TRANSCRIPT
The Albanese government has introduced two bills focused on religious discrimination laws, that aim to balance faith-based employment rights in schools while protecting staff from discrimination.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has told members of the Labor caucus he wants bipartisan support for the legislation and that he has discussed the matter with the leader of the opposition, Peter Dutton.
But the federal opposition leader has accused Labor of setting the Coalition up for failure over his plans.
"The Prime Minister made it clear that he wasn't going to support the religious discrimination proposals put by the government unless there was bipartisan position, and also the Prime Minister wouldn't support any committee process around this issue, which is quite remarkable in itself. I didn't give any commitment to the Prime Minister. I said we haven't seen the report, we haven't seen the bill, and we would have a discussion internally to what our position would be. That was essentially the essence of the conversation."
Mr Dutton believes he's being scapegoated already.
"He is looking for a way to crash this before the legislation is released. He is trying to find an 'out' on a topic he doesn't want to go near."
Mr Albanese says he is eager to avoid having what could become a divisive national debate on religion at a time when Islamophobia and anti-Semitism is already heightened due to the ongoing Middle-East conflict.
Attorney General Mark Dreyfus, however, insists Labor is going to work with the Opposition to achieve a bipartisan outcome.
"We've made it really clear that as far as we are concerned, no Australian should have to be discriminated against because of who they are. All Australians should be able to live free from discrimination. This is something we've been working on for a long time, something we've been consulting about for a long time, and we're very keen, as the Prime Minister said yesterday, to work with the Opposition for a bipartisan outcome on this. We're going to work constructively with the opposition towards a bipartisan outcome."
Religious groups and advocates have urged MPs to agree on the changes.
Christian Schools Australia's director of public policy, Mark Spencer, says after years of debate, everyone just wants to see the issue resolved.
"Well, we're hoping that they will play ball. We're not expecting the opposition to support something that is considerably weaker than the proposal that they put forward. That 2022 legislation was the result of a lot consultation, a lot of negotiation. I don't think faith groups or those who opposed the protections were entirely happy with it. It was a compromised piece of legislation. But it was a fair compromise. And we think that's the basis for a lasting, sustainable set of protections for people of faith across Australia."
The legal director of Equality Australia, Ghassan Kassisieh, says there is no time to waste to bring in protections for employees and students who identify as part of the LGBTIQ+ community.
"Every day that we have waited that we have waited for these reforms means there is another teacher who has lost their jobs, being told to hide who they are. And a student who has lost a leadership opportunity, or had to hide who they are, or feel ashamed. It is time for our parliament to stop talking about these reforms - and finally do what they should have done long ago, which is remove exemptions that allow religious schools to discriminate against LGBTQ students and staff."
