Mark Dreyfus (Isaacs, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Attorney General) Share this | Hansard source

Labor opposes these amendments, which are unrelated to marriage and completely unnecessary. The changes proposed by these amendments are not even being asked for by charitable organisations, which do excellent work and will continue to be able to do so after marriage equality is enacted. Amendment of the Marriage Act will not affect a religious charity's funding. There is no reason why advocacy for a traditional view of marriage which is relevant to a religious charity would affect their funding. There's been quotation by some of the previous speakers from correspondence from the Assistant Charities Commissioner, and the effect of that correspondence is to confirm that this proposed amendment is not necessary. The Taxation Commissioner has also confirmed that this amendment is not necessary, and there has been confirmation of that by Not-For-Profit Law, which provides legal advice to charities.

There's no reason why advocacy for a traditional view of marriage which is relevant to a religious charity would not be for public benefit under Australian law. A charity may advocate on any matter that is relevant to that charity, and a change in the law on the definition of marriage will not change that. The Aid/Watch case, which was a decision of the High Court of Australia, and the Charities Act both protect a charity's right to advocacy as long as it does not take on a party- or candidate-partisan purpose. The exemptions for religious charities from otherwise unlawful discrimination will not change if the definition of marriage changes. There's no reason for religious charities to fear they will be impacted adversely if marriage equality becomes law.

Labor's strong position is that Australians voted to lessen discrimination, not to extend it. We do not object to debates being had about religious freedom, but now is not the time or place. Our priority is achieving marriage equality and we should get on with it.

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