James Paterson says bakers should be allowed to boycott gay weddings, and there will be ‘no time’ to amend laws after postal survey result

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

Parliament must decide how to protect religious freedom if same-sex marriage is legalised, and cannot wait until the marriage equality postal survey is finished, the Liberal senator James Paterson has said.

The Victorian senator has called for an overhaul of anti-discrimination law to allow service providers to refuse gay weddings, telling a religious freedom forum in Perth on Thursday there will be no time to deal with the issue after the survey is finished.

The comments escalate an internal dispute between Liberal party conservatives, including Peter Dutton and Tony Abbott, who argue that freedom of speech and religion are at issue in the postal survey, and moderates including George Brandis and Christopher Pyne, who consider the issues a distraction from the only issue in the poll: same-sex marriage.

Paterson told the Association for Reformed Political Action that denying a connection between marriage equality and religious liberty would “sidestep the difficult and complex questions this debate raises”.

“There clearly is the potential for the legalisation of same-sex marriage to have flow-on effects for other people’s freedom.”

He argued it was a matter of when – not if – same-sex marriage was legalised, saying the yes campaign was likely to win the survey and that Bill Shorten and Labor would legislate marriage equality if it failed.

He said changing the law “whilst best preserving religious liberty is a task I believe we must now take up”.

“I believe parliament should agree to address this issue before the survey is returned.

“It is particularly important this work begins now, given the very short timeframe envisaged by the government between the result of the survey and the planned parliamentary vote, in the event the vote is carried.”

The government has not said which bill will be used to legalise same-sex marriage if the yes vote succeeds. The possibility of wide-ranging exemptions to discrimination law could raise doubts about the result of a yes vote, and a bill with a right to discriminate against gay weddings risks cross-party support for a marriage bill.

Abbott insists marriage equality a threat to religious freedom after Brandis calls it a ‘trick’ Read more

Paterson called the Liberal senator Dean Smith’s private member’s bill a “good starting point” that did the “bare minimum” by allowing religious ministers to refuse same-sex weddings, but also provided protections for religious civil celebrants and religious schools and other venues.

But Paterson said same-sex marriage would have “implications for people of faith who are not directly connected to religious institutions”. He warned anti-discrimination law would force private citizens who operate businesses in the wedding industry to choose between their beliefs and complying with the law.

Suppliers of goods and services to gay weddings “should be allowed to make that choice without having their basic human rights infringed”, he said.

Paterson called for consideration of a bill drafted by the Liberal Democrat senator, David Leyonhjelm, which would allow bakers to refuse to bake a cake for a gay wedding.

Conservatives including George Christensen and Cory Bernardi have long called for a right of private service providers to refuse gay weddings.

Marriage equality advocates including Rodney Croome and an Australian Marriage Equality spokeswoman, Shirleene Robinson, reject the removal of anti-discrimination laws which protect LGBTI Australians from being discriminated against by businesses or public officials.

GetUp to launch marriage equality campaign tool after electoral rolls close Read more

Paterson also called for anti-discrimination laws in Tasmania, which prohibit offence and insult based on sexuality, gender and religion, to be stripped back.

“I firmly believe it is possible for the parliament to allow both same-sex marriage and at the same time preserve the freedoms of those who have a different view. But it is a task we must first agree to take up.”

The deadline for enrolments to participate in the same-sex marriage postal survey passed on Thursday at midnight. The postal survey faces a high court challenge on 5 and 6 September, before survey forms will be sent out on 12 September.

If the challenge fails, the Turnbull government will look to pass a bill with Labor support to apply electoral law protections to the survey. However, on Thursday the acting special minister of state, Mathias Cormann, rejected a call from the Labor leader, Bill Shorten, to ban foreign donations to the yes and no campaigns for the poll.