Legal thinktank Freedom For Faith (FFF) has gathered commitments made by parties at candidate forums organised by FFF.
Faith based schools In response to concerns about a minority Labor-Greens government and faith-based schools, Minister Chris Bowen (in a forum held at Tyndale Christian School) reiterated the commitment that the issue would be handled in a bipartisan way with the Coalition:
“yes, we [Labor] do support the right of religious schools, in particular, but also charities, health providers, and other organisations to preference members of their own faith. We need to work carefully through that with existing discrimination laws, we would do that … in consultation and conjunction with the opposition”
On Tuesday, Communications Minister Michelle Rowland ruled out a renewed misinformation / disinformation bill.
You will recall that this was the bill that incentivised private digital media companies to censor “misinformation” at the risk of multi-million dollar (even billion-dollar) fines. Even with the improvements and religious exemptions in the second draft, the definition of misinformation was so broad that risk-adverse private companies would inevitably over-censor religious discussion and debate.
When asked whether the bill would be re-introduced in the next parliament, Minister Rowland said: “Will it be brought again to the Parliament? No… it was not successful, we will not be pursuing it.
Chaplains
The Australian Christian Lobby has welcomed the Coalition’s election commitment to increase funding for the National School Chaplaincy Program by $42.6 million over the next three years. “This funding boost recognises the incredible value chaplains bring to school communities,” said Michelle Pearse, CEO of the Australian Christian Lobby. “At a time when young people are facing increasing mental health and social challenges, the presence of a trusted, caring adult—rooted in faith—has never been more important. This is a commitment to real, practical support for students across Australia.”