Election 2025: Religious groups call for clarity

Labor is facing increased pressure from religious groups as it moves to dispel fears it will reintroduce misinformation laws or work with the Greens on a religious discrimination bill.

Muslim Votes Matter spokesman, Ghaith Krayem. Picture: NewsWire/ David Crosling

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Labor is facing increased pressure from religious groups on the eve of the election, with the government moving to dispel fears it will reintroduce misinformation laws or work with the Greens on a religious discrimination bill.

Religion has played a key role in the campaign, with Labor MPs facing the threat of independent Muslim candidates, while the opposition is under scrutiny over Plymouth Brethren Christian Church members volunteering for the Liberals.

Muslim Votes Matter – which has endorsed several independent Muslim candidates and describes itself as an organisation dedicated to “promoting the political engagement and voice of Australian Muslims” – said on Thursday night that it remained confident four seats could be won on Saturday.

MVM spokesman Ghaith Krayem said one of the seats focused on was the Liberal-held Sturt in South Australia, held on a margin of 0.5 per cent. He said MVM hoped to win seats from both Labor and the Liberals.

“Sturt is held on less than 1000 people,” he said during a call with supporters. “To flip the seat … you need 500 or 600. Even if you’re not convinced we will (win) … at least use your vote to say you’re not happy with what they’re doing.”

Mr Krayem said the pressure applied by MVM could be used to achieve change, such as applying sanctions to Israeli officials, expelling the Israeli ambassador and having Australia declare the situation in the Middle East constituted a genocide.

Meanwhile, Islamic bodies joined with Christian groups last month to call on Labor to clarify its plans for religious freedom and ensure the rights of faith groups didn’t go backwards. While the Coalition gave an unequivocal response that even in minority government arrangements it would not water down proposed religious freedom laws, Labor did not respond to the question of whether it could promise the same if it needed to work with the Greens.

But senior government minister Chris Bowen assured faith communities earlier this week that Labor would only work with the Coalition. “We do support the right of religious schools, in particular, but also charities, health providers, and other organisations to preference members of their own faith. We need to work carefully through that with existing discrimination laws, we would do that … in consultation and conjunction with the opposition,” he told a forum at Tyndale Christian School.

Labor approached the Coalition with its proposed religious discrimination bill last year, but refused to release it publicly before the opposition gave its unequivocal support. The Coalition said the proposal needed to be released in order for active debate to take place, following which the party would come to a position.

While Mr Bowen sought to hose down concerns a Labor government would alter the principles of religious freedom laws to gain Greens support in the next term, Labor frontbencher Michelle Rowland ruled out reviving the misinformation bill that sought to quash false online content and which was of concern to faith groups. “In terms of if we will introduce this bill to parliament again – no,” she said.

Fowler Charity Law principal and prominent advocate for religious freedom Mark Fowler said Ms Rowland’s comments represented “a very significant pre-election commitment”.

“Religious leaders across the nation opposed the bill as an extraordinary intervention into freedom of speech,” he said.

On the issue of Anthony Albanese’s position on religious freedom, the Prime Minister this week came under fire for making “discriminatory” comments about the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church after calling the organisation volunteering with the Liberal Party a “cult”.

Christian leaders, including Anglican Bishop of South Sydney Michael Stead slammed the comments and hypocrisy of the Labor leader, given his position on tolerance and respect regardless of anyone’s background.