What makes Folau’s case unique is that it sets up a clash between employment contract law and legal protections against discrimination on the basis of religion.
Christian leaders warned of ‘persecution’ with a Labor government. Now that the Coalition has won the election, conservative Christians may demand Morrison deliver on more of their agenda.
The government is spruiking its commitment to religious freedom and freedom of speech, as well as its successes on tackling inequality. Its record, however, leaves much to be desired.
The language of the neutral and secular state in Bill 21, like its precursors, presumes an invisible Christian default for the rules around public expressions of religiosity.
We must acknowledge that shifting historically vulnerable groups away from the margins means making room in spaces where these groups have not traditionally been welcomed.
Wounded Knee is among the worst massacres in Native American history, when in 1890 the US military shot and killed 146 unarmed men, women and children in South Dakota.
In the lead up to next week’s ALP national conference, which Shorten
needs to run smoothly, the government has been trying to exploit what
it sees as a Labor weak point – border protection.
While pushing for changes to increase protections for religious belief, the government has not yet answered if that should extend to being allowed to discriminate against LGBTI people.
Christian right groups in Canada may not have the same resources as their American counterparts. They are, nonetheless, attracting supporters by borrowing some U.S. tactics.
The fundamental point is that those were desperate days for the Coalition and so are these. “McMahon was in survival mode,” says author Patrick Mullins. The same could be said of Morrison.
Public opinion polls and a survey of Australian youth show there’s little support for allowing schools to hire or fire teachers based on their sexual orientation.
Some Liberals who agitated for action on religious freedom might be starting to appreciate that the best stand for a conservative can sometimes be to just leave things alone.
The latest national polls come just days out from Saturday’s Wentworth byelection, which will determine whether the Coalition is forced into minority government.