Summary

Edit

The majority voted against a motion to disagree with an amendment to the usual second reading motion, which is "that the bill be read a second time" - parliamentary jargon for agreeing with the main idea of the bill. Because this motion passed, the second reading motion will remain unchanged.

The amendment was introduced by Clark MP Andrew Wilkie (Independent). There was one rebellion, with Bass MP Bridget Archer (Liberal) crossing the floor to vote 'No' against the rest of her party, who voted 'Yes.'

Note that the electorates of Clark and Bass are both in Tasmania and that MP Wilkie's amendment was Tasmania-specific.

Amendment text

That all words after "That" be omitted with a view to substituting the following words:

"the House declines to give the bill a second reading and notes that:

(1) this bill will have a greater negative impact on Tasmania than any other state or territory because our anti-discrimination legislation is currently the best in the country; and

(2) the Tasmanian Anti-Discrimination Act 1998 has the full support of the Tasmanian Parliament and been strongly endorsed by the Liberal Premier the Hon Peter Gutwein MP"

What does the bill do?

According to the bill homepage, the bill was introduced with the Religious Discrimination (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2021 and Human Rights Legislation Amendment Bill 2021 in order to:

  • prohibit discrimination on the basis of a person’s religious belief or activity in a range of areas of public life, including in relation to employment, education, access to premises and the provision of goods, services and accommodation;
  • establish general and specific exceptions from the prohibition of religious discrimination;
  • provide that certain statements of belief do not constitute discrimination for the purposes of certain specified Commonwealth, state or territory anti-discrimination laws;
  • create offences in relation to victimisation and discriminatory advertisements;
  • establish the office of the Religious Discrimination Commissioner;
  • confer certain functions on the Australian Human Rights Commission; and
  • provide for miscellaneous matters including delegation of powers or functions, protection from civil actions and a review of the operation of the Act.

SBS News has provided a good summary of the more controversial parts of the bill, including an explanation for each rebellion that occurred during the long debate. According to this summary, the key areas for concern were:

  • the parts of the bill that allowed religious schools to discriminate on the basis of sexuality and gender identity;
  • the "statement of belief" that seems to protect people expressing religious beliefs even if they're offensive and therefore seem to override existing anti-discrimination protections; and
  • the fact that the bill does not outlaw vilification of people of faith.

Votes Passed by a large majority

There was 1 rebellion in this division.

Party Votes
Adam Bandt Melbourne Australian Greens No
Australian Labor Party (53% turnout) 36 Yes 0 No
Anthony Albanese Grayndler Yes
Chris Bowen McMahon Yes
Tony Burke Watson Yes
Linda Burney Barton Yes
Josh Burns Macnamara Yes
Terri Butler Griffith Yes
Anthony Byrne Holt Yes
Lisa Chesters Bendigo Yes
Sharon Claydon Newcastle Yes
Libby Coker Corangamite Yes
Pat Conroy Shortland Yes
Milton Dick Oxley Yes
Mark Dreyfus Isaacs Yes
Justine Elliot Richmond Yes
Mike Freelander Macarthur Yes
Steve Georganas Adelaide Yes
Andrew Giles Scullin Yes
Patrick Gorman Perth Yes
Chris Hayes Fowler Yes
Julian Hill Bruce Yes
Stephen Jones Whitlam Yes
Ged Kearney Cooper Yes
Andrew Leigh Fenner Yes
Richard Marles Corio Yes
Kristy McBain Eden-Monaro Yes
Emma McBride Dobell Yes
Brendan O'Connor Gorton Yes
Fiona Phillips Gilmore Yes
Amanda Rishworth Kingston Yes
Joanne Ryan Lalor Yes
David Smith Bean Yes
Anne Stanley Werriwa Yes
Meryl Swanson Paterson Yes
Susan Templeman Macquarie Yes
Tim Watts Gellibrand Yes
Tony Zappia Makin Yes
Anne Aly Cowan Absent
Sharon Bird Cunningham Absent
Mark Butler Hindmarsh Absent
Jim Chalmers Rankin Absent
Nick Champion Spence Absent
Jason Clare Blaxland Absent
Julie Collins Franklin Absent
Joel Fitzgibbon Hunter Absent
Luke Gosling Solomon Absent
Ed Husic Chifley Absent
Matt Keogh Burt Absent
Peter Khalil Wills Absent
Catherine King Ballarat Absent
Madeleine King Brand Absent
Brian Mitchell Lyons Absent
Rob Mitchell McEwen Absent
Daniel Mulino Fraser Absent
Peta Murphy Dunkley Absent
Shayne Neumann Blair Absent
Clare O'Neil Hotham Absent
Julie Owens Parramatta Absent
Alicia Payne Canberra Absent
Graham Perrett Moreton Absent
Tanya Plibersek Sydney Absent
Michelle Rowland Greenway Absent
Bill Shorten Maribyrnong Absent
Warren Snowdon Lingiari Absent
Matt Thistlethwaite Kingsford Smith Absent
Kate Thwaites Jagajaga Absent
Maria Vamvakinou Calwell Absent
Anika Wells Lilley Absent
Josh Wilson Fremantle Absent
Rebekha Sharkie Mayo Centre Alliance No
Mark Coulton Parkes Deputy Speaker Yes
Craig Kelly Hughes Independent Yes
Helen Haines Indi Independent No
Zali Steggall Warringah Independent No
Andrew Wilkie Clark Independent No
Bob Katter Kennedy Katter's Australian Party Yes
Liberal National Party (80% turnout) 4 Yes 0 No
Angie Bell Moncrieff Yes
Garth Hamilton Groom Yes
Julian Simmonds Ryan Yes
Phillip Thompson Herbert Yes
Terry Young Longman Absent
Liberal Party (81% turnout) 43 Yes 1 No
John Alexander Bennelong Yes
Katie Allen Higgins Yes
Karen Andrews McPherson Yes
Kevin Andrews Menzies Yes
Russell Broadbent Monash Yes
Scott Buchholz Wright Yes
David Coleman Banks Yes
Peter Dutton Dickson Yes
Warren Entsch Leichhardt Yes
Trevor Evans Brisbane Yes
Jason Falinski Mackellar Yes
Paul Fletcher Bradfield Yes
Nicolle Flint Boothby Yes
Josh Frydenberg Kooyong Yes
Ian Goodenough Moore Yes
Alex Hawke Mitchell Yes
Luke Howarth Petrie Yes
Greg Hunt Flinders Yes
Andrew Laming Bowman Yes
Sussan Ley Farrer Yes
Nola Marino Forrest Yes
Fiona Martin Reid Yes
Melissa McIntosh Lindsay Yes
Scott Morrison Cook Yes
Ben Morton Tangney Yes
Ted O'Brien Fairfax Yes
Tony Pasin Barker Yes
Gavin Pearce Braddon Yes
Christian Porter Pearce Yes
Rowan Ramsey Grey Yes
Dave Sharma Wentworth Yes
Tony Smith Casey Yes
James Stevens Sturt Yes
Michael Sukkar Deakin Yes
Angus Taylor Hume Yes
Bert Van Manen Forde Yes
Ross Vasta Bonner Yes
Lucy Wicks Robertson Yes
Rick Wilson O'Connor Yes
Tim Wilson Goldstein Yes
Jason Wood La Trobe Yes
Ken Wyatt Hasluck Yes
Trent Zimmerman North Sydney Yes
Bridget Archer Bass No
Vince Connelly Stirling Absent
Celia Hammond Curtin Absent
Andrew Hastie Canning Absent
Steve Irons Swan Absent
Julian Leeser Berowra Absent
Gladys Liu Chisholm Absent
Melissa Price Durack Absent
Stuart Robert Fadden Absent
Dan Tehan Wannon Absent
Alan Tudge Aston Absent
National Party (67% turnout) 10 Yes 0 No
Darren Chester Gippsland Yes
Pat Conaghan Cowper Yes
Damian Drum Nicholls Yes
David Gillespie Lyne Yes
Kevin Hogan Page Yes
Barnaby Joyce New England Yes
Michelle Landry Capricornia Yes
David Littleproud Maranoa Yes
Michael McCormack Riverina Yes
Keith Pitt Hinkler Yes
George Christensen Dawson Absent
Andrew Gee Calare Absent
Llew O'Brien Wide Bay Absent
Ken O'Dowd Flynn Absent
Anne Webster Mallee Absent
Andrew Wallace Fisher Speaker Absent
Craig Kelly Hughes United Australia Party Absent
Totals (68% turnout) 96 Yes – 6 No