Christian Porter has not ruled out holding a national jobs summit between business, unions and Government in his new role as Industrial Relations Minister.

And the issue of religious freedom would be top of the Government agenda in the 46th Parliament. Legislation to better police defamatory material on social media would also be pursued, he said.

The member for Pearce sat down with The West Australian yesterday ahead of being sworn in at Government House today and said he would not discount Bill Shorten’s idea of holding a jobs summit to ensure all major players in the employment sector worked cohesively together — resulting in more jobs for West Australians.

“I’m not saying I will or won’t do that, but what I will be doing initially is talking to the key employer and employee bodies individually and separately and listening to what they have to say,” Mr Porter said.

Mr Shorten pledged the summit at The West Australian’s Leadership Matters breakfast in the last week of the election campaign and said it would be held in Perth by early June.

“You might have opportunities arise down the track (for a summit) but the process I have followed in other portfolios has been to speak with key organisations individually and just listen to them in the first instance,” Mr Porter said.

He said unions were “an accepted part of the landscape” but singled out the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union as a “lawless organisation” that needed to be curbed.

Mr Porter, who is also continuing as Attorney General, said one of the first acts of a re-elected Morrison Government would be putting a religious freedom Bill to Parliament.

“There was enormous concern in religious Australia,” he said about what Labor would do in government to religious freedoms. “From schools to churches to groups any way involved in organised religion. They were concerned and we saw it become a key issue during the election.”

Mr Porter said the legislation in response to the Ruddock Expert Panel on Religious Freedom report would be put to Parliament when it returned, likely in July.