Hi petitioners! Over the weekend, I wrote to you about the Religious Discrimination bill. THANK YOU to the nearly 800 of you who wrote to your MPs and Senators. But we need thousands of us to be emailing if we want to stop the Religious Discrimination bill this week.
If you haven’t yet written, please take a moment to do so now!
As we saw last week at Citipointe College, if this bill goes through schools, workplaces and service settings will be emboldened and empowered to impose their beliefs on parents, teachers, students, or customers. This Bill will divide Australians.
Federal MPs will be called to debate this bill TOMORROW - now is our last chance to tell the people who represent us how we feel.
If you’re short of time, you can use the quick, pre-written template we’ve provided (it’s always better to use your own words though - just remember to remain polite and respectful)
Here are some starting points if you did want to draft your own personal email:
- “Please do not support the Religious Discrimination bill. This bill is already dividing the parliament and if passed, it will divide the country along religious lines.”
- “I am particularly concerned about the Statement of Beliefs clause. This will give religious speech special privileges over and above any other form of speech.”
- “This bill would allow the Commonwealth government to override existing State discrimination laws – unlike any other Commonwealth anti-discrimination law.”
- “This bill gives in to the lobbying of a small group of fundamentalist religious activists. The majority of religious Australians do not agree with them.”
- “If this bill becomes law, a person who feels they have been discriminated against will have to go to the Federal court to have their case heard (a very expensive process) rather than having it heard in a free, state-based tribunal.”
- “If this bill goes through, there’ll be more Citipointe Colleges, demanding parents, teachers and students sign up to their fundamentalist worldviews.”
Click here to send your email to MPs and Senators.
If your MP is a Liberal or National, you might want to emphasise how important this issue is to you and ask them to join with their moderate colleagues who are bravely taking a stand against the bill.
If your MP is Labor, you might want to emphasise how essential it is that Labor take a firm stand on this issue. Remind them that supporting this deeply flawed Bill is not the pathway for Australia to ensure people of faith are free from discrimination.
If your MP is a crossbencher/independent, ask them to represent you on the floor of Parliament and stand against this Bill.
Thank you so much for your action!
Emma