PM to act on religious freedom: Hastie

Liberal MP Andrew Hastie is "very confident" the new prime minister will act on religious freedom, as the public awaits a report into whether it's restricted.

Religious freedom is one of the "bold policy changes" a conservative Liberal MP is expecting under new Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

WA Liberal Andrew Hastie says Mr Morrison's ministerial shake-up could lead to "bold" changes to policies.

"I'd be very confident that Scott Morrison, as our new prime minister, working with Christian Porter as our attorney-general - he's going to take action on religious freedom," he told News Corp's Miranda Devine Live program on Monday.

Mr Morrison and his family go to the Horizon church in Sydney, a Pentecostal church formerly known as Shirelive.

The government is currently working on its response to a review into religious freedoms, which was prompted by the same-sex marriage debate.

Former attorney-general Philip Ruddock led the review and handed his report to the federal government in May.

The wait is now on Attorney-General Christian Porter, who is working on the government's response.

Gay rights advocates fear the report could have a direct and damaging impact on vulnerable people, and have called for it to be released as soon as possible.

The Law Council told the Ruddock review panel it had not seen any evidence to suggest human rights to religious freedom was not properly protected or disproportionately limited in Australia.

The panel also heard from Christian groups that argued religious schools should be able to teach children the value of male-female marriage without being reported to authorities over discrimination.


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Source: AAP



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