confident it can make changes in the Senate to protect LGBTQ+ students and neuter the controversial statement of belief clause, which protects religious statements even if they offend, insult or humiliate others on the basis of protected attributes. Labor will also attempt to ban vilification on the grounds of religion.
The opposition has resolved to “insist” on any successful amendments until Liberal MPs help pass them in the lower house or Scott Morrison withdraws the bill.
But Albanese indicated in caucus a further meeting could reconsider in the event of an impasse – leaving a pathway to pass the bill before the 2022 election.
In parliament, Albanese described the bill as “flawed”, warning that although he supports prohibiting discrimination on the grounds of religion “I don’t support doing it at the expense of increasing discrimination against others”.
Albanese noted that Scott Morrison had given him a commitment to prevent “any form of discrimination against a student on the basis of sexuality or gender identity”, which he said the bill does not do.
If Labor’s amendments are passed in the House or Senate “we will insist on them”, Albanese said, and if they are not accepted “this bill is not good enough”.
Entsch said he didn’t believe the bill was necessary and still had “concerns with a number of elements”. He said a government amendment to prevent expulsion of gay students “is far too narrow”.
But Entsch said despite his first instinct to reject the bill outright, he now wants to “bank the successes” of improvements to the bill, such as the removal of the Folau clause and the conscientious objection clause.
Earlier, in caucus, the Labor MP Josh Burns moved to oppose the bill in the lower house if amendments are unsuccessful, supported by a large group of MPs including Louise Pratt, Alicia Payne, Ged Kearney, Peter Khalil, Brian Mitchell, Peta Murphy and Kate Thwaites, but was defeated on the voices.
Khalil and Murphy told parliament they did not support the bill in its unamended form, with Murphy describing the Labor amendments as “essential”.
In caucus, the shadow cabinet, including Chris Bowen, and MPs Julian Hill and Stephen Jones spoke in favour of passing the bill in the House, expressing concerns that voting the bill down would give Scott Morrison a political wedge to campaign on and that hastening the bill to the Senate could speed up amendments to improve protections.
Anne Aly spoke from her experience as Muslim woman about the need for religious discrimination protections to pass.
In a statement the shadow attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, said Labor “supports the extension of the federal anti-discrimination framework to ensure that Australians are not discriminated against because of their religious beliefs or activities”.
Dreyfus said the bill had “some big flaws that Labor will seek to change through amendments in the parliament, and, if we are unsuccessful, in government”.
Labor will move amendments to remove discrimination in the Religious Discrimination Bill in the House. If they don’t get up we will move them in the Senate.
— Stephen Jones MP (@StephenJonesMP) February 9, 2022
If that fails we commit to removing discrimination if Labor wins the May election.
Dreyfus said Labor also supported “removing discrimination against teachers while recognising the right of religious schools to give preference to hiring school staff of their own faith”.
No immediate amendments were promised for teachers, as Dreyfus indicated Labor would seek to legislate in government after the Australian Law Reform Commission review.
BREAKING: Labor will change the law to protect schoolkids and school staff from discrimination.
— Tanya Plibersek (@tanya_plibersek) February 9, 2022
LGBTQ+ lobby, Equality Australia, said the Labor amendments “won’t fix everything”, but amending the statements of belief clause would “would ensure existing protections for LGBTIQ+ people, women and people with disability are not undermined”.
The National Catholic Education Commission praised Labor for accepting the right of religious schools to give preference to hiring school staff of their own faith.
The government has a narrow window to pass the bill. The Senate sits on Thursday but is occupied by estimates hearings next week, with only a few days in the March budget sitting before a May election.
Earlier on Wednesday Sharkie told the lower house she could not support the bill which would “privilege some” while causing “a number of disadvantages to others” including women, people with disabilities, LGTBQ+ people, and those relying on other anti-discrimination laws.
Sharkie noted the bill would allow religious institutions to “take secular dollars and create an exclusive club on the grounds of religious belief” by discriminating against staff on the basis of faith.
Haines said she could not support the bill which was “not just a shield against discrimination on religious belief – it also creates many swords”.
Haines said she was particularly concerned about the statement of belief clause, which she called a “monumental steam-roll of our anti-discrimination laws”.
Haines committed to “reassess this bill if it comes to the House in a better form” after Senate amendment, but warned “it will take a lot” to win her support.
Haines said the government amendments to the Sex Discrimination Act do not provide enough protection for LGBTQ+ teachers and students, because religious schools would still “proactively” be able to discriminate with the exception of expelling gay students.
The Greens have already promised wider changes including immediately banning discrimination against LGBTQ+ school staff and students.
