Labor criticised for having ’no spine’ in religious discrimination bill debate

There are calls for federal politicians to walk out of parliament in protest at the proposed religious freedom laws, as Hannah Mouncey blasts the government and Labor.

Labor has all but conceded it will back the Morrison government’s contentious religious freedom laws, despite declaring they fear people of faith will be able to discriminate against others.

Amid divisions in Labor ranks, the opposition decided to pursue changes to the Bill in parliament, paving the way for a Senate showdown.

But Labor will support the government’s laws even if its amendments fail, saying it will instead make the changes if they win the May federal election.

“We support people’s right to practice their faith free from discrimination,” Anthony Albanese said.

“But they should not remove protections that already exists to protect against other forms of discrimination.”

The Labor leader said the law should be able to do both without increasing discrimination against others.

Trans footballer Hannah Mouncey says the proposed laws will legalise discrimination of transgender Australians. Picture: Jason Edwards

Under Labor’s proposed changes, gay and transgender students at religious schools would be protected from expulsion under the Sex Discrimination Act. However, a shield for teachers would need to be considered under by the Australian Law Reform Commission.

Labor also wants the contentious “statement of belief” clause changed to ensure the provision does not remove or diminish any existing protections, including state laws.

Transgender footballer Hannah Mouncey said if Labor supported the government’s proposed laws without protections for transgender kids then it had “no spine”.

Speaking to the Herald Sun, she urged politicians to walk out of the parliament in protest of a “horrific” proposed laws, saying it would legalise discrimination of transgender Australians.

“They have decided, obviously, that they need to protect gay kids but trans kids, they don’t need to,” Ms Mouncey said.

“They are not worried about losing votes because they think most of Australia will be okay with it.”

Ms Mouncey, who was banned from the AFLW draft in 2017 for being transgender, said it was going to hurt a lot of young and impressionable people.

“This is the first time that I’ve actually genuinely felt like I was not as important as someone else or a second-class citizen, which I think, given all the stuff that I went through with the AFL and all the trolling in the media and everything else that went on … it’s pretty significant,” she said.

Labor MPs met again on Wednesday morning to discuss changes to the government’s proposed legislation.

The meeting followed an emotional speech from opposition frontbencher Stephen Jones, whose 15-year-old gay nephew — who was uncertain about his gender — took his own life.

Equality Australia welcomed Labor’s amendments but said the parliament needed to go further to fix the remaining problems with the Bill.

‘SLIPPERY SLOPE TO SETTING OUR SOCIETY BACK DECADES’

Scott Morrison’s election commitment to address ­religious discrimination hangs in the balance, with two Liberal MPs preparing to defy his call for unity and vote against the long-awaited laws.

Government MPs backed a series of amendments to finalise the Bill after a lengthy partyroom meeting on Tuesday as the Prime Minister urged them to “come together and think about our team”.

But NSW MP Trent Zimmerman reserved his right to vote against the Bill, which is being debated in parliament this week, concerned it will not prevent faith-based schools expelling transgender students.

After the meeting, Tasmanian Liberal MP Bridget Archer told parliament she would not support the Bill, saying she was “deeply concerned about the potential unintended and far-reaching consequences” that could be a “slippery slope to setting our society back decades”.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison is urging MPs to ‘come together’ on the bill. Picture: Gary Ramage

NSW Liberal MP Trent Zimmerman. Picture: Gary Ramage

Tasmanian Liberal MP Bridget Archer. Picture: Gary Ramage

Government sources said Ms Archer did not raise her concerns during the partyroom meeting, at which other MPs warned of issues with the Bill but eventually agreed to back it.

As part of the changes, the government will amend the Sex Discrimination Act to prevent religious schools expelling gay students, but similar protections for transgender students will instead be considered at a 12-month review.

One concerned MP told colleagues that compromise was “not a dirty word”, as Mr Morrison vowed those issues were “not forever lost” and would be dealt with.

With Labor’s support now crucial to the Bill passing, Labor leader Anthony Albanese said the opposition supported the idea “that you shouldn’t be discriminated against on the basis of your faith”. But he said Labor would decide whether to vote for it after seeing the amendments.

“These problems arise ­because the Prime Minister promised four years ago that something would happen in this area, and has waited until the last days of parliament,” Mr Albanese said.

The Bill’s protection of ­religious statements of belief remained controversial, with Equality Australia launching a nationwide advertising campaign fronted by Olympic legend Ian Thorpe, who said the laws allowed for “state-sanctioned discrimination” which was “just not on”.

Ian Thorpe has spoken out against the bill. Picture: Gary Ramage

Mr Morrison also used Tuesday’s partyroom meeting to plead for his team to work together ahead of the election, declaring he could lead them to victory again.

“At the last election (voters) said, ‘you know you guys are frustrating us but we are going to give you a go’, and we’ve had a go,” he said.

“It’s time to focus … I can ­assure you, I know the path.”

Originally published as Labor criticised for having ’no spine’ in religious discrimination bill debate