Rugby Australia damaged its own brand by sacking Israel Folau: Christian Porter

Christian Porter says Rugby Australia’s handling of the Israel Folau case has damaged its brand.

Israel Folau during his playing career with the Wallabies. PICTURE: AFP

Christian Porter says Rugby Australia’s handling of the Israel Folau saga has damaged its brand as the Attorney-General embarks on a national roadshow to sell his religious discrimination bill.

Religious leaders have been scathing of the proposed Religious Discrimination Act and the lack of consultation over the bill, but Mr Porter says he will act to quell fears in consultations across the country.

Mr Porter argued this morning that his decision to model protections for religious Australians on current anti-discrimination laws would be better placed to protect people like Folau — the rugby star who was fired for sharing a social media post which said gay people would go to hell.

He also accused Rugby Australia and other big businesses of “busybodying” and said the new laws would force companies to prove they would be financially harmed by employees’ religious expressions.

“Under this model there are very clear guardrails to the types of situations we anticipate,” he told Sydney’s 2GB radio.

“Ultimately the question the courts might have to decide in a Israel Folau-Rugby Australia type situation was the rule that was applied to all employees — which Israel Folau had a problem with — was that rule in all that circumstances reasonable?

“One of the reasons that larger companies are getting in the business of busy-bodying around people’s private lives is that they argue that something may be said or done in private which might damage the ‘brand’ of the organisation and cause them financial hardship.

“That might be a justification but you should have to show that.”

“And some people could argue that Rugby Australia’s handling has caused more financial damage than the actual issue that arose in the first place.”

Some senior religious leaders expressed concern over what they described as “holes” in the proposed legislation, pointing to the fact the bill would not override laws in state jurisdictions or prevent some religious doctors from being compelled to refer on patients to receive abortions.

While the government has included an “Israel Folau” provision in its legislation, aimed at preventing staff at large companies from being dismissed for expressing religious views outside the workplace, religious leaders warned the protection was too limited.

Australian Christian Lobby managing director Martyn Iles, who has been closely associated with the rugby union star’s case, said: “There is no robust protection for people such as Israel Folau or (Catholic Archbishop of Hobart) Julian Porteous. To suppress rugby players’ freedom of religious expression, Rugby Australia would merely have to say, as they did in Israel Folau’s case, that it was ­seeking to avoid ‘unjustifiable ­financial hardship’ for a sacking to be justified.”

The Attorney-General will attempt to calm the fears of religious leaders in a national roadshow that will start in Melbourne next week before heading to Sydney.

“You can go on the Attorney-General’s Department website, you can put in written submissions, you can telephone my office,” he told 2GB radio.

“We’ll publicly show when we’re doing road show events. We’ll be starting in Melbourne next Tuesday and then Sydney on Wednesday.

“The consultations look like old-fashioned sitting around the table and talking through the legislation section by section and receiving people’s views.”