Fight, fight!

First shots fired in another legacy war? #InsidersExtra #Insiders @barriecassidy #auspol pic.twitter.com/juKW5uqCVE

— Insiders ABC (@InsidersABC) November 1, 2018

Former Liberal prime minister Malcolm Bligh Turnbull will be appearing as the only guest on the ABC program at 8pm on Thursday, 8 November 2018.

While I was away Australian Prime Minister and Liberal MP for Cook Scott Morrison........

....continued his Trumpification of the Liberal Party of Australia with predictable results.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison, aka Shouty McShoutface, October 2018

TIMELINE

1.  Despite considerable public debate concerning the phrase "it's OK to be white", the Morrison Government supported this divisive white supremacist-inspired motion in the Senate on 15 October 2018:

Following strong community backlash Morrison and Co blamed their support of this motion on an "administrative error".

2. Stood silent after his newly appointed environment minister Melissa Price insulted a former president of Kiri Bati on 16 October 2018 and later misled the House.

3. On 17 October 2018 announced a review of the Australian Government's long held position on Israel-Palestine conflict by suggesting that a) Australia should consider supporting Jerusalem as the official national capital of Israel and b) should consider moving its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem - thereby offending the entire Muslim world including one of our trading partners with whom we are currently negotiating a lucrative free trade agreement.

4. On the same day he announced a review of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) relating to Iran's nuclear program, in order to see if it remains the best vehicle to address the international community’s concerns. Signalling a possibility that before the year is out he will follow Donald Trump and withdraw support for the Plan.

5. On a bit of a roll, Morrison ended the day by throwing out the broad definition of science as the systematic study of the structure and behaviour of the physical and natural world through observation and experimentt - telling an audience peppered with published scientists that; the great magic of science, if you like. It starts with belief*.

6. Topping it all off, seven months out from a federal election, by forgetting to renew his scottmorrison.com.au domain name registration  and finding out on 19 October 2018 that it is now owned by Jack Genesin who appears to work for IT firm Digital Eagles.

7. He then went on to lose an unloseable by-election in the seat of Wentworth which had been held by Australian conservative MPs since its inception over 117 years ago in January1901. After campaigning for the Liberal Party candidate in this seat held by his immediate predecessor Morrison managed to produce a swing in Wentworth against his government of more than 19 per cent - possibly one of the largest loss margins in federal by-election history.

NOTES

* BELIEF 1. An acceptance that something exists or is true, especially one without proof. 1.1 Something one accepts as true or real; a firmly held opinion. 1.2 A religious conviction. 2. Trust, faith, or confidence in (someone or something)

Australian Politics 2018: Liberal and Nationals hard right agenda revealed

It appears the rigid hard-right core of the Liberal and National parties, whose face for public consumption is Prime Minister Scott Morrison, thought that Australian voters would find it acceptable that the only people that religious institutions of any denomination would not be able to discriminate against will be heterosexual individuals and those born with absent or ambiguous secondary sexual characteristics.

Everyone else would apparently be fair game for every rabid bigot across the land.

Gay, lesbian, bi-sexual or transgender citizens and their children are not to be afforded the full protection of human rights and anti-discrimination law in this New World Order.

It doesn't get any clearer than the main thrust of the twenty recommendations set out  below.

However, now the cat is out of the bag Morrison is backtracking slightly. Just hours after arguing schools should be run consistent with their religious principles and that no existing exemption should be repealed, Scott Morrison told Sky News that he was "not comfortable" with private schools expelling gay students on the basis of their sexuality. 

Rejecting new enrolment applications by gay students was something he was careful not to directly address.

It should be noted that "not comfortable' leaves a lot of wiggle room to look the other way as state and federal legislation is either amended or new Commonwealth legislation created which would allow this blatant discrimination to lawfully occur.

Recommendations found in the Religious Freedom Review: Report of the Expert Panel:

Recommendation 1

Those jurisdictions that retain exceptions or exemptions in their anti-discrimination laws for religious bodies with respect to race, disability, pregnancy or intersex status should review them, having regard to community expectations.

Recommendation 2

Commonwealth, state and territory governments should have regard to the Siracusa Principles on the Limitation and Derogation Provisions in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights when drafting laws that would limit the right to freedom of religion.

Recommendation 3

Commonwealth, state and territory governments should consider the use of objects, purposes or other interpretive clauses in anti-discrimination legislation to reflect the equal status in international law of all human rights, including freedom of religion.

Recommendation 4

The Commonwealth should amend section 11 of the Charities Act 2013 to clarify that advocacy of a ‘traditional’ view of marriage would not, of itself, amount to a ‘disqualifying purpose’.

Recommendation 5

The Commonwealth should amend the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 to provide that religious schools can discriminate in relation to the employment of staff, and the engagement of contractors, on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity or relationship status provided that:

The discrimination is founded in the precepts of the religion.

The school has a publicly available policy outlining its position in relation to the matter and explaining how the policy will be enforced.

The school provides a copy of the policy in writing to employees and contractors and prospective employees and contractors.

Recommendation 6

Jurisdictions should abolish any exceptions to anti-discrimination laws that provide for discrimination by religious schools in employment on the basis of race, disability, pregnancy or intersex status. Further, jurisdictions should ensure that any exceptions for religious schools do not permit discrimination against an existing employee solely on the basis that the employee has entered into a marriage.

Recommendation 7

The Commonwealth should amend the Sex Discrimination Act to provide that religious schools may discriminate in relation to students on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity or relationship status provided that:

The discrimination is founded in the precepts of the religion.

The school has a publicly available policy outlining its position in relation to the matter.

The school provides a copy of the policy in writing to prospective students and their parents at the time of enrolment and to existing students and their parents at any time the policy is updated.

The school has regard to the best interests of the child as the primary consideration in its conduct.

Recommendation 8

Jurisdictions should abolish any exceptions to anti-discrimination laws that provide for discrimination by religious schools with respect to students on the basis of race, disability, pregnancy or intersex status.

Recommendation 9

State and territory education departments should maintain clear policies as to when and how a parent or guardian may request that a child be removed from a class that contains instruction on religious or moral matters and ensure that these policies are applied consistently. These policies should:

Include a requirement to provide sufficient, relevant information about such classes to enable parents or guardians to consider whether their content may be inconsistent with the parents’ or guardians’ religious beliefs

Give due consideration to the rights of the child, including to receive information about sexual health, and their progressive capacity to make decisions for themselves.

Recommendation 10

The Commonwealth Attorney-General should consider the guidance material on the Attorney-General’s Department’s website relating to authorised celebrants to ensure that it uses plain English to explain clearly and precisely the operation of the Marriage Act 1961. The updated guidance should include:

A clear description of the religious protections available to different classes of authorised celebrants, and

Advice that the term ‘minister of religion’ is used to cover authorised celebrants from religious bodies which would not ordinarily use the term ‘minister’, including non-Christian religions.

Recommendation 11

The Commonwealth Attorney-General should consider whether the Code of Practice set out in Schedule 2 of the Marriage Regulations 2017 is appropriately adapted to the needs of smaller and emerging religious bodies.

Recommendation 12

The Commonwealth should progress legislative amendments to make it clear that religious schools are not required to make available their facilities, or to provide goods or services, for any marriage, provided that the refusal:

Conforms to the doctrines, tenets or beliefs of the religion of the body

Is necessary to avoid injury to the religious susceptibilities of adherents of that religion.

Recommendation 13

Those jurisdictions that have not abolished statutory or common law offences of blasphemy should do so.

Recommendation 14

References to blasphemy in the Shipping Registration Regulations 1981, and in state and territory primary and secondary legislation, should be repealed or replaced with terms applicable not only to religion.

Recommendation 15

The Commonwealth should amend the Racial Discrimination Act 1975, or enact a Religious Discrimination Act, to render it unlawful to discriminate on the basis of a person’s ‘religious belief or activity’, including on the basis that a person does not hold any religious belief. In doing so, consideration should be given to providing for appropriate exceptions and exemptions, including for religious bodies, religious schools and charities.

Recommendation 16

New South Wales and South Australia should amend their anti-discrimination laws to render it unlawful to discriminate on the basis of a person’s ‘religious belief or activity’ including on the basis that a person does not hold any religious belief. In doing so, consideration should be given to providing for the appropriate exceptions and exemptions, including for religious bodies, religious schools and charities.

Recommendation 17

The Commonwealth should commission the collection and analysis of quantitative and qualitative information on the experience of freedom of religion in Australia at the community level, including:

Incidents of physical violence, including threats of violence, linked to a person’s faith

Harassment, intimidation or verbal abuse directed at those of faith

Forms of discrimination based on religion and suffered by those of faith

Unreasonable restrictions on the ability of people to express, manifest or change their faith

Restrictions on the ability of people to educate their children in a manner consistent with their faith

The experience of freedom of religion impacting on other human rights

The extent to which religious diversity (as distinct from cultural diversity)
is accepted and promoted in Australian society

Recommendation 18

The Commonwealth should support the development of a religious engagement and public education program about human rights and religion in Australia, the importance of the right to freedom of religion and belief, and the current protections for religious freedom in Australian and international law. As a first step, the panel recommends that the Attorney-General should ask the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights to inquire into and report on how best to enhance engagement, education and awareness about these issues.

Recommendation 19

The Australian Human Rights Commission should take a leading role in the protection of freedom of religion, including through enhancing engagement, understanding and dialogue. This should occur within the existing commissioner model and not necessarily through the creation of a new position.

Recommendation 20

The Prime Minister and the Commonwealth Attorney-General should take leadership of the issues identified in this report with respect to the Commonwealth, and work with the states and territories to ensure its implementation. While the panel hopes it would not be necessary, consideration should be given to further Commonwealth legislative solutions if required.

Because Scott Morrison made no secret of his dislike of same-sex marriage and his intention to make new laws protecting so-called religious 'freedoms'. he is now going to have a fight on his hands every single day until the next federal election - these recommendations have made that a certainty.

Tweet of the Week

PM, seeking a fair go is not politics of envy. IPA bred. IPA fed. IPA led. Your politics like Howard's is one of wedging. We have growth but now none of it goes to the worker. PM, why? #auspol

— Catching up (@fehowarth) October 11, 2018

Scott Morrison presents his political agenda as prayer

Even in public prayer Australian Prime Minister and Liberal MP for Cook Scott Morrison is an overbearing specimen - at 1:09 mins into this video he interrupted Planetshakers' minister Russell Evans & took back the microphone in order to keep centre stage and complete what was obviously on his political agenda for the day - the re-election of himself and his government at the forthcoming federal election.

https://youtu.be/GLWuMd0vzBc

Quote of the Week

“Among those things, he said, was a "fair go for those who have a go in this country".

"I think that's what fairness means in this country. It's not about everybody getting the same thing," he said.

"If you put in, you get to take out. And you get to keep more."  

[Australian Prime Minister & Liberal MP for Cook Scott Morrison explaining why only affluent people matter in his version of Australian society, 9News, 6 September 2018]

Yet another Morrison Australia Day argument shot down

This is part of Prime Minister Scott Morrison's weak argument for not changing the
 current date of the national holiday known as Australia Day, which has been something of a movable feast since inception.

Newcastle Herald, 4 October 2018:

"You don't pretend your birthday was on a different day," Prime Minister Scott Morrison passionately reasoned with Sam Armytage on Sunrise last week.

9News, 25 September 2018:

"You can't pretend your birthday isn't your birthday," he said.

"We have a lot more to be proud about than not being proud about. It's a great day to celebrate Australia.

"Australia Day is Australia Day."

It was inevitable that he would be called out on this assertion.

In Qld, Queens Birthday is now in October, used to be in June, but it's actually in April.     Alex McDonnel‏ Oct 3

And what does he think those born on 29th Feb do each year? 

Jacqueline Kane‏  Oct 3

We pretend Jesus was born on 25 December. Hands Off Aunty‏  Oct 3

Morrison is a bit like me. My mouth works before my brain. But then I am not pretending to be prime minister like he is. Dude69‏  Oct 2

BACKGROUND

The Northern Star, 4 October 2018:

BYRON Shire Council's decision to change the date of their Australia Day event from January 26 to the evening before in 2019 has been praised by the National Congress of Australia's First Peoples (Congress).

The decision led to considerable criticism by some, and the Prime Minister Scott Morrison stripped council of its right to hold citizenship ceremonies altogether.

But the congress thanked Byron Shire Council "for its sensitivity toward the feelings by many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander citizens who are uncomfortable about the celebration of Australia Day on 26 January each year”.

The congress is the peak representative body for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and members include almost 9000 individuals and 180 organisations from around the country.

In a letter to council dated September 25 CEO Gary Oliver said the move was "an important milestone”.

"It is the local government level that is showing the most leadership on this issue and we urge you to hold firm despite the considerable criticism of your decision on this matter.

"For many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, Australia Day represents oppression and dispossession.....

Let's talk about Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison's inability to face the truth about renewable energy

This was then Australian Treasurer Scott Morrison in late July 2017 on the subject of the Tesla battery planned to be used as part of the power grid in South Australia.

"By all means have the world's biggest battery, have the world's biggest banana, have the world's biggest prawn like we have on the roadside around the country...30,000 SA households could not get through watching one episode of Australia's Ninja Warrior with this big battery. So let's not pretend it is a solution."

Now when Morrison was mocking the South Australia government of the day he knew full well that the Tesla battery was never intended to supply energy in the same manner as a coal-fired power station – it was always intended to boost supply to keep energy flow from dropping below 49.2Hz and therefore minimise load shedding/brownout events. Media had discussed the issue in some detail.

Tesla boss Elon Musk built the battery facility within 100 days and the 100-megawatt lithium ion battery was switched on late last year to provide reserve capacity from renewable energy for the state’s electricity network.

According to the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) executive general manager of operations Damien Sanford; "Its ability to respond very, very quickly to the different types of conditions that we see on the power system has been very encouraging for us". 

He told ABC News in October 2018 that; AEMO's data shows that it can dispatch power far more rapidly and precisely than conventional thermal power stations and more swiftly and accurately than the market operator thought possible — while also pushing down prices.

"We've been pleasantly surprised and would encourage more of this technology into the grid," Mr Sanford said.

ABC News also reported that; In the first quarter of this year, the cost of FCAS [Frequency Control Ancillary Services] fell by nearly $33 million, or 57 per cent, according to AEMO — in large part because of the introduction of the Tesla big battery.

The Tesla battery proved it worth in September 2018 when South Australia was isolated from the main grid by a lightening strike explosion in another state but despite this situation Morrison's 30,000 televisions were unaffected.

This Liberal politician thinks the national electorate is composed of gullible fools

Under Labor, the gender pay gap increased from 15.5% to 17.2%. Under our Government it has fallen to 14.5% and heading in right direction #Moretodo.

— Scott Morrison (@ScottMorrisonMP) September 22, 2018

What Australian Prime Minister and Liberal MP for Cook Scott Morrison is failing to point out in that tweet is that these statistics were released by the Workplace Gender Equality Agency. 

An Australian Government statutory agency created by the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012 which is a piece of legislation passed during the period that Labor MP Julia Gillard was prime minister.

This Agency is charged with promoting and improving gender equality in Australian workplaces.

The reporting requirements under the Act apply to all non-public sector employers with 100 or more employees. Although smaller employers do not need to report, it is an explicit function of the Agency to provide education and advice to all employers – large and small.

Morrison failed to point out that the 14.5% he is bragging about is a national average, with most states having a lower gender pay gap percentage. Although women living in West Australia have to endure an eye watering 24.9% less in their pay packets than men.

He was also careful to ignore the fact that in November 2014 under an Abbott Coalition Government (in which Morrison was a cabinet minister) the national gender pay gap average was 18.5% - the highest it has ever been.

In addition Morrison neglects to mention that in Australia; The full-time total remuneration gender pay gap based on WGEA data is 22.4%, meaning men working full-time earn nearly $26,527 a year more than women working full-time.

However, what is unforgivable about Scott Morrison's tweet is that the Liberal Party objected to the bill which created the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012 and Morrison himself tried to vote the bill down at 16:11 on 18 March 2012 according to Hansard.

Two Boats: Australian Prime Minister caught out by media

News.com.au, 20 September 2018:

Mr Morrison was the immigration minister who enforced the controversial policy to stop asylum seeker boats reaching Australia.

The Prime Minister addressed the trophy in an interview with the Nine Network on Thursday.

“It was given to me by a mate down in the Shire who runs a sign business. He loved the fact that we did that,” Mr Morrison said.

“It has been sitting in my office, by the way, for about five years. I don’t think that there is anything terribly new about it.”

The Guardian, 22 September 2018:

Scott Morrison gave a model of an asylum-seeker boat emblazoned with the words “We stopped these” to Roman Quaedvlieg as a thank-you gift for his work on the Coalition’s border protection policy, Quaedvlieg has said….

Morrison said his model had been with him for about four years but he did not mention that he had also given out others as gifts….

It’s understood other [boat] trophies were also handed out.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison favours a romanticised, sanitised version of Australian history

Thus far around 250 sites of massacres which occurred between 1788 and 1930 have been mapped by Newcastle University. This is an ongoing project.

Each dot on the map represents the murder of 6 or more people and one dot in the Northern Rivers region (north-east NSW) represents 100 Aboriginal men, women and children slaughtered in 1843 by 11 mounted stockmen using firearms and swords, supported by sailors on nearby ships. Only two children from the Aboriginal camp were said to have survived.

In another instance in the Northern Rivers one arrogant 'settler' committed wilful murder by giving poisoned flour to unsuspecting local Aboriginals in 1848 resulting in 23 deaths.

This is what the New South Wales section of the massacre map looks like.

Interactive Colonial Fronteirs map of Australia at https://c21ch.newcastle.edu.au/colonialmassacres/map.php

An est. 5 per cent of the total population of the Northern Rivers are Aboriginal people principally from the Bundjalung, Yaegl, Gumbaynggirr and Githabul Nations.

They are an integral part of townships and villages spread across seven local government areas and, able to clearly demonstrate cultural connection to country, hold Native Title over land and water in parts of this region.

These families and tribal groupings contribute to the richness of community life in the Northern Rivers.

So Byron Shire Council's media release of 20 September 2018 comes as no surprise.

However, Prime Minister & Liberal MP for Cook Scott Morrison's reaction and the manner in which it was delivered did surprise me. 

SBS News, 24 September 2018:

A NSW mayor says his council's decision to change the date of an Australia Day ceremony is to reflect history after Prime Minister Scott Morrison weighed in.

A NSW mayor whose council won't hold its Australia Day ceremony on January 26 has hit back at Scott Morrison after the prime minister tweeted about the issue.

Byron Shire Council will hold some council events on the national holiday but has announced its official ceremony will move to January 25.

Mr Morrison on Monday said the "modern Aus nation" began on January 26, 1788 and that was the day to reflect on what the nation had accomplished, become, and still had to achieve.

"Indulgent self-loathing doesn't make Australia stronger," Mr Morrison tweeted on Monday.

"Being honest about the past does."

Byron Mayor Simon Richardson said the celebrations on January 26 caused pain in a section of the community and questioned whether the values of a fair go and mateship were being reflected.

"Is it true mateship to willingly, willfully and continually to celebrate what rightfully is great to be an Australian on a day that some Australians are pained by?" the Greens representative told 3AW on Monday.

He said the prime minister's response was understandable but he found the remark about "modern Australia" interesting.

Indulgent self-loathing doesn’t make Australia stronger. Being honest about the past does. Our modern Aus nation began on January 26, 1788. That’s the day to reflect on what we’ve accomplished, become, still to achieve. We can do this sensitively, respectfully, proudly, together. https://t.co/uM59Lwrr1p

— Scott Morrison (@ScottMorrisonMP) September 23, 2018

"I thought we were actually celebrating Australia Day, not 'modern' Australia Day,"

"All we're trying to do is trying to reflect history and acknowledge that Australia began, not with the second wave of settlers, but the first."

Mr Richardson's motion was passed at a council meeting last week.

The current prime minister obviously favours the same distorted version of Australian history as sacked former prime minister & Liberal MP for Warringah, Tony Abbott.

One where the heroic and benign British brought 'civilisation' to these shores.

He can't even get his historical dates right -  26 January 1788 was not "the day the ships turned up". The first of the ships turned up at Botany Bay on Friday 18 January 1788 and the fleet shifted moorings to Sydney Cove on 25 January.

Saturday 26 January 1788 was the day Arthur Phillip formally took possession of the country in the name of King George III. This was the day traditional owners became dispossessed of their lands. By 1790 the killings had begun. Over 200 years later they are still occurring.

Dismissing the history of colonial dispossession and massacre as "a few scars, a few mistakes, a few things you could have done better" is disingenuous.

A responsible adult in the prime minister's office needs to place all Morrison's digital devices under lock and key, as his wide streak of historical ignorance and intolerance is showing in his tweets and photo opportunities.

This obviously has not happened to date, because faced with an inevitable backlash (a good many Australians having a level of maturity Morrison lacks), this dismal prime minister then decided that our collective history should be split into two separate streams:

The PM is cracking down on councils that move Australia Day and wants to create a new Indigenous day.@ScottMorrisonMP: We don’t have to pull Australia Day down to recognise the achievements of Indigenous Australians.#auspol #sun7 pic.twitter.com/amhQ5H3JsH

— Sunrise (@sunriseon7) September 24, 2018

In his tweets there is no indication that he had met with Aboriginal representative organisations to ask what their wishes might be before making his rather vague announcement.

Morrison has stated an intention to strip Byron Shire Council of its right to hold citizenship ceremonies after the local government moved its Australia Day ceremony forward by a day commencing January 2019.

BACKGROUND

January 2018 - It's Australia Day and......

January 2017 - Australia Day: what's in a date?

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison apeing his hero......

“Scott Morrison has been Prime Minister for less than a month, but he couldn’t help himself when faced with a giant Mack truck near Canberra on Thursday.

He insisted on clambering into the cabin and hunching over the steering wheel, making excited faces, as if he were flying down a country highway with a country music song turned up loud, instead of sitting in a stationary machine.

And he was wearing a suit.

Just like Donald Trump.”

Words fail me.....

Ways the twitterverse tells Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison it cares.....

Belinda Jones has compiled a list of ‘nicknames’ for the Australian Prime Minister found on Twitter in the last three weeks:

#slomo

#shoutymo

#scummo

#morriscum

#ScoMo

Shouty McShouty

Fozzie Bear

Pastor PM

Preacher PM

Fatman ScoMo

Skid Toryscum

Skid Muppetson

Prime Muppet

Pissant Muppet Morrison

Sometime Australian Prime Minister & MP for Cook, Scott Morrison, is the protector of religious freedom? Don't make me laugh

This was Australia’s most recent Liberal prime minister quoted in The Sydney Morning Herald on 17 September 2018:

Prime Minister Scott Morrison will enact "preventative regulation and legislation" to shield freedom of religion from future enemies, giving his strongest hints to date about the government's intentions regarding "religious freedom" laws.

What a load of codswallop, manure, dung, heifers dust, cowpats, meadow cocktails – what ABSOLUTE BULLSH*T!

The Liberal Member for Cook Scott Morrison already knows that the Australian Constitution without qualification guarantees religious freedom in this country at federal level:

COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA CONSTITUTION ACT - SECT 116

Commonwealth not to legislate in respect of religion

                   The Commonwealth shall not make any law for establishing any religion, or for imposing any religious observance, or for prohibiting the free exercise of any religion, and no religious test shall be required as a qualification for any office or public trust under the Commonwealth. [my yellow highlighting]

As the Australian Constitution is the highest source in the land on this issue, one can only suspect that:

a) Scott Morrison has never read the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act (as amended up to 1977); or

b) Scott Morrison is shamelessly pandering to his far-right, ideologically blind & bigoted supporter base, in the hope of being re-elected in 2019.

He appears to forget that Australia has also ratified a number of UN resolutions which directly or indirectly protect religious freedom and these have been upheld by the courts.

While he ignores the fact that Tasmania has had a religious freedom provision written into its state constitution since 1934 and Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia, the Northern Territory as well as the ACT have passed legislation prohibiting direct and indirect discrimination on the ground of religion. Only South Australia appears to have no legislation specifically covering religious freedom to date.

Morrison also forgets that whatever legislation he forces through this parliament, or whatever regulations he imposes, can all be undone in the first instance by subsequent federal parliaments and in the second instance by the minister of the day.

If he really wants to genuinely strengthen existing religious freedoms he would call a referendum to change the Australian Constitution.

Even a callow first-year-in-parliament politician knows that when state law is in conflict with federal law it is federal law which usually prevails and, if either is in conflict with the Constitution it will be the Constitution which prevails.

Having well and truly politicised his own faith Morrison may in fact be creating his own "future enemies" - he has all but guaranteed that someone will take his legislation and regulations to the High Court of Australia - where every word, phrase and punctuation mark will be studied closely.