Howard rejects PM’s vow on religious freedom, by Dennis Shanahan.

John Howard has repudiated Malcolm Turnbull’s assurances that freedoms of conscience will be addressed after the same-sex marriage survey and foreshadowed a parliamentary showdown before Christmas while renewing his calls for the government to spell out religious protections before the poll closes.

Formally joining a public campaign for the first time since his 2007 election defeat and specifically using his role as “former prime minister of Australia” in a series of nationwide full-page newspaper advertisements, Mr Howard said leaving the religious-freedom protections until after the ballot was “the equivalent of saying it doesn’t matter very much”.

hat-tip Stephen Neil