Scott Morrison has signalled he will seek to legislate the religious discrimination bill “in the near future”, as mounting internal opposition leaves securing Labor support the most viable path to pass the reform.
Morrison appealed for support for the “important bill” on Monday, telling reporters in Canberra that it is “something that should unite the parliament, not divide it”.
On Friday Labor MPs and senators on two committees joined the government in calling for the bill to pass after a series of minor and technical changes. Labor is using the wait for these amendments to stall finalising its position.
The Coalition faces fierce internal resistance to the bill, with the member for Bass, Bridget Archer, telling Guardian Australia on Friday she can’t support it in its current form, and senator Andrew Bragg seeking protections for teachers and removal of the controversial statements of belief clause.
Morrison has committed to preventing the expulsion of LGBTQ+ students, with varying levels of support from government MPs. It was enough to win Angie Bell’s vote, but Dave Sharma has also expressed concerns about teachers, while Katie Allen has investigated amending the statement of belief clause so it doesn’t override state laws.
Trent Zimmerman and Warren Entsch have both reserved their position. Entsch told Guardian Australia he “never believed the bill should have been there in the first place”.
“I’ll continue to negotiate,” he said. “But it’s interesting that even the Australian Christian Lobby, one of the main proponents, has threatened to pull the pin.”
Christian groups were outraged about Morrison’s commitment that students would not be expelled for their sexuality or gender, as the attorney general, Michaelia Cash, had said these changes would follow more than 12 months after the passage of the religious bill.
One such group, FamilyVoice, publicly doubted on Monday that the bill would ever see the light of day, with Greg Bondar, the New South Wales/Australian Capital Territory state director, arguing that introducing it so late in the term was “either politically astute planning or extremely poor legislative planning” as it may prevent a vote before the election.
Morrison told reporters the Sex Discrimination Act changes “go well together” with the religious discrimination bill “which I intend to become an Act in the near future”, signalling a vote as early as Tuesday in the lower house.
“It’s a very important bill,” he said. “It’s a bill that means that a Sikh family can go and rent an apartment and not be discriminated against.”
Morrison said the bill would also ensure “people can speak their beliefs” in society or in the workplace.
“We will continue to work with our colleagues on the measures that they have raised,” he said, when asked about Archer’s vocal dissent.
“My hope … is that it is a bill that will bring Australians together around this issue.
“There is nothing in this bill that seeks to prejudice others, it is a bill that is designed to protect religious expression in this country to ensure that people who have such beliefs are not discriminated against.”
In addition to protections for students, Cash has suggested the statements of belief clause could be softened to ensure employers can still ensure safe workplaces.
Labor has insisted they must see the final bill before they come to any position.
Earlier on Monday the Australian Council of Trade Unions president, Michele O’Neil, the ACTU assistant secretary, Liam O’Brien, and the Independent Education Union addressed a group of Labor MPs, reiterating their concerns with the bill.
The ACTU submitted to the Senate inquiry that “all sections and parts of the bill that are inconsistent with existing anti-discrimination laws should be removed, including all provisions overriding state and territory anti-discrimination laws”.
If Morrison pushes ahead with the bill, Labor has not ruled out teaming up with Liberal moderates or crossbench MPs and senators to support amendments adding protections for LGBTQ+ teachers and students or to remove the bill’s other contentious clauses.
Michelle Rowland, the shadow communications minister, told reporters the government appears “deeply divided” on the religious discrimination issue.
“We have long recognised in Labor the importance of ensuring that people aren’t discriminated on the basis of their religion and we have made that clear … but we are not the government bringing forward a bill or bringing forward government amendments,” she said.
Kristina Keneally, the shadow home affairs minister, played down the prospect of backlash against Labor if they passed the bill.
Asked if Labor faced “grassroots revolt” over the bill, Keneally said no, because religious and equality groups understand “we are a multicultural, multi-religious country”.
“We respect one another and we want to see people’s rights upheld, and we want to see our responsibilities towards one another honoured and respected,” she said.
Labor MP Graham Perrett, one of the members of the joint human rights committee that examined the bill, said there are “serious concerns” about the statements of belief clause.
Perrett said that “any sensible member of parliament” would support prohibiting discrimination on the grounds of religion, but Queensland has had such protection since 1991.
“I can see how parliamentarians would want something that brings people together and not cause division.
“I would hope that the prime minister, who has a long history of ‘wedge-islation’, would focus on doing the right thing by all Australians, not [on] a short-term political manoeuvre.”
But some in Labor argued it should use the moment to be rid of an issue that hurt it engaging with religious communities at the 2019 election.
“There’s an opportunity to draw a line in the sand and have this behind us once and for all,” one Labor parliamentarian told Guardian Australia.
“We need to stop talking about things the public don’t want us to talk about.”
