Australian Christian Lobby flyers targeting moderate Liberals who crossed the floor to amend the religious discrimination bill to protect LGBTIQ+ people have prompted complaints to the charities regulator that argue the material breaches rules on political campaigning.
Leaflets distributed by the ACL depict Liberals Trent Zimmerman, Dave Sharma, Bridget Archer, Fiona Martin, and independent MP Rebekha Sharkie driving a wrecking ball into a church or school.
In February, the MPs voted for amendments to the religious discrimination bill aimed at protecting LGBTIQ+ students to the Sex Discrimination Act.
The flyers single out the MPs who “voted against protecting people of faith from discrimination” and says the MPs “voted to remove laws that protect the values of faith-based schools”.
The reverse of the flyers, first reported by Guardian Australia on Tuesday, asks voters whether “attacks on Christianity and other faiths accord with your values”.
The Australian Christian Lobby is a registered charity, reporting income in the last financial year of close to $9m. The Australian Charities and Not-for-profit Commission has set up rules about what political work charities can undertake in the election. While charities can campaign on an issue, it must not be seen to be promoting or opposing a particular political party or candidate.
Guardian Australia has seen several complaints sent to the ACNC about the flyers, however an ACNC spokesperson said the commission could not comment on specific charities, or whether concerns had been raised.
The spokesperson said while charities can campaign, they must not cross the line into having a “disqualifying political purpose and that they maintain independence from party politics”.
If an investigation is launched, the first step would be to bring the charity back into compliance, but where serious breaches have occurred and the ACNC’s concerns are not adequately addressed, the charity status can be revoked.
Wendy Francis, the national director of the Australian Christian Lobby, told Guardian Australia: “We are aware of our ACNC obligations and we keep to them.”
“There is no complaint from the ACNC, they’ve looked at the material. We’re not telling anybody how to vote, and we wouldn’t. We’re revealing how different members of parliament voted, it can work in their favour or against them.”
The ACNC spokesperson said the regulator only publishes general guidance to charities and conveys this guidance via its contact centre.
“The ACNC does not have a role in providing ‘approval’ to charities for the activities they choose to undertake.”
Another Christian-based lobby group with charity status, FamilyVoice Australia, has also sent emails to supporters naming those MPs and saying their votes were “putting Australian Christians at risk of persecution, ridicule, and harassment at work, socially and in the public arena” and encouraged people to “vote wisely”.
Guardian Australia has sought comment from FamilyVoice.
On Tuesday, several of the Liberal MPs targeted defended their record against the attacks from the ACL.
“As the son of a faith-based school principal I have a deep understanding of the role of faith-based schools,” Zimmerman said. “But I also have no regrets about standing up for gay students and teachers when I crossed the floor.”
Archer said: “I stand by my decision to ensure Tasmania’s gold standard anti-discrimination laws remain intact.”
“I have had further friendly and constructive discussions with Christian schools in northern Tasmania regarding my decision and I would welcome any discussion with the Australian Christian Lobby should they wish to reach out to me.”
Sharma said: “The ACL attacks on me are misleading. I support the ability of faith-based schools to retain their faith-based character.
“But what I do not support is the ability of faith-based schools to discriminate against teachers and students solely on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity, as Citipointe Christian College sought to do, for instance.”
The treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, this week withdrew promotional material for his re-election campaign featuring the head of charity Guide Dogs Victoria speaking in support of Frydenberg in the hotly-contested seat of Kooyong.
