Prime Minister Scott Morrison says he will consult with Labor on the design of the promised religious discrimination act and pledged to introduce the laws to parliament this year.

Key points: Prime Minister Scott Morrison says he will discuss the proposed religious discrimination act with Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese

Prime Minister Scott Morrison says he will discuss the proposed religious discrimination act with Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese Mr Morrison says he believes China's leader Xi Jinping has an "affection for Australia"

Mr Morrison says he believes China's leader Xi Jinping has an "affection for Australia" The prime minister says he is confident the crossbench will support the Government's tax cut package

In an interview on 7.30, Mr Morrison said he wanted to talk to his Coalition colleagues about the scope of the laws, as well as the Opposition.

"I'm catching up with the leader of the Opposition this week," Mr Morrison said.

He said he would raise a "number of issues" with Anthony Albanese where he thought the two major parties could work together.

Asked whether the laws would shield someone like Israel Folau from being sacked for the remarks he made on social media, Mr Morrison said he was reluctant to comment on the Folau case because it would soon be before the courts.

But Mr Morrison said generally employers needed to have "reasonable" expectations of their employees.

He said there was a balance to be struck, but employers should not "impinge on areas of private practice and private belief".

The Government has signalled the religious discrimination act will be similar to Australia's other discrimination laws, which protect people from being disadvantaged — mostly in the employment space — because of their age, race, gender, sexuality or disability.

Mr Morrison said he hoped the debate would be "sensible" and "adult", and not derailed by "extreme examples".

Xi has 'affection' for Australia, says Morrison

Asked what he discussed with China's leader Xi Jinping at the G20 leaders' summit, Mr Morrison said they talked about "the future of our relationship, ensuring that it remained positive".

"I made it very clear that Australia welcomes the strength of the Chinese economy."

The Prime Minister said Australia and China would never agree on everything, but he would not let the relationship be "defined by our differences" or viewed exclusively through the "binary" prism of the US-China dispute.

"President Xi has been to every state of Australia. He has a keen interest and, I believe, affection for Australia."

PM confident crossbench will back tax plan

The Coalition is pressuring Labor to support the entirety of its income tax plan, but the ALP is holding firm in its opposition to the third and final stage, which would significantly flatten the tax system in 2024 so that everyone earning between $45,000 and $200,000 per year would pay no more than 30 per cent in tax.

Asked to name the crossbenchers he considered safe supporters of the plan, the Prime Minister said: "This will become clearer as the week progresses."

He confirmed the legislation would be introduced on Tuesday evening, the first sitting day of the 46th parliament.

With Labor opposed, the Government needs four crossbenchers to support the laws to clear the Senate. Cory Bernardi, a conservative independent and former Liberal, is likely to support the Government.

That means the Government needs to win three from the remaining five: the two One Nation senators, the two Centre Alliance senators, and Tasmanian independent Jacqui Lambie.