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Prime Minister Anthony Albanese appears to have confirmed that his government has abandoned attempts to pass a religious discrimination bill during this term of parliament. 

The prime minister was asked for an update on the religious discrimination laws at a press conference in Western Australia on Friday afternoon, and said he was unwilling to proceed without bipartisan support — which he claimed had not been forthcoming. 

“One of the things I’ve spoken about is the need for greater social cohesion,” Albanese said.  

“And the last thing that Australia needs is any divisive debate relating to religion and people’s faith … I don’t intend to engage in a partisan debate when it comes to religious discrimination.” 

The prime minister said the timeframe he had set for bipartisan agreement was to introduce legislation during the May federal budget sittings. 

He blamed the Coalition for the lack of movement on the bill, saying bipartisan agreement had not been reached because the opposition had not provided amendments to Labor’s draft. 

Untenable

Opposition legal affairs spokeswoman Michaelia Cash said in mid-July that Labor needed to go back to the drawing board entirely, given the rejection of the bill by faith groups. 

“[Faith groups] have provided line-by-line feedback on the draft bills, and put forward options that would not only protect faith-based schooling, but also address concerns around the drafting of existing provisions on the Commonwealth statute book,” Senator Cash wrote in a letter to Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus. 

“The Coalition does not intend to bypass or undercut that clear stakeholder feedback, which was provided on a bipartisan basis.  

“It is plain that the next step is for the government to redraft its legislation, taking that feedback into account.” 

It was widely suspected that the legislation was dead in the water after the May deadline passed, but the prime minister’s remarks are the first public confirmation that it would likely not proceed at all. 

Relief

“While it is disappointing that there remains very little protection against discrimination on the basis of religious belief or activity, the proposed legislative package had tied religious discrimination legislation to the removal of significant protections for religious freedoms in other laws,” said Monica Doumit, Director of Public Affairs and Engagement for the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney.  

“So the prime minister’s announcement should also mean these protections remain in place. 

“It would be a substantial betrayal of religious communities if the government pushed ahead with repealing religious protections without offering anything in return.” 

The Morrison Government’s attempt to introduce a religious discrimination bill went down in flames in February 2022 at an all-night sitting of parliament, in which five Coalition MPs crossed the floor.  

Senior religious leaders and stakeholders have repeatedly expressed their frustration over the issue, ongoing since the release of a report from the Philip Ruddock-led expert committee in 2018. 

Comment has been sought from the prime minister and opposition leaders’ offices.

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Republished with thanks to The Catholic Weekly. Image courtesy of Adobe.