Good morning. The Morrison government has passed its controversial religious discrimination bill after a marathon all-night sitting of the lower house – expect a day of reaction ahead. Russia and Belarus prepare for joint military exercises, and more Australians turn to renewable energy than ever before.
In a long but dramatic debate, the hotly contested religious discrimination bill has passed the lower house, despite five Liberal moderates defecting to help add more extensive protections for LGBTQ+ students. Bridget Archer, Trent Zimmerman, Katie Allen, Fiona Martin and Dave Sharma crossed the floor against the government, helping Labor and the crossbench add protections for LGBTQ+ students into the Sex Discrimination Act. Zimmerman told the house the parliament could not send a message by “omission” by moving to fix sexuality discrimination but not gender identity discrimination: “I could not live with myself if I didn’t seek to address those issues.”
