Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has angered both equality advocates and faith groups after abandoning his election promise to introduce religious discrimination reforms and protect LGBTQ students and teachers in a bid to avoid a culture war. Source: Sydney Morning Herald.
The Greens on Tuesday accused Mr Albanese of cowardice, Equality Australia said he had overlooked LGBTQ Australians, and the Australian Christian Lobby said he had let down people of faith after the Prime Minister confirmed Labor would not seek to resolve the long-running issue in this term of government.
Labor went to the last election vowing to introduce a religious discrimination act while also scrapping faith-based schools’ right to sack staff and expel students because of their gender or sexuality – an issue that plagued the former Morrison government.
Mr Albanese’s desertion of the pledge is an attempt to stop a divisive debate on religious freedoms when tensions in the community are already running high, and stave off a campaign against Labor by conservative Christian groups who had argued the new laws would not allow schools to maintain communities of faith.
But it means Labor leaves in place a controversial exemption in the Sex Discrimination Act that permits religious schools to discriminate against students and staff based on their gender, sexuality, marital or pregnancy status.
It also leaves religious Australians without an anti-discrimination act, although the Government is advancing separate criminal laws to protect people against hate speech.
The Australian Christian Lobby was also disappointed the Albanese Government had abandoned the long-promised protections.
“It sends a very negative message indeed to a great number of Australian religious followers, and others who appreciate the need to improve Australia’s human rights protection where it is so obviously lacking,” the lobby’s chief executive, Michelle Pearse, said.
Progressive crossbenchers and the Greens had urged Mr Albanese to work with them to pass legislation. But the Government refused, saying it would only move forward if it had Coalition support to avoid a messy public debate.
Mr Albanese said on Friday the time for securing bipartisan support had lapsed, which meant his government would not introduce the laws it had drafted.
FULL STORY
‘Injustices ignored’: LGBTQ and faith groups fume at PM’s broken promise (By Natassia Chrysanthos, Sydney Morning Herald)
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