Dominic Perrottet’s promise not to follow Victoria’s ban on prayer is welcome but he must also assure parents they won’t be jailed for speaking to their children about harmful gender treatments.

If elected, Family First-backed upper house candidate Lyle Shelton said he would move to protect parents and clinicians from jail time under a so-called “gay conversion” therapy bill  proposed by radical gay activist independent MP Alex Greenwich.

Sadly Perrottet and Labor Opposition Leader Chris Minns have vowed to back Greenwich’s bill, which he says is modelled on the Victorian bill which bans preaching and prayer for people who ask for it and jails parents, doctors and counsellors who try to help children avoid experimental gender treatments.

However, in response to questions from the Sydney Catholic Archdiocese Perrottet this week ruled out banning prayer and preaching in a major rebuff to Greenwich.

“The premier must now rule out jailing parents and clinicians who seek to show gender confused children a better way than the door to an experimental gender clinic,” Mr Shelton said.

“No one supports food deprivation, electroshock therapy or coercion of people to try and change their sexuality and there is no evidence that this even occurs.

“But the devil of Greenwich’s bill is in the detail and until we know that the Premier and Opposition Leader are ruling out Victorian-style jail time for parents and doctors, I won’t rest.”