Olympian Ian Thorpe has spoken out against Scott Morrison’s contentious religious freedom Bill, warning it will allow for “state-sanctioned discrimination”.
The swimming icon and activist told reporters in Canberra that the Bill had “no friends” in parliament and urged the government to make it disappear.
“What this is, is it becomes a state-sanctioned discrimination,” Mr Thorpe said.
“To give rights for … people while excluding another group of people, for me, is discrimination. And with that, we should consider what this place that we are in, what it represents and how it represents each and every one of us.”
Mr Thorpe, along with a delegation from Equality Australia, will meet with parliamentarians ahead of the Bill’s return to the lower house.
The legislation was an election promise made by the Prime Minister more than three years ago.
But a major sticking point for LGBT groups, Labor and members within Mr Morrison’s own party is the conflict a statement of belief clause will have with the Sex Discrimination Act.
Of concern is that religious schools would be able to discriminate against students based on their sexuality or gender identity.
Mr Morrison on Tuesday stood by his Bill “100 per cent” and said parliament would deal with amendments to the Sex Discrimination Act to not allow discrimination on the basis of sexuality.
However, Finance Minister Simon Birmingham on Tuesday confirmed that any protections would not apply to transgender students.
“Those other matters will be still be subject to a relatively quick review by the Australian Law Reform Commission to try and address the best way to be able to enact any other changes without undermining certain issues arounxjmtzywd same-sex schools,” he told ABC RN.
Equality Australia said the sudden shift in language caught them off guard, especially after Mr Morrison made reference to gender identity in addition to sexuality when he introduced the legislation to parliament.
“It’s a complete failure by the Prime Minister to live up to these commitments that he made as long as 3½ years ago,” chief executive Anna Brown said.
“This proposal this morning, five minutes to midnight, is woefully inadequate and leaves really vulnerable children in our community subject to discrimination when they should be safe and nourished in school environments that support them.”
As it stands, the Bill has a narrow path to passing. While Labor has offered its conditional support, it is yet to release their final position.
