Right freedom fight

Conservative Coalition MPs hold firm on religious protection

CONSERVATIVE Coalition MPs are threatening to blow up new religious freedom laws if they don’t go far enough to protect people of faith.

But their position puts them out of step with Coalition voters, less than half of whom think there should be stronger protections for people who express religious views in public.

The Morrison Government intends to make it unlawful to discriminate against people based on their religious beliefs, with Labor broadly backing the push. Attorney-General Christian Porter is trying to unite right-wing and moderate members of the Government with differing views on what the legislation should look like.

Mr Porter is offering to show concerned colleagues excerpts of the draft Bill in workshops with backbenchers.

“I’ll be continuing to consult with my colleagues right up to the introduction of the religious discrimination Bill and throughout its consideration by the Parliament,” he said yesterday. “These initial detailed consultations with colleagues will continue over coming weeks and will then shift to religious bodies and other stakeholders.”

Former Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce said he reserved his right to vote against the Bill if he was unhappy with the final product.

Three other, anonymous MPs told The West Australian newspaper they also held concerns. But public sentiment isn’t in favour of stronger laws, with an Essential Research poll yesterday finding less than two in five voters agreed the laws were needed.

Just 16 per cent strongly agreed.

The belief that stronger laws are needed was strongest among Coalition supporters, at 44 per cent.

There was concern across the board about freedom of speech, with nearly two-thirds of respondents agreeing that people were unlikely to say what they really thought from fear of how others would react.