Tony Abbott and two Liberal ministers have rejected the view of the attorney general, George Brandis, that religious freedom is not at issue in the same-sex marriage postal survey.

Abbott said Australians should vote down marriage equality if they were “concerned about where our country is going” and there was a “real issue” about religious freedom and freedom of speech if same-sex marriage is legalised.

The assistant minister for social services and multicultural affairs, Zed Seselja, and the assistant minister for cities and digital transformation, Angus Taylor, have also said religious freedom is at issue.

The public interventions are designed to bolster the no case in the postal survey, but also suggest if the yes case succeeds, Coalition conservatives could push for more extensive exemptions from discrimination law.

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