Redraft religious discrimination laws ‘with input from faiths’, says Michaelia Cash

The Coalition declares ‘the ball is entirely in the government’s court’ on religious discrimination, saying Labor must take account of faith groups’ ‘line-by-line’ proposal.

Opposition legal affairs spokeswoman Michaelia Cash.

The Coalition has called on Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus to end a stalemate over Labor’s draft religious discrimination laws, declaring the “appropriate way forward” is for the government to redraft its proposal with feedback from faith groups.

Opposition legal affairs spokeswoman Michaelia Cash has written to Mr Dreyfus saying “the ball is entirely in the government’s court”, after he demanded a line-by-line response from the Coalition at the National Press Club last week in order for the reforms to progress.

“(Faith groups) have provided line-by-line feedback on the draft bills, and put forward options that would not only protect faith-based schooling, but also address concerns around the drafting of existing provisions on the Commonwealth statute book,” Senator Cash says in her letter.

“The Coalition does not intend to bypass or undercut that clear stakeholder feedback, which was provided on a bipartisan basis. It is plain that the next step is for the government to redraft its legislation, taking that feedback into account. ”

Faith groups, equality advocates, the Coalition and the Greens have urged Anthony Albanese to either intervene to save his election promise to legislate to prevent religious discrimination and protect LGBTQI+ Australians or tell them the reforms are dead in this parliament.

Noting there were “grave concerns” across faith communities about the government’s proposal, which has not been released publicly, Senator Cash said the law should not be used to force religious schools to change and depart from values grounded in religious tenets. She said many faith groups had not had the opportunity to review the bills and consider what the impacts may be or, in some cases, had not been engaged by the government at all.

“It is a departure from the commitments you made to openness and transparency while in opposition,” Senator Cash says.

“In April this year, the Prime Minister made a commitment that protections for people of faith ‘will not go backwards’ … Faith leaders have put clear options on the table to honour the Prime Minister’s commitment and balance the various competing interests at play. But it is only the government that can indicate which of those options, if any, are possible in this term of parliament, and it is a simple fact that there can be no legislation at all without government support.

“Progress towards a bipartisan solution starts with a shared understanding of what is possible … The appropriate way forward is for the government to redraft the legislation to take the suggestions from faith groups into account.”

Mr Dreyfus was approached for comment but The Australian was referred to his remarks at the National Press Club.