Religious freedom to come at a cost for federal government

A looming political storm could be just weeks away if the federal government brings its proposed religious freedoms bill to its party room later this month, Annika Smethurst writes.

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Three months is a long time in politics. In just one season, Australia’s brutal summer dried up much of the political capital Scott Morrison amassed by ­unexpectedly winning the election.

While it’s not all doom and gloom for the government, in this current political environment it can’t afford too many missteps.

But a looming political storm could be just weeks away if the government brings its proposed religious freedoms bill to its party room later this month.

Designing legislation to protect ­religious freedoms without giving ­people of faith the power to use their “religious belief as a weapon against nonbelievers” — as former High Court judge Michael Kirby said — is an unenviable task.

The religious freedom bill is “threatening to divide parliament and the wider public”, Annika Smethurst says. Picture: iStock

By Attorney-General Christian Porter’s definition, a successful compromise will be achieved when interested groups — both religious and secular — are unhappy in equal measure.

By his own benchmark, the government’s ­revised draft is perhaps a success in that it has very few friends.

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Employers and unions have jointly demanded changes warning that it would make it difficult to protect workers from bullying and harassment.

Hospitals and health groups have also warned that the bill could threaten patient care by prioritising religious views. While happier with the latest ­incarnation, religious leaders, who have already threatened to withdraw their support, still have concerns.

So too do some of the more conservative members of Mr Morrison’s government including NSW Liberal Concetta Fierravanti-Wells, who says the Bill should be replaced with a new, single framework for all anti-discrimination laws. As one Liberal MP said this week, “it’s a Bill no one wants to touch”.

The Bill is threatening to divide parliament and the wider public.

The most likely way for it to succeed is with support from Labor which can’t afford to oppose it for opposition’s sake.