George Brandis may incorporate human rights treaty into SSM bill...

George Brandis may incorporate human rights treaty into SSM bill to satisfy conservatives

By political reporter Caitlyn Gribbin
Updated about 8 hours ago
PHOTO: Any such move by Brandis could be seen as an olive branch to conservatives within the Coalition (ABC News: Jed Cooper)
RELATED STORY: Same-sex marriage bill introduced, paving way for debate on religious exemptions
MAP: Australia
An international human rights treaty may be incorporated into a bill to legalise same-sex marriage, in an attempt to pacify conservative members of the Government.
Key points:

• The move could help placate Conservatives who are concerned about religious protections
• Matt Canavan wants to ensure those who don't support SSM won't become persecuted
• There's push in Parliament to address religious protections separately

The Australian newspaper reports Attorney-General George Brandis may move an amendment to the bill authored by Liberal Senator Dean Smith, which could incorporate Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
That clause provides a range of protections for civil and political rights and states "everyone shall have the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion".
The move could help placate conservatives who have been demanding same-sex marriage legislation include protections of religion and parental rights.
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Cabinet minister Matt Canavan had previously flagged the idea of incorporating the covenant into the Smith bill during debate in the Senate on Thursday.
On Saturday he told the Australian Christian Lobby's national conference in Sydney he was fighting to ensure those who do not support a change in the definition of marriage do not become "a persecuted minority".
"What I want to see and what many of my colleagues want to see enshrined in the change to the Marriage Act is simply a reflection of the international human rights obligations we have already signed up to as a country and that indeed have been the basis of Australia and many other Western countries for centuries," Senator Canavan said.
"They were enshrined in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights but they weren't something new or controversial at the time, they were simply a reflection of what we already all believed.
"I will be moving amendments to the Smith bill to enshrine those protections and to ensure that every Australian has the right to a free expression of their religious views, and the right to educate their children in the moral and religious viewpoints that they see as correct."
Earlier this month, the UN Human Rights Council raised concerns about Australia's "lack of direct protection against discrimination on the basis of religion at the federal level".