Fury as Baillieu rams through pro-discrimination law
Thursday 2nd June, 2011
Premier Ted Baillieu has been labelled
Jeff Kennett's "Mini-me". (AAP: Julian Smith)
The Victorian Government has cast the rules of Parliament aside to reintroduce a bill that will allow faith-based groups to discriminate on grounds such as religion, marital status or gender.
In a historic move, the Government used its numbers to suspend the rules of Parliament and conduct a second vote on the Equal Opportunity Amendment Bill, which was defeated last week.
Despite attempts by the Opposition to stop the second vote on changes to the laws, the bill was passed on Wednesday night.
The controversial amendment was defeated last week when Community Services Minister Mary Wooldridge missed the vote.
Full story: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/06/02/3233202.htm
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On the same issue - From The Age
Baillieu: the discriminating progressive
By Farrah Tomazin
June 5, 2011
The Coalition has taken a big step backwards in the name of religious freedom.
YOU could be forgiven for having missed them, but two extraordinary events occurred in the Victorian Parliament over the past few weeks, placing Ted Baillieu's progressive credentials under question. The first happened 10 days ago, when senior minister Mary Wooldridge missed a vote for a government bill. And not just any bill. This one proposed winding back the powers of the state's equal opportunity commission, and allowing faith-based organisations to refuse staff based on sexuality, marital status, or spiritual beliefs - all in the name of religious freedom.
Without Wooldridge, the Coalition didn't have the numbers. It was the first time in more than 30 years a government bill has lost in the Legislative Assembly.
But what happened next is even more astonishing: team Baillieu called for a rematch. In an unprecedented move, the government changed the rules of parliament to allow the bill to be resubmitted, on the grounds that Wooldridge's absence had been an ''accident''. With all MPs present, the government used its slim majority to pass the bill to the upper house.
Full Story: http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/politics/baillieu-the-discriminating-progressive-20110604-1fm8p.html
