Scott Morrison vows to fast-track gay pupil protections

Scott Morrison has promised moderate Liberals he will fast-track separate protections for gay students ahead of bringing on a vote on the religious discrimin­ation bill.

Scott Morrison at the Christmas Wishing tree in Parliament House on Wednesday. Picture: Adam Taylor

Scott Morrison has promised moderate Liberals he will fast-track separate protections for gay students ahead of bringing on a vote on the religious discrimin­ation bill and ramping-up pressure on Anthony Albanese to back the legislation.

The Prime Minister’s pledge to overhaul the Sex Discrimination Act and protect gay students from being expelled or suspended before the next election has won support from moderate Liberal MPs Dave Sharma, Fiona Martin, Angie Bell and Katie Allen.

The Australian understands Liberal MPs Trent Zimmerman, Warren Entsch and Bridget Archer continue to hold reservations outside of protections for gay students and could influence whether Mr Morrison brings on a vote.

Negotiations with hold-out Liberal MPs were expected to continue on Thursday morning amid concerns that Labor, the Greens and crossbenchers would combine to stall the vote.

A looming showdown over ­religious freedoms on the year’s final day of parliament came as Christian school groups demanded MPs back the passage of the bill through the lower house.

While the government has committed to the SDA changes and to send the legislation to the joint parliamentary committee on human rights, the Opposition Leader was expected to proceed with procedural tactics to stall a vote.

Warringah MP Zali Steggall, who attended a government briefing on Tuesday and was understood to be concerned over allowing religious schools to prioritise the hiring of people of their own faith, said she supported delaying the vote until next year.

“We shouldn’t hold a debate or a vote on the legislation prior to the report from the inquiry being available,” she said.

In a statement released by Mr Sharma, Dr Martin, Ms Bell and Dr Allen on Wednesday night, the Liberal MPs backed com­mitments made by Mr Morrison and Attorney-General Michaelia Cash to amend the SDA.

Ms Bell said the religious discrimination bill was a “reasonable and necessary piece of legislation to be put before the house”.

“Over the last few days, I proposed an alternative solution to my government colleagues which has been accepted. Under my proposal, the Sex Discrimination Act will be amended to remove the clause exempting religious schools from making discriminatory decisions based on a child’s sexual orientation,” she said.

Mr Sharma provided cautious backing, saying he retained “concerns about elements of the … bill, particularly those relating to the statement of belief clauses”.

Dr Martin said the unintended consequences of passing the bill without making amendments to the religious exemption clauses in the Sex Discrimination Act had to be fixed. “Most Australians would agree that religious exemptions that allow LGBTIQ+ children to be expelled is unacceptable and runs counter to our nation’s value of a fair go,” he said.

Opposition legal affairs spokesman Mark Dreyfus said Labor would not adopt a final position on the bill until “after the parliamentary inquiry process has been completed” and attacked Mr Morrison and Senator Cash for blaming the opposition over delays. “It’s entirely appropriate … we not have further debate in parliament until such time as the parliamentary committee has reported,” he said.

Senator Cash said it was the government’s “clear position to deal with this bill as quickly as possible”. With a parliamentary inquiry not expected to report until February, the government will have only five Senate sitting days to push through its 2019 election promise before Australians head to the polls.

“This is a cowardly display of delaying the substantive debate on the bill, which seeks to give fundamental protections for ­people of faith. Labor is using every trick in the book to avoid protecting Australians from religious discrimination,” Senator Cash told The Australian.

Christian Schools Australia director of public policy Mark Spencer said “calls to delay a vote in the House of Representatives are merely a tactic by those who ­oppose religious freedom”.

Equality Australia chief executive Anna Brown said Mr Morrison was “asking MPs to sign up to a bad deal, offering nothing more than what he’s repeatedly promised and failed to deliver for three years”.

“If the government is serious about fulfilling its election commitment, it would end discrimination against LGBTQ+ students and staff in religious schools by delivering simple legislation to stop schools from firing, expelling or discriminating against them for who they are,” Ms Brown said.

“What a cynical move to make ending discrimination against gay students conditional on support for a bad bill that will wind back hard-fought protections for LGBTIQ+ people, people with disability, women and people of faith.”

Ms Brown said if MPs cared about preserving protections for marginalised communities they “must oppose this religious discrimination bill or at least send it to an inquiry to consider before debating it”.