Shorten stoops to new low on Morrison’s religious beliefs

Scott Morrison’s personal beliefs are being used against him as Bill Shorten seeks to weaponise faith.

This is about as low as political debate can get in Australia: Scott Morrison’s personal beliefs are being used against him as Labor seeks to weaponise faith, as well as mobilising the worst aspects of the same-sex marriage debate.

It’s a dangerous tactic and one the Prime Minister will find difficult to fend off without being distracted, but it is also a sign that Labor is desperate and seeking to energise younger voters who may be drifting to the Greens and independents.

Bill Shorten yesterday volunteered at a press conference that he considered the Prime Minister’s refusal to comment on his religious beliefs was part of “propositions being put that are being advanced that gay people are going to go to hell”.

“I cannot believe that the Prime Minister has not immediately said that gay people will not go to hell,” Shorten declared after Morrison declined to respond to questions about gays going to hell because his faith was a personal matter.

This demand came only a week after Shorten had agreed with Morrison in the leaders debate not to talk about the views of rugby star Israel Folau that drunks, adulterers and homosexuals would go to hell, and admitted he felt “uneasy” about Folau facing a penalty for expressing his views. After raising the issue himself yesterday, Shorten immediately said he didn’t believe gays would go to hell and that the “nation’s got to stop eating itself in this sort of madness of division and toxicity”.

But all the division and toxicity was coming from Labor after Morrison earlier said, “I never mix my religion and politics”.

Mark Dreyfus spontaneously offered that Morrison was leading “a party of the extreme right”, with homophobic views and asked, “How hard is it for Scott Morrison to actually condemn the view that gay people are going to hell?”

Penny Wong said it was “pretty odd” Morrison couldn’t answer a “straight question” and inferred he didn’t believe in equality. This was a co-ordinated response to exploit Morrison’s religious beliefs and sought to revive the divisions of the same-sex marriage debate and bring “the millennials” back to Labor.

In the NSW state election, Labor discovered too late that the young vote had not delivered for the ALP as expected.

With the over-50s angry at Labor over the “retirees tax” and superannuation changes, Labor needs the 18- to -34-year-olds but there are signs they are supporting the Greens and disproportionately giving the “middle finger” vote to the main parties through Clive Palmer’s Trumpian appeal.

Morrison has responded with a straight declaration that he doesn’t believe gays will go to hell and that Shorten’s shot was cheap and desperate. It was the only response available and was right on both counts.