Ian Thorpe is the face of a new campaign condemning the federal government’s new Religious Discrimination Bill.
The openly gay Olympian is joined by ABC star Benjamin Law, Aussie basketball legend Lauren Jackson and a host of others calling for the bill to be overturned and urging people to write to their MPs, telling them why they oppose the bill in its current form.
“A bill is being drafted that threatens to divide our communities, the religious discrimination bill will give people a license to discriminate,” Thorpe says in the video posted to social media.
The video comes a week after prime minister Scott Morrison released a second version of the controversial Bill that expanded the list of religious organisations that will be able to discriminate based on faith.
It now allows religious institutions, charity organisations, hospitals and aged care facilities to recruit staff based on religious beliefs.
Other sections of the bill were watered down, with provisions around “conscientious objection” narrowed down so that only people working in heath care would be covered by the protection.
However, Thorpie’s ad appears to have divided social media.
“I’m a Christian and I do not support this Bill. It is discriminatory. Christ accepts the people no one else does,” one person wrote.
While another added: “Lots of fear mongering in this video without any explanation of the Bill itself.”
“This looks like manipulation to me. I’ll read the Bill and make up my own mind because I highly doubt everything this vid says,” wrote another.
