The Australian government will revise its religious discrimination laws and issue a second version of the draft bill of the Religious Discrimination Act before the end of the year.
The bill will then be introduced to the Australian Parliament in 2020. The Australian Parliament will next week sit for the final time in 2019.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the decision was made earlier this week and will allow further opportunity for further engagement for interested parties, saying that it’s “about listening and getting this right.”
“Our government takes the issue of discrimination against Australians for their religious beliefs very seriously,” Morrison said in a statement on Saturday, reported AAP.
“We made a commitment to Australians to address this issue at the last election and we are keeping faith with that commitment in a calm and considered process.”
“They’ll be some who’ll try and make this process more difficult or be opportunistic or try and derail it. They’re not engaging in good faith,” he later added. “I’m engaging in good faith with the Australian people and people of all different beliefs to ensure we can get this law right. It’s an important protection for our society in Australia.”
Morrison’s latest statements came as nine newspapers on Saturday reported that religious leaders are threatening to withdraw support from the bill unless greater freedoms are granted to Australians of faith.
According to SMH, the groups include the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney, the Anglican Diocese of Sydney, the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, the Australian National Imams Council, the Greek Orthodox Church in Australia, the Australian Christian Lobby, Christian Schools Australia and Seventh-day Adventist, Baptist, and Presbyterian leaders.
Concetta Fierravanti-Wells, a conservative coalition senator, welcomed the delay to revise the bill.