Religious leaders fear discrimination reform backed by Greens ‘dangerous’

Melbourne’s Catholic Archbishop has raised concerns about Albanese’s plan to work with the Greens on laws to end religious discrimination against LGBTQ students in schools.

Religious leaders have raised concerns about the Albanese government’s plan to work with the Greens on laws to end religious discrimination against LGBTQ students in schools, with one warning it is a “dangerous path”.

Labor is seeking to can the right of religious schools to expel students and sack teachers for their sexuality or gender, while maintaining their ability to preference the hiring of staff based on their faith.

After last week saying that bipartisan support with the Coalition would be needed to achieve its election commitment, Mr Albanese on Tuesday morning changed his position and said the laws could be overhauled with the Greens’ support.

The comments came after one Labor MP expressed concern about the stand-off over the protections, which are at risk of not being implemented this term as promised.

“If the Greens are willing to support the rights of people to practice their faith, then that would be a way forward but we don’t currently have that,” Mr Albanese said.

“I do not want to see a rancorous debate without achieving an outcome.

“There are two pathways either with support from the Greens or with support from the Opposition.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has opened the door to reforming religious discrimination laws with the Greens. Picture: Martin Ollman

But the Greens, which say they remain willing to negotiate, had not been briefed or been shown the legislation when the remarks were made.

Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus, who met with the minor party on Tuesday afternoon, refused to show them the draft laws - which were given confidentially to the Coalition last week.

Greens Senator David Shoebridge said the Greens endorsed the recommendations contained in the Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) report, released last week, but if Labor’s proposal differed it should explain why.

“We are willing to work with the government to get these laws through but it starts with sharing the legislation with us,” Senator Shoebridge said.

“If there are other ways of achieving this and protecting students and protecting teachers and doing a consistent with the principles in the ALRC we will sit down and negotiate with the government.”

But Melbourne Catholic Archbishop Peter Comensoli urged the government to work with the Coalition to achieve bipartisan support, saying that seeking the Greens’ backing was a “dangerous path” because the party did not consider religious freedom as significant.

“The Greens have policies, very specific policies that seek to remove religious exemptions entirely from any discrimination law,” he said.

Archbishop Peter Comensoli believes teaming up with the Greens is dangerous. Picture: Mark Stewart

“They have policies that reject the possibility of chaplaincy in schools, they have policies which seek to defund hospitals if they do not provide certain medical provisions.

“At a state level, the Greens have backed restrictions on religious exemptions in anti-discrimination law and stripping funding from any non-government school that preferences students or staff on the basis of a religious background.”

Islamic Council of Victoria president Adel Salman said it would also be “a little bit concerned or anxious” about what the Greens’ backing would mean for the Bill, given their stated position.

He said the ALRC recommendations would not allow religious schools to maintain communities of faith and called on the government to release the legislation for consultation.

Retiring Victorian Greens Senator Janet Rice said as the only openly Bi+ person in parliament, this issue was close to her heart.

“I will continue fighting outside parliament against any bill that acts only as a Trojan horse for hate,” Senator Rice said.

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Originally published as Religious leaders fear discrimination reform backed by Greens ‘dangerous’