Login
Religious Discrimination Bill should be abandoned, Michael Kirby says
The Religious Discrimination Bill has been rejected on all fronts, with one of its biggest contenders being former justice of the High Court Michael Kirby who warned there are consequences of the bill that would see an active facilitation of ignorance.
Naomi Neilson
The federal government’s release of the second draft religious bill has fallen short of its intention to protect people of faith from discrimination and puts the nation in danger of being divided based on negative and intolerant behaviours in community areas.
“The government should heed the chorus of opposition to this law and abandon the ill-conceived measure,” Mr Kirby wrote in an opinion piece for Nine Entertainment.
He added: “All Australians – whether they practice a religion, are ‘lapsed’ or belong to the quickly swelling ranks of those declaring ‘no religion’ – could be worse off on these grounds of religious belief. This is not a bill to protect Australians from discrimination.
“Instead, it actively fosters intolerance and will work to divide rather than unite.”
Speaking to Lawyers Weekly, Mr Kirby said Australia should continue to be protesting against unfair laws, including this Religious Discrimination Bill. He said lawyers should be involved in human rights bodies and “become leaders” in driving change.
Mr Kirby added it was just as important, if not more, that law students protest the unjust laws: “There are plenty of issues that students should be giving the lead on. As in my time, leading the rest of the population to see what needs to be done.”
Joining his protesting of the bill is Australian Lawyers for Human Rights (ALHR):
“ALHR supports a Religious Discrimination Act which provides protections against religious discrimination in areas of public life including employment, education, and membership of sporting clubs. However, the second exposure draft of the RDB does not does not remedy the significant concerns raised by ALHR in our prior submission on the first exposure draft. Nor does it address the overarching concerns raised in our 2018 submissions regarding ‘religious freedom’ issues. The Bill remains seriously flawed and is inconsistent with Australia’s international human rights law obligations.
"ALHR submits that the RDB Bills should be rejected in their entirety."
“The laws will [put] Australian against Australian and divide us just when we need to pull together to face unprecedented national crisis,” Dr Meredith Doig said, adding that the bill is “unnecessary, unwelcome and divisive” and law markers should reject it.
Naomi Neilson
Naomi Neilson is a senior journalist with a focus on court reporting for Lawyers Weekly.
You can email Naomi at:
