The policy willabandon a previous election pledge on fuel standards out of concern over a possible Coalition scare campaign on petrol prices.

With both sides preparing new attack lines for the campaign,Labor used question time to blame the government for higher costs for working families with a claim household petrol costs had risen by up to $900 in a year while real wages had fallen by $700.

Mr Morrison hit back with a list of products and services where prices had fallen over the past three years or risen at lower rates than they did in a similar period when Labor was in power,claiming this included electricity,fuel,clothing,communications and housing.

“Our strong economic management will always ensure Australians will be better off than they would be under the Labor Party,and they’ll be able to keep more of what they earn,” Mr Morrison said.

The claim signalled an election pitch based on tax cuts but Mr Albanese pointed to a series of upsets in Parliament over the past fortnight,includingLiberals and Nationals crossing the floor against the government,to claim Mr Morrison had lost the ability to govern.

With another rebellion in sight,the government droppedplans to bring its religious freedom proposal to a vote in the House of Representatives on Thursday because Liberal MPs including Bridget Archer,Warren Entsch and Trent Zimmerman wanted more time.

The delay means the Religious Discrimination Act is unlikely to pass before the election,with Liberals at odds over the impact on gay and lesbian Australians and Labor holding out until it sees the results of an inquiry due to report on February 4,leaving few sitting weeks to decide on the bill even if the election is in May.

Seeking to win over more Liberals to the plan,the Prime Minister added a provision to remove Section 38 (3) of the Sex Discrimination Act,scrapping an exemption that allows religious schools to suspend or expel LGBTQI students.

The offer was a win for four Liberals who pushed for the changes – Katie Allen,Angie Bell,Fiona Martin and Dave Sharma – and will be kept as part of the package when debate resumes next year.

A separate exemption will remain,however,so religious schools can hire or fire teachers and other workers on the basis of their sex,sexual orientation,gender identity,marital or relationship status.

Christian Schools Australia rejected the plan to change the rules on students in order to pass the Religious Discrimination Act,saying the “shady back room deals” should not wipe out the ability to teach in accordance with a religious faith.

The association said there were “reasonable expectations on student behaviour” and the government should continue with its earlier plan for a review into exemptions over the next year.

Equality Australia said the exemptions around LGBTQI students should be scrapped as soon as possible but the Religious Discrimination Act should to be opposed or delayed.

“If MPs care about preserving protections for marginalised communities,they must oppose this Religious Discrimination Bill or at least send it to an inquiry to consider before debating it,” Equality Australia chief Anna Brown said.

The government did not introduce its bill to set up a Commonwealth Integrity Commission and dropped its bill to require identification from voters at elections,in a deal with Labor that passed new rules for political campaigners including some charities to disclose their spending.

The government claimed progress on the Crimes Amendment (Remissions of Sentences) Bill,which was passed by the Senate and will prevent authorities reducing the sentences of terrorist offenders and anyone else subject to a sentence under federal law.

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