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Conservative Coalition MPs emboldened by strong support from religious voters at the election are pushing the Morrison government to make bolder and more consequential changes in forthcoming laws designed to enshrine and bolster religious freedoms. Former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce wants laws to exempt religious beliefs from employment contracts - effectively a law that would have stopped Rugby Australia sacking Israel Folau over a social media post suggesting gay people go to hell. "You can't bring people's faith beliefs into a contract," Mr Joyce said. "Your own views on who god is, where god is or whether there's a god should remain your own personal views and not part of any contractual obligation." Attorney-General Christian Porter is expected to present a Religious Discrimination Act to the Parliament as soon as July, acting on a pre-election commitment to boost protections for people of faith against discrimination and vilification. But some Coalition MPs believe the election results - including significant swings away from Labor in highly religious seats - underline the case for bolder reforms to enshrine freedoms other than freedom from discrimination. Liberal senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells - who worked extensively with faith leaders to galvanise the support of religious voters before and during the campaign - said the election marked a "new dawn" on religious freedom. She called for a standalone Religious Freedom Act that would give greater legal heft to the demands set out by church leaders, Christian schools and other faith-based institutions. Senator Fierravanti-Wells also said the government need not await the findings of a review being undertaken by the Australian Law Reform Commission into exemptions to anti-discrimination laws currently enjoyed by religious schools. "Whilst the ALRC is not due to report until [April] 2020 given its diverse and broad terms of reference, I believe that the recent election has reinforced the need for more immediate legislative action," she said. "This is vitally important to not only address our concerns but afford protection against these constant incursions from Labor, the Greens and their acolytes. It's a new dawn on this issue." Senator Fierravanti-Wells - who voted against marriage equality when it was legalised in 2017 - said the election results "had their antecedents in the same-sex marriage debate", noting large swings to the government in culturally diverse seats around western Sydney. Mr Joyce, a former Nationals leader, said Folau's sacking "got a lot of people annoyed" during the election campaign. "People were a little bit shocked that someone could lose their job because of what they believe," he said. "It made everyone feel a bit awkward and uneasy." Mr Joyce said he would argue within the Coalition that any religious freedom law should include clauses to prevent employers crafting contracts that could penalise people for their religious beliefs. "That would be my input - but whether it's what other people's views are, I don't know," he said. Such a law should not necessarily be nicknamed "Folau's Law" because it would give the sacked rugby player credit for a law that "should be designed for everybody", Mr Joyce said. Folau has said he is considering his legal options in response to his termination. Late last year, in response to former attorney-general Philip Ruddock's review, Mr Porter pledged to introduce a Religious Discrimination Act and appoint a religious freedom commissioner to the Australian Human Rights Commission. On Wednesday he said religious freedom was a "key issue" in the election campaign due to "enormous concern" about Labor's plans on the issue, and indicated legislation would be a priority when Parliament resumes at the start of July. New Labor leader Anthony Albanese acknowledged his party needed to show greater "respect" to religious views after frontbenchers Chris Bowen and Tony Burke publicly lamented that people of faith had lost trust in Labor and progressive politics. At a Sky News "People's Forum" during the campaign, then Labor leader Bill Shorten turned the tables on a questioner concerned about religious freedom by asking her: "What is it you feel that you can't say now?" The questioner later raised Folau's sacking as an example of people of faith "getting thrown to the lions" because of their views. Liberal senator James Paterson, who has been involved in internal debates over same-sex marriage and religious freedom laws, said the government now had a mandate to deliver what it promised before the election. "Certainly we have a very clear mandate for what is the unfinished business of the last Parliament," he said. "We said we would act on religious freedom and now we have to."

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