Church against draft anti-discrimination laws
Canberra Times. The Catholic Church says the draft anti-discrimination laws fail by not recognising religious freedom is a fundamental human right, not a special permission to discriminate granted by government. The church also maintains it should be allowed to refuse to employ a teacher who argues publicly against church teachings or ''lives in such a way to challenge'' those teachings. The views will be put to Thursday's hearing of a Senate committee holding its first public session in an inquiry into the government's draft of the Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination Bill 2012. The draft legislation aims to amalgamate five existing statutes covering age, disability, race, sex and other forms of discrimination into a single statute. Father Brian Lucas, general secretary of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, will tell the hearing governments are obliged to ensure freedom of religion and the freedom to manifest religious beliefs in public is rec