Hi Petitioners. I am delighted to bring you the update that the Religious Discrimination Bill has been indefinitely shelved. It will be very unlikely to be reintroduced again before the upcoming election.
It was thanks to each of your voices that we sent a powerful collective message to those who represent us: Thousands of you wrote to your MPs and Senators, delivering 47,000+ inbox hits to those decision-makers in just a matter of days!
An enormous thank you to each of you who signed this petition, who helped spread the word, who wrote to your MP or who marched in protest of this bill.
In a nutshell: what happened?
The Religious Discrimination Bill went to debate in the lower house last week.
In a remarkable move, Liberal MPs Bridget Archer, Trent Zimmerman, Katie Allen, Fiona Martin and Dave Sharma crossed the floor against the government, in favour of adding protections for LGBTQ+ students into the Sex Discrimination Act.
As the first openly gay man in the House of Representatives, Liberal MP Trent Zimmerman addressed the parliament courageously: “I cannot support a situation where we solve a problem for one community but in fact enhance a problem for another.”
Additionally, Labor senator Stephen Jones delivered a passionate plea to parliament, in honour of his nephew who only last week had taken his own life: “he was uncertain about his gender and struggled with his mental health. Clearly, the love and acceptance of his family and friends was not enough”.
After a tumultuous debate in the lower house ending in a 5 am vote, things were looking grim: the Religious Discrimination Bill had passed. While some protections had been conceded to protect gay students from expulsion – trans students and LGBTIQ staff were left in the lurch.
Only hours later, the bill was shelved by the Senate, who called for another inquiry into further amendments to the bill. At least five liberal senators had threatened to cross the floor.
What happens now?
With only three sitting days left for the Senate before the upcoming election and a pending inquiry, it is almost impossible that the bill will be reintroduced before the next election. The future of the bill remains unknown- I’ll send updates about the upcoming inquiry in due course.
Again, thank you to every one of you who stood up for the rights of women, people with a disability, the LGBTIQ community, people of minority faiths and many more.
In us all coming together and speaking out about the injustices of this bill, we’ve been able to help shape the future!
Emma