DISCRIMINATION IN THE NAME OF FAITH The zealots are on another crusade, this time hoping to resurrect the religious discrimination bill. Christopher Kelly reports. he Christian soldiers are on the march again. Hoping for it to be a case of third time lucky, Australia’s conservative religious groups are pushing for the government to redraft religious discrimination laws in an effort to impose on Australia what amounts to a soft theocracy. Attorney-general Michaelia Cash has stated that religious discrimination laws would be back on the agenda by the end of the year. “Our government,” said Cash, “takes the issue of discrimination
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against Australians on the grounds of their religious beliefs seriously.” That various laws are already in place to protect Australians to practise their faith is by the by. As is the irony of the demand from religious victims of discrimination to be granted legal rights to discriminate against others, in particular those who don’t prescribe to the tenets of their faith — we’re looking at you gay boy. Following concerns voiced by not only human rights and LGBTQ+ groups, but also by the unions, education and health bodies, and people of faith themselves, the two initial attempts at constructing a religious discrimination
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bill failed. This hasn’t deterred conservative hardliners — such as the Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) and Freedom for Faith — campaigning hard for the issue to play front and centre at next year’s federal election. Speaking to Crikey, Greens LGBTQ+ spokesperson Janet Rice said that — as with the two previous drafts — the third attempt at constructing such a bill would be another “Trojan horse for hate”. “This bill isn’t about religious freedom,” said Rice. “It’s about groups like the ACL, and the extreme far-right MPs of Morrison’s party, trying to push their fearmongering ‘culture war’ agenda to rile up their base and
