Anthony Albanese’s team in warning on religious freedom

Anthony Albanese is under pressure from Labor MPs to “work constructively” with Scott Morrison to pass religious freedom legislation.

Anthony Albanese has been warned to work with the Prime Minister on religious freedom legislation. Picture: Hollie Adams

Anthony Albanese is under pressure from frontbench Labor MPs to “work constructively” with Scott Morrison to pass religious freedom legislation that enshrines the right of schools and charities to teach faith-based ideology, including the traditional view of marriage.

Senior Labor MPs yesterday warned that the swing against the party in faith-based communities — mainly in western Sydney seats — had galvanised support in the new Opposition Leader’s partyroom for new laws to protect ­religious institutions from being accused of discrimination.

The Labor push to bolster support for religious groups comes as Scott Morrison prepares to table a Religious Discrimination Act in parliament by the end of the year, acting on recommendations in the Ruddock Review into religious freedom.

During the election campaign, the Prime Minister said the new religious discrimination laws would provide the same protections of anti-discrimination for people of religious faith, as it did for “people of different genders, LGBTIQ, others”.

A senior Labor frontbencher said there were concerns among some religious schools and faiths that a government of either persuasion might decide to cut funding for a school or charity because they were teaching a traditional version of marriage.

“There is a view from some people that (protection) may not be required in law because it is ­already covered in the Racial ­Discrimination Act,” the senior Labor MP said. “Sometimes it is good, even if laws aren’t strictly necessary, for the sake of absolute certainty to put it in law.”

Labor MPs also attacked former ALP leader Bill Shorten over his criticism of Mr Morrison in the final week of the election campaign for not explicitly stating that he did not believe gay people would to hell. They described the tactic as a “very poorly timed intervention” that made it look as though “we were persecuting people, particularly Christians, and their beliefs”.

Senior frontbenchers Kristina Keneally, Tony Burke and ­Michelle Rowland yesterday added to warnings that people of faith were turning against Labor. Chris Bowen last week declared: “People of faith no longer feel that progressive politics cares about them.”

Senator Keneally, Labor’s new deputy leader in the upper house, savaged Labor’s campaign as being “tone deaf” to the concerns of religious people.

“We lost them on the more traditional, touchstone culture and social issues,” Senator Keneally said. “I think it is because we were tone deaf. If you take the issue of religious freedom, I see a growing concern of people of faith that in this Twitter world, the instant response world we live in, that they are going to be ganged up upon.

“The Israel Folau matter, which was frankly a contract issue, spoke to a broader concern people had, and understandably so, that in expressing their faith they are going to be howled down by other people in the community. The extent to which Labor wasn’t seen to be standing up for people of faith did hurt us.”

Mr Albanese said yesterday he was prepared to work with the Morrison government on the ­introduction of a religious discrimination bill.

“I’m certainly prepared to work cooperatively on issues which should not be the subject of partisan politics, and that includes that issue,” Mr Albanese said.

Mr Bowen told The Weekend Australian that anxieties within religious communities had contributed to Labor’s election loss.

The former Treasury spokesman, who suffered a 7.4 per cent primary vote swing against him in his western Sydney seat of ­McMahon, urged the Prime Minister to bring forward legislation on religious freedoms quickly so it could be considered by Labor.

“I think it is not actually any particular policy as such,” Mr Bowen said.

“I think it is a general impression which has built up as a result of various debates, including marriage equality but also religious freedom more generally.

“It is a very urgent problem for us to tackle. Partly by the way we look at policy but party by our general demeanour. It is the old saying people think you only care what you talk about.”

Mr Bowen said it was essential that Labor welcome social conservatives in its parliamentary ranks so the party could appeal to suburban voters.

“The Labor Party has a strong tradition of people who are socially conservative but economically progressive and we have got to make sure that tradition continues to be represented both in our party and our voters,” Mr Bowen said.

Ms Rowland, who represents the western Sydney seat of Greenway, said Labor had had a “very real” perception problem from some ­religious people during the campaign.

“I definitely detected there was a different sense during the campaign,” Ms Rowland said. “I rarely had religion raised as an issue in the three years prior. But doing phone calls and the type of engagement you do during the campaign it was certainly markedly different. There was a perception of a problem and for some people that was very real.”

Mr Burke, whose seat of Watson takes in prominent Muslim and Maronite communities including the Lakemba mosque, said Labor needed to “carefully work through” the reasons religious communities swung against the party.

“The vast majority of people of faith in my part of Sydney still voted Labor,” Mr Burke said. “But the government has been specifically targeting faith communities and there was a swing as a result.”

Victorian Labor MP Anthony Byrne, a social conservative, said the party was creating the perception that it did not welcome people of faith.

“We are creating a perception that for people of Christian and other faiths that the Labor Party doesn’t have a place for them on the table, doesn’t want to hear their views, doesn’t want to take their beliefs into account,” Mr Byrne said.

“I think that caused us substantial damage during the election campaign.”