Weekend Wrap for 3 October 2021
Welcome to the NSL Weekend Wrap for 3 October 2021, where you can catch up on the latest secular-related news from around the country.
Don’t forget that the Weekend Wrap, which aims to help secular-minded Australians keep abreast of the latest news on current issues, is also published on our Facebook page!
At the National Level
Around the Country
ACT: The federal ban on the ACT and Northern Territory legislating on voluntary assisted dying will be turned into a battleground issue at the next election, Chief Minister Andrew Barr has warned. (Canberra Times)
TAS: Anglican Bishop of Tasmania, Richard Condie, says the payouts to abuse survivors will be three times the initial estimate. (ABC News)
NSW: Lyle Shelton and Fred Nile are now battling each other to be elected president of the Christian Democratic party. (Eternity News)
VIC: Six students from Westbourne Grammar in Melbourne’s west have fought for compulsory LGBTQIA+ education in primary schools, with their bill being passed in the YMCA Victorian Youth Parliament last week (meaning it will be handed onto the Minister for Youth for consideration). (Star Observer)
Commentary and Analysis
Fiona Newton, former Teenage Fundamentalist and co-author of the petition to stop Hillsong evangelising in public schools talks about her own past and why she thinks Hillsong deserves no place in the public education system. (I was a Teenage Fundamentalist)
Jesuit Priest Bill Uren writes on the various appeals from Catholic Archbishops against the limitations placed on unvaccinated Catholic priests, chaplains and worshippers. (Pearls and Irritations)
Events and Advisories
Minister for Human Rights, Tara Cheyne, is running a petition calling on the Australian government to restore the right of Territories to pass laws on VAD. She also recommends people email the Commonwealth Attorney-General with their views, at attorney@ag.gov.au.
Fiona Newton is petitioning Federal and State Education Ministers to ban Hillsong Church from proselytising in Australian Schools.
Sign up to the #DontDivideUs campaign currently being run by a group of pro-secular groups including the NSL, to act against the proposed Religious Discrimination Bill.
Dying With Dignity NSW are petitioning the NSW Parliament to work together to deliver voluntary assisted dying laws in 2021.
Dying With Dignity NSW has a tool that makes it easy for people to contact their federal MPs and senators to request help in repealing the "Andrews Bill", the 1997 legislation which denies the Territories the right to pass legislation on Voluntary Assisted Dying.
That's it for another week!
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