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The Loop: Religious discrimination bill passes lower house, the Quad prepares to meet, police to question Downing Street partygoers

Hello. It's Thursday, February 10 and you're starting your day with The Loop (a good choice, if we do say so ourselves).

Let's start here

The government's contentious religious discrimination bill has passed the lower house.

After a marathon late-night sitting, Labor secured support for amendments to the Sex Discrimination Act to protect LGBT students against religious discrimination, with multiple Liberal MPs crossing the floor to support the amendment.

The government agreed to amend existing laws to prevent schools excluding students because of their sexual orientation, but said that move would not extend to transgender students.

Labor also tried unsuccessfully to pass amendments to prevent discriminatory statements in the name of religion.

One thing you’ll be hearing about today

Leaders from Australia, the US, Japan and India are preparing for a meeting of "the Quad", with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken coming to Australia to take part in person.

The Quad's main focus is to discuss the threat posed by China (but Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian says the US and the other countries concerned should "calm down" about it).

This week's national cabinet meeting has been moved forward to this afternoon so it doesn't clash with the Quad meeting, so while we're not expecting any significant changes from that, there may be some updates amongst the Quad preparation.

News while you snoozed

What Australia has been searching for online

One more thing

Police in the UK are starting to contact more than 50 people who are believed to have attended lockdown parties at Boris Johnson's Downing Street residence.

Police say they'll be sending them formal questionnaires this week, seeking explanations of their participation.

The document has formal legal status and must be answered truthfully, with responses required within seven days.

That comes as the UK reacts to a leaked photo showing Boris Johnson next to an open bottle of sparkling wine during a Christmas quiz in December 2020.

You're up to date

We'll see you later on for the afternoon edition of The Loop.

ABC/wires

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