“We will work with everyone,including the crossbenchers,on these issues,” he said,in response to a question from independent MP Allegra Spender.
“I have said,though,that we wouldn’t go through a parliamentary committee process. Since 2016,there have been at least 10 inquiries,there have been over 260 hearings and consultations,there have been over 70,000 submissions to committees.
“I’m up for progressing forward on the basis of a bipartisan position,and I hope that that can be achieved. If not,then that will be of course a decision for this parliament as well.”
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton accused Albanese of abandoning an election promise to update the law,but the prime minister told parliament that the Coalition “blew things up” on the weekend when Coalition shadow attorney-general Michaelia Cash attacked the looming changes.
Dreyfus said last month the law against hate speech would be added to the religious discrimination package.
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The new position is to bring forward the hate speech protections in the coming months to assure community groups they will gain stronger protection against antisemitism and Islamophobia and other threats.
The law against doxxing will be part of broader changes to privacy laws that have been in train for months,amid heightened concern after this masthead revealed the maliciousrelease of personal information of Jewish community members.
While Dreyfus has not released draft legislation on religious discrimination,he is expected to release an Australian Law Reform Commission report on the issue on Thursday afternoon,adding new detail to the reform options.
Asked several times on Wednesday if he planned to shelve the religious discrimination changes,Dreyfus said he was seeking a bipartisan outcome.
The previous government sought to change the discrimination laws but failed twice because it did not want to act on the treatment of transgender students and faced objections from Labor,the Greens and the crossbench.
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Liberal MP Bridget Archer,who crossed the floor against the previous government to block its changes in early 2022,said she was disappointed Labor was not acting.
“Kicking the can down the road is not helpful to people who want some certainty around these issues,” she told ABC Radio National on Wednesday morning.
Independent senator David Pocock is meeting church groups and equality campaigners on Wednesday and said the government could win support in the upper house if it wanted to increase the protection for people on the basis of their sexuality or gender.
“The reality is that there is a Labor government and there is a progressive senate and the community wants strong action on a range of issues that the Coalition at the moment seems unwilling to give,” he said.
“So I’d love to see the government show us what they’re planning. We can consult and see where that lands.”
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