Morning mail: religious discrimination pledge, devastating crop losses, greening apartments

Thursday: Coalition seeks assurances over faith-based schools. Plus: Victoria's controversial pandemic laws derailed

Good morning. The federal government faces seeks assurances over its revised religious discrimination laws. Storms and flooding wreak havoc across North America and regional NSW. And Australian apartment dwellers face hurdles as they embrace sustainable living.

The federal government continues to face internal divisions over its revamped religious discrimination legislation, despite the attorney general, Michaelia Cash, requesting detailed drafting" from the Australian Law Reform Commission to ensure children are not discriminated against in faith-based schools on the basis of sexuality or gender identity". Two Coalition senators have vowed to withhold support for the bill and, with a resistant crossbench, the bill could require Labor's support to pass. Cash said the government recognised faith-based schools' right to maintain conduct and teaching in accordance with their faith" but not in ways that were discriminatory to individual children.