Christian organization fights LGBTI battle
The Australian Christian Lobby is threatening to take the unprecedented step of campaigning against a Coalition government, warning Liberal MPs that it could direct members to support minor right-wing parties if a free vote on gay marriage is allowed in parliament.
The warning from the powerful lobby to hold the line on a plebiscite will be issued today with a petition of 55,000 signatures presented to the Senate. The group will amplify pressure on Coalition MPs — already scorched by the Catholic education campaign against the government’s school-funding reforms — by forming an alliance with Australian Conservatives leader Cory Bernardi, who will seek to table an ACL petition.
The ACL’s move to campaign against the Coalition would be a first for the organisation. ACL managing director Lyle Shelton told The Australian that more than 350,000 emails had been sent by Marriage Alliance and ACL supporters to Coalition MPs calling on the government to keep its promise.
“Same-sex marriage was one of the highest-profile issues during last year’s election campaign,” Mr Shelton said.
“The Liberal floor-crossers are defying the government to break a solemn election commitment to the Australian people. If the Liberal Party cannot provide a pathway to preserving marriage, freedom and gender norms, millions of Australians who support the Marriage Act will have no choice but to look for candidates with the resolve to preserve it.”
Senator Bernardi told The Australian: “What is significant is that 55,000 people are saying ‘where is our voice in the parliament?’ The Coalition has run away from what Australian conservative people represent. The agenda of mainstream Australia has been hijacked by a noisy minority.
“And what these two organisations (ACL and Australian Marriage Alliance) are now telling the Coalition is ‘do not take our support for granted … there is a credible and viable conservative alternative’.”
With the same-sex marriage lobby threatening to challenge in the High Court any moves by the government to pursue a postal plebiscite, the AMA has received legal advice claiming provisions to protect religious freedoms in the gay marriage bill being proposed by Liberal senator Dean Smith were flawed and could put Australia in breach of international obligations. It would also expose faith-based schools that could be stripped of their rights to teach their views of marriage.
“The Smith bill fails to recognise the religious freedom rights of celebrants who, though they are not an ordained minister, wish to express their religious convictions in respect of marriage,” the advice says. “This limitation was not recommended by the Senate committee. The Smith bill therefore limits the rights of individuals in a manner that is inconsistent with the Senate committee’s report. On the foregoing basis, and as Australia has ratified the ICCPR, the Smith bill breaches Australia’s obligations in international law.”
The analysis warns that schools with religious affiliations would not be protected under the bill.
“While religious ministers are protected, the bill fails to give any protection to the free speech of faith-based schools, or their employees and governing members,” the advice says.
“There is thus a real question as to whether such bodies will lose the ability to teach their view of marriage.
“This is because the Smith bill refers to section 37 of the Sex Discrimination Act 1984. Faith-based schools are exempted under section 38 of that act. There is thus a real question as to whether the religious freedom rights of faith-based schools are protected by the Smith Bill.”
Institute for Civil Society executive director Mark Sneddon, a board member of Freedom for Faith, yesterday warned there were holes in Australia’s discrimination regime that would be exacerbated by the legislation of same-sex marriage.
He called for urgent changes to strengthen religious freedoms, noting that in NSW, South Australia and federal jurisdictions there were still no protections for people under anti-discrimination laws on the basis of their religious belief or practice.
“I’m very concerned about it,” Mr Sneddon said. “This has also had an implication for charities which also have a religious basis for example … Every Catholic adoption charity in England in Wales has either closed down or transferred its business to a secular adoption agency.”
Mr Sneddon said this was a much broader problem than the narrow religious protections offered in Senator Smith’s private members bill, which allows civil celebrants to decline to marry same-sex couples and religious organisations the right to refuse their facilities for use in same-sex weddings.
