The Prime Minister has promised religious groups that if re-elected he’ll take another run at the Religious Discrimination Bill, vowing that this time he would not allow any amendments to protect gay or transgender students.

The Prime Minister has promised Religious Discrimination Bill would be passed in the last turn of government, but he pulled the bill after Labor successfully added amendments to the associated Sex Discrimination Act that would have provided protections to stop religious-based schools from expelling students over their sexuality or gender identity.

Writing to conservative group Family Voice Australia the PM said this time he would not be entertaining any amendments to his legislation.

“If re-elected, we will pursue passage of the Religious Discrimination Bill as standalone legislation in the next Parliament and will not accept any attempts to make changes to other laws that undermine protections for religious institutions.

“I want to assure you that guaranteeing Australians are safe from discrimination on the basis of their faith remains a priority for me and my Government. I will also not allow this issue to be used by Labor and the Greens to undermine existing protections.” The PM told Family Voice Australia.

The Prime Minister has previously said on several occasions that he does not support faith-based schools having the ability to expel students over issues of sexuality and gender, but argues that it should be tackled separately to the Religious Discrimination legislation.

The Labor party have indicated that passing the long promised legislation would be a priority for them if they are successful at the election, and they would also work with the Australian Law Reform Commission and stakeholders to make amendments to the Sex Discrimination Act.

OIP Staff

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