Vince Connelly (Stirling, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Australians pride ourselves on being fiercely patriotic and free. In fact, we also have a spirit of egalitarianism. As a former army officer, I can attest that we were always very familiar with our troops—much more so than, for example, the British. We also have tall poppy syndrome, which can be a bit extreme at times, but what it signals is that we're letting each other know that we see ourselves as equals. For my part, as a parliamentarian, for example—I'm sure everyone in this place is the same—when we walk down the street, we just think we're normal people, and, certainly, that's the way others treat us.

That is why it is important to acknowledge that politicians are fallible. It's important to acknowledge that we do not have any God-like skills. We cannot see the future. But, when we do realise that we can do things better, that's when we change, we pivot and we make different policies. The very last thing that suits our national psyche, then, is that we should elevate ourselves as politicians to being the champions and, in fact, the arbiters of thought. Some other nations around the world think this is actually a great idea. For example, the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China has, in his own image, proclaimed Xi Jinping thought, and this centralised thought is being leveraged to practise socialist core values, including Marxism, communism and socialism, with Chinese characteristics. Comparatively, here in Australia, we are committed to upholding the beliefs of our democracy. We cherish fair elections, equal opportunity and the fundamental freedoms—freedom of speech, freedom of religion and freedom of association.

The Morrison government is steadfastly committed to these beliefs. However, I am disappointed to report that it appears that there is at least one state government which is not. I was greatly troubled to learn that a group was being barred from hiring a publicly owned venue in Western Australia. The Perth Theatre Trust manages the Albany Entertainment Centre and a range of other facilities on behalf of the WA government. The trust's policy states that government owned facilities not be used where the views of certain individuals do not represent the views of the Western Australian government. By this measure, anyone who disagrees with WA Labor would be denied the lease of a whole range of public venues to meet and discuss their views. So who was this organisation which so offended the sensibilities of the WA Labor government? It was the Australian Christian Lobby, hardly a bastion of evil.

We worry, rightly, when the Chinese government imposes its thought upon its people, and we must fight this practice here on our own soil. If it weren't for Western Australians raising their voices in absolute protest, this policy would never have been overturned. The Morrison government, on the other hand, believes absolutely that all Australians should be able to participate fully in our Australian democracy, regardless of their religious beliefs, and to operate within the confines of Australian law. This is why we've prepared a draft package of legislation to implement recommendations from the religious freedom review, including a religious discrimination bill. The government has conducted two rounds of extensive public consultations, and here in this place, as parliamentarians, we have contributed as well. Around 13,000 submissions have been received regarding the draft legislation across 2019 and 2020.

More recently, I've been communicating with faith leaders, including Margaret Court at Victory Life church, Mark Varughese at Kingdom City, and Dr Rateb Jneid, who is the national president of the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils. All of these faith leaders have said: 'Vince, please get on with the job. Please get out there and protect our religious freedoms.' And that's absolutely what this government is committed to doing. We are working hard to bring forward this legislation this year.

This bill will protect Australians from religious discrimination just as we are protected from discrimination based on our age, our sex, our race or any disability. We made that commitment and we are keeping it, because religious discrimination still exists in Australia. It is being displayed by the likes of WA Labor, who are trying to suffocate the free speech and, it seems, thought of my fellow Western Australians. The Morrison government will stand up and protect our cherished but seemingly fragile democracy. (Time expired)

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