Sydney, Australia
Legislation protecting Australians’ right to practice their religion comes before federal parliament as the Autumn session begins in the capital Canberra today.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison told media earlier today that the Religious Discrimination Bill will provide security to people of all faiths to worship freely.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, pictured here during a bilateral meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in at Parliament House, in Canberra, Australia, on 13th December, 2021. PICTURE: Lukas Coch/Pool via Reuters/File photo.
The controversial legislation has been attacked from within the Coalition government ranks, the Opposition and minor parties, as well as by some groups over concerns it would allow religious bodies, such as schools, to discriminate against those within the LGBTQI+ community.
But Morrison says legislation already exists that allows such action, and the Coalition government’s legislation seeks to protect people of faith. Fears were realised and a furore erupted this month after Queensland school Citipointe Christian College in Brisbane asked parents to sign a contract agreeing to a range of conditions canvassing topics including school values, discipline and fees.
It also sought parental agreement that homosexual and bisexual acts, along with bestiality, pornography and paedophilia were “sinful and offensive to God” and “destructive to human relationships and society” and asked them to adhere to the notion that their child’s gender be recognised only as that registered at birth.
During the media gathering, Morrison was asked specifically about the expulsion of trans students from religious schools, telling reporters the Bill before parliament does not provide for that, unlike legislation brought in by a previous Labor government.
“This Bill does not seek to endorse that arrangement. That is an existing law…What we are dealing with today is discrimination against people for their religious belief and faith,” he said.
Morrison said people had come to Australia from many nations after being persecuted and discriminated against for their faith and religion and they had found a home where they could ensure the continuation of their religion, faith, community and culture.
“For so many Australians their faith and their religion is their culture. You can’t separate them and when you listen to their stories as I often do, they will tell stories over hundreds of years and even longer, about how they as a people of faith and religion have survived through some of the worst things you can possible imagine in countries all around the world,” he said.
“On this day, it’s important that we remember that for so many Australians, it doesn’t matter whether you’re Hindu, Sikh, whether you’re Christian, whether you’re Muslim, whether you’re Jewish – whether you choose to have no religious faith at all – that is also important to protect in this country – because we sing ‘Australians all one and free’ and I hope that means something today as we gather together and we seek to put in place the opportunity for those who wish to live their religion here in this country and live their faith which has such an important contribution to our country and always has – binding Australia together not forcing it apart.”
Among other things, the Bill prohibits discrimination on the basis of a person’s religious belief or activity in a range of areas of public life, including in relation to employment, education, access to premises and the provision of goods, services and accommodation; establishes general and specific exceptions from the prohibition of religious discrimination; and provides that certain statements of belief do not constitute discrimination for the purposes of certain specified Commonwealth, state or territory anti-discrimination laws.
The Bill is being introduced alongside the Religious Discrimination (Consequential Amendments) Bill and Human Rights Legislation Amendment Bill.
