Perhaps in years to come, political analysts will look back on the Ruddock review of religious freedom as a made-to-measure example of what not to do.

Remember why this report was commissioned in the first place: religious conservatives kicked up a stink over same-sex marriage, and Malcolm Turnbull kicked the can down the road through the time-honoured tactic of calling a review.

More than a handful of MPs now consider it a booby trap rather than a parting gift. The review has been dogged by controversy. There was unrest over the absence of any LGBTI people on the panel. Then the government had to be shamed into publishing the submissions. Finally, Turnbull and Attorney-General Christian Porter sat on the report for three months until Turnbull was turfed out and it became Scott Morrison's problem.

And a problem it is, because there are very few ways for the government to win out of this – in a policy sense as well as a political one. All things considered, Philip Ruddock's report is a bland document that doesn't give anyone much of what they seemed to want, but hands everyone enough rope to tie themselves in knots over the minutiae. Read more via Sydney Morning Herald