There’s no point trying to sugar-coat the result of the marriage postal survey – or what happened subsequently in our Federal Parliament. The passing of the Dean Smith bill for same-sex “marriage”, almost completely unamended, was a shocking outcome.

Despite assurances from “equality” activists and their fellow travellers in the media, the corporate world and the political arena, preserving our freedoms was not part of their agenda. It never was.

A number of new fronts already present themselves.

The Ruddock inquiry into religious freedom, due to report in March 2018. This inquiry is supposed to go some way to restoring the balance upset by the changed Marriage Act. Given it’s not a conventional parliamentary inquiry and concerns only religious freedom and not the other issues at risk (e.g. speech, parental rights) we need to be on the front foot. We must ensure our concerns are not only heard, but are then given voice and effect in the Federal Parliament.

Preservation of the few remaining exemptions under anti-discrimination law. The NT Government has circulated a paper calling for religious exemptions to be wound back (e.g. the right of religious schools to employ in line with their beliefs) and similar calls have been made in WA and elsewhere. Having won on marriage, LGBT activists are already pressing their advantage – so we must go into bat once again.

Defending the right of parents regarding their children’s education. Many have said that the so-called “Safe” Schools has been dealt a death-blow by such negative attention during the marriage campaign. But this is cold comfort to Victorian parents, in whose public schools the program will become mandatory. Writing the program off prematurely also ignores the hydra-like nature of the more insidious sex-ed programs in this country. Cut the head off and two more seem to appear. To prevent this happening, we need to (1) stop funding the architects and the roll-out of such programs and (2) empower parents and local communities with the knowledge and ability to fight back.

This list is far from exhaustive, but it should be obvious that the ripple effect from the marriage campaign will travel a long way yet.

It’s time to redouble our efforts.