A Liberal backbencher is set to cross the floor to back Labor's amendments to the religious discrimination bill, saying he "couldn't live with myself" if he didn't intervene.
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North Sydney MP Trent Zimmerman revealed his position in an emotional speech during debate on the bill.
Parliament is sitting late into Wednesday night to decide the fate of the religious discrimination bill in the lower house.
Labor is pushing for major changes to fix "big flaws" in the bill, a stance which has raised the prospect of a deadlock on Scott Morrison's key commitment in Parliament's final sitting days before the federal election.
The opposition has committed to trying to amend rather than oppose the contentious bill, which has exposed internal division within the two major parties.
The Labor caucus on Wednesday agreed to push for major changes to the bill, including a significant watering down of the contentious "statement of belief" clause and extending immediate protections to transgender students at faith-based schools.
It will also seek to prohibit religious vilification and make clear that in-home aged service providers cannot discriminate on the basis of religion during care.
Labor leader Anthony Albanese said the religious discrimination debate should have been about "enhancing national unity and bringing people together", but the government's "flawed bill does not do that".
"This legislation is flawed but we want to fix it," Mr Albanese said in a speech to the House of Representatives as debate on the bill resumed late on Wednesday afternoon.
Mr Zimmerman, who had been reserving his right to cross the floor, used a speech late on Wednesday night to express his concerns with the statement of belief clause and the narrow scope of proposed amendments to the Sex Discrimination Act.
The government plans to amend the law to protect gay students from discrimination at faith-based schools, but won't extend the same protections to transgender students.
Labor supports removing the rights of religious schools to discriminate against gay teachers, but won't push for the change until the Australian Law Reform Review Commission has examined it.
In his speech, Mr Zimmerman signalled he wanted to go even further than Labor when he declared the current debate presented an "historic opportunity" to fix what he considered to be a "significant wrong" in the Sex Discrimination Act.
"That is in relation to its treatment of teachers and students," he said.
"The current SDA provides that effectively someone can be discriminated against based on inherent characteristics, like their sexuality, their gender, their sex, their pregnancy, their marital status.
"For me that is fundamentally wrong. They are exemptions that belong in the 19th century, not the 21st century."
Mr Zimmerman, who is gay, said he had made the "difficult decision" to "part" with the government's position and back some amendments.
"It's an opportunity that I cannot let go past," he said.
"I could not live with myself if I did not seek to address those issues."
Equality Australia has welcomed Labor's changes to the statement of belief clause, saying it would ensure existing protections for marginalised groups were retained.
But the advocacy group wants Labor to go further and immediately protect gay teachers and staff at faith-based schools from discrimination.
The Australian Christian Lobby has slammed Labor's position, saying it wouldn't support the government's bill if it was "gutted" by the opposition's amendments.
Labor has moved its package of amendments in the lower house, but won't oppose the bill if they aren't passed.
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Canberra MP Alicia Payne was among Labor backbenchers who pushed unsuccessfully at Wednesday's caucus meeting for the opposition to commit to voting against the bill if its amendments were rejected.
Labor is confident that once the bill reaches the Senate it has the numbers to amend the government's signature policy.
If the government opposes changes to its bill, Labor will "insist" they remain - potentially creating a deadlock which would only be broken if one side backs down.
Time is already running out to pass the bill, with the Senate scheduled to sit just three more times before a likely May election.
The Morrison government continues to face the prospect of internal revolt over the bill, despite it winning approval from the Coalition party room following marathon meetings on Tuesday.
Liberal backbencher Bridget Archer publicly declared her opposition to the bill before Mr Zimmerman revealed his position.
Wentworth MP and fellow Liberal moderate Dave Sharma has also publicly expressed reservations since Tuesday's party room meeting.
The agreement on Labor's position followed a significant intervention from Whitlam MP Stephen Jones, who late on Tuesday night used an emotional speech drawing on the recent death of his gay 15-year-old nephew to call for the bill not to be rushed through.
ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr, the first gay leader of a government in Australia, called on his federal colleagues to oppose the bill in its current form ahead of Wednesday's caucus meeting.
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