Religious freedom bill falls at second hurdle
The Australian federal government’s bid to overhaul religious freedom laws has been shelved indefinitely, after a failed motion to bring the matter on for debate in the Senate.
After the laws were passed in the House of Representatives in the early hours on Thursday morning, the bill was due to enter a second round of discussions and votes during the Senate.
However, the failure to bring it on for debate has meant it will likely be shelved indefinitely, with coalition sources confirming the government is highly unlikely to bring it back for debate when the Senate sits again in March.
According to the ABC, this is because the government doesn’t want debates about religious freedoms to affect its chances of selling a pre-election budget.
The proposed law has been the subject of intense criticism in recent days due to the introduction of new amendments to protect gay students from discrimination by religious schools which wouldn’t extend to transgender school students.
Though it was a more watered-down version of the bill the government initially proposed, several moderate Liberals were concerned about the amendment as well as other parts which remained from the original bill.
Liberal MP Bridget Archer has rejected her own party's religious discrimination bill, saying she is "horrified" that trans kids aren't protected, and "in 2022, I can't believe that we are even having this conversation"
Neither can we#auspol #CallTheElectionDickhead pic.twitter.com/qequTAhHqT— Media Analyst (@MediaAnalystOz) February 8, 2022
This prompted five Liberal MPs to cross the floor and vote with Labor and the crossbench against the government in order to extend protections for transgender students.
Following that defeat, the government consulted with religious groups on the future of the laws.
Some of these groups have expressed that they are adamantly against supporting the protections for transgener students that now came with the bill.
Assistant Attorney-General Amanda Stoker said the amended bill was flawed and that “it’s not what the government designed”.
“It’s not what we thought had got the balance right,” she said.
The Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) has also advocated for the bill to be dumped, claiming that removing exemptions allowing schools to discriminate against trans students “completely undermined” the bill.
“[The exemptions] have enabled faith-based schools to teach their religion and conduct their school according to their faith values,” ACL director Wendy Francis said.
“The loss of this protection would outweigh any benefits that could be obtained by the religious discrimination bill.
“With the amendments so damaging to religious freedom, the government should immediately withdraw the bills.”
Conservative government members have also called for the bill to be dumped.
When the government proposed to strike out existing laws allowing students to be expelled due to their sexuality, the move was supported by groups such as the Christian Schools Association (CSA).
But Christian schools and the government argued that extending those protections to gender identity created additional complications, with the CSA fearing protections for transgender staff and students could hinder the teaching of the school’s faith.
In a moving speech prior to the bill passing in the House of Representatives, Shadow Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones spoke about his son Paddy, the unique risks LGBTQIA+ children experience in the community and his anxiety as a parent of a child within that community.
I spoke on the Morrison Government's religious discrimination bill and the message we want to send our kids. (1/2) #auspol pic.twitter.com/7FOW2XEJKj
— Stephen Jones MP (@StephenJonesMP) February 8, 2022
“I worry myself sick every time he leaves the house. I think to myself, ‘You look beautiful, but do you have to go out looking like that?’ I know that the love and protection that he enjoys with his mother and his friends and his family is very different to the reception that he may receive in the outside world,” Mr Jones said.
In response to his dad’s speech, Paddy said he became overwhelmed with emotion.
“I cried for the first time I saw it. It was a really beautiful speech,” Paddy told the ABC.
“I didn’t know what was going to happen after that speech but I told (my dad), yes, I think it is important for you to make this speech because it’s more important for young children who are gay, trans, they need to know that there are people out there that are just like them and who are supporting and loving them.”
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