Weekend Wrap for 21 July 2024
Welcome to the NSL Weekend Wrap for 21 July 2024, where you can catch up on the latest secular-related news from around the country.
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At the National Level
Milton Dick, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, will appear as a guest speaker at the ROAR Leaders Summit, a September event promoting the Seven Mountains Mandate ideology, which calls for Christians to conquer the key spheres of influence in society. Last year, it was reported that a Liberal National member of parliament, Terry Young, had credited Mr Dick for the retention of daily Christian prayers in the House of Representatives. Young told Christian radio that he and his colleagues had expected the Albanese government would remove prayers but that the Speaker had ensured the practice continued. (15 Jul 2024)
Read more at the Rationalist Society of Australia
The Coalition has called on Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus to end a stalemate over Labor’s draft religious discrimination laws, declaring the “appropriate way forward” is for the government to redraft its proposal with feedback from faith groups. Opposition legal affairs spokeswoman Michaelia Cash has written to Mr Dreyfus saying “the ball is entirely in the government’s court”, after he demanded a line-by-line response from the Coalition at the National Press Club last week in order for the reforms to progress. “The Coalition does not intend to bypass or undercut that clear stakeholder feedback, which was provided on a bipartisan basis. It is plain that the next step is for the government to redraft its legislation, taking that feedback into account." (16 Jul 2024)
Read more at The Australian
One of the new organisations seeking to mobilise Australian Muslims at the next federal election has hit back at “almost farcical” attempts to discredit the movement, insisting the Labor government is “clearly afraid”. Ghaith Krayem, spokesperson for Muslim Votes Matter, said Muslim Votes Matter was separate from another group, The Muslim Vote, but they would “collaborate on common objectives”. Both Muslim Votes Matter and The Muslim Vote have been at the centre of fierce political debate after the Labor senator Fatima Payman crossed the floor to support the immediate recognition of Palestine as a state. She quit the party two weeks ago. In the wake of those developments, the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, said Australia should not “go down the road of faith-based political parties, because what that will do is undermine social cohesion”. (17 Jul 2024)
Read more at The Guardian
The Royal Australian Navy is requiring that applicants for its secular wellbeing roles have a “strong spiritual connection” and demonstrate how their spirituality informs their life. The Navy introduced the secular wellbeing support/pastoral care roles into its chaplaincy branch in 2020 to help meet the needs of its majority non-religious workforce. The Navy originally referred to the role as ‘Maritime Spiritual Wellbeing Officers’ (MSWOs), but has since moved to calling them ‘Wellbeing Officers’. In 2022, the Navy removed references to ‘theology’ as a relevant qualification for the secular roles after the Rationalist Society of Australia sought an explanation about the inclusion of religious credentials in job advertisements. (17 Jul 2024)
Read more at the Rationalist Society of Australia
A plan to stop private schools collecting tax-deductible donations for major building programs has been killed off by the federal government despite the Productivity Commission declaring the nation’s charitable giving system was no longer “fit for purpose”. The proposals in the commission’s final Future Foundations For Giving report would, amongst other things, end the charitable status of 5,000 school building funds and organisations that provide religious education in government schools. The commission argued school building funds should lose their tax-deduction status because parents and students gained a private benefit, such as school fees that are lower than they would be if not for the effective subsidy from all taxpayers. But Assistant Minister for Charities Andrew Leigh said the government would not support the proposal. (18 Jul 2024)
Read more at The Age
The Productivity Commission has stared down pressure from religious groups and the Liberal-National opposition to recommend the removal of ‘Basic Religious Charities (BRCs) in order to “enhance regulatory consistency and public transparency”. In the final report for its inquiry into philanthropy, Future Foundations of Giving, the Productivity Commission said it had carefully considered submissions and evidence provided at public hearings but “could not identify a policy rationale that justifies retaining” BRCs. Having BRC status means that a religious group is exempt from financial transparency obligations that apply to other religious groups and other charities. Religious groups heavily criticised the Productivity Commission’s interim report, released in November, describing it as having “a clear anti-religion agenda” and a “direct attack” on faith communities. (19 Jul 2024)
Read more at the Rationalist Society of Australia
Around the Country
SA: New legislation set to be introduced to the South Australian Parliament would ensure religious schools cannot knock back job applications from prospective teachers because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. Greens MLC Robert Simms will in August introduce the legislation, which would remove current exemptions from anti-discrimination laws. Under existing South Australian law, religious bodies can discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity when hiring teachers or workers at other religious-run services. (15 Jul 2024)
Read more at CathNews
WA: WA Liberal party candidate and City of Albany councillor Thomas Brough has been ordered to undertake workplace training following his comments earlier this year which linked the LGBTIQA+ communities with pedophilia. The councillor later issued an apology for his comments saying he was only fulfilling his duty as an elected representative to put forward views that other in the community held and has voice concern to him. Shortly after the controversy, Councillor Brough was selected to be the Liberal party’s candidate for Albany at the 2025 state election. Rights group Just.Equal Australia have repeated their call for the Cook Government to outline its policy position on anti-vilification laws in the wake of the Brough case. WA spokesperson, Brian Greig, said the McGowan/Cook government had promised to outlaw incitement to hatred against LGBTIQA+ people this term. (16 Jul 2024)
Read more at Out in Perth
NSW: Proposed LGBT reforms for New South Wales risks far-reaching unintended consequences for women and children, says Labor MLC Greg Donnelly. He is urging people to sign a petition on the New South Parliament website that calls on members of the Legislative Council to vote against the Equality Bill introduced by Independent Alex Greenwich last August. The bill would alter 20 pieces of legislation in what Greenwich says is an effort to achieve equality and remove remaining discrimination of LGBT communities. Faith and education leaders from Christian, Muslim and Hindu traditions have opposed the bill which would strip important protections for faith-based schools and religious institutions under the NSW Anti-Discrimination Act. Donnelly said that while he is concerned about that aspect of the bill, he is equally worried about its potential impact on women and girls. (18 Jul 2024)
Read more at The Catholic Weekly
Commentary and Analysis
Julianne Schultz: We like to think we’re a secular nation, but our constitution needs to catch up with modern Australia
"Australia is one of the most irreligious countries in the world. At the last census 10 million people said they had no religion, within this decade those of no faith are likely to be the majority. This is not a bad thing. Wars fought over religion have blighted the globe for centuries, as they do today. As the number of Christians has declined steadily for decades, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Sikhs and Jews have grown to make up 10% of the population. Managing the religious diversity that comes with mass migration, is again presenting a political challenge for Australian governments. A secular democracy demands conscientiously even-handed political leadership. ... The heightened tensions that have frayed the social fabric of Australia over the past year, point to an institutional failure to uphold this ethos. It is a failure to recognise that diversity of religion and ethnicity is an asset that needs constitutional change to ensure all citizens have the same rights." (14 Jul 2024)
Read more at The Guardian
Sarah Martin: Exclusive Brethren students exposed only to material that conforms to church’s ‘ethos’, former teachers claim
"Students at the network of schools linked to the fundamentalist Exclusive Brethren sect are given access only to learning materials that have been approved internally as conforming to the church’s “ethos”, multiple former teachers have claimed. Guardian Australia has spoken to former students and staff members who say the restrictions on teaching material are challenging for staff and make for a limited educational environment for students. ... The schools, which have received a total of $136.5m in federal funding over a five-year period, mostly do not have their own libraries for secondary school students, the sources claim. Teachers have access to a “white list” of pre-approved books and resources for use in the classroom." (16 Jul 2024)
Read more at The Guardian
Binoy Kampmark: Does 'social cohesion' mask religious political influence?
"The carefree deployment of the vapid term ‘social cohesion’ has served to mask the reality of religion and faith in Australian political life, both current and historical. How easily does such criticism ignore the fact that the previous Australian prime minister made no secret of his evangelical faith. Indeed, at various points, Scott Morrison revealed his own religion as a fundamental compass to his understanding of government and policy. ... The recent manufactured panic about any proposed religious movement is a fair indication about yet another emerging threat to the traditional dominance of the Labor-LNP order. That the latest movement promises itself as Islamic suggests a departure from traditional views of the tolerably integrated Muslim in non-Muslim, multicultural society. In response, social cohesion is being brandished by the traditional parties as a weapon to smother what is, essentially, a trend that allegedly threatens them. Far from withering social cohesion, the existence of such groups as The Muslim Vote, and Senator Payman’s presence in Canberra, serve to confirm it." (16 Jul 2024)
Read more at Eureka Street
Jeff Kildea: A road to nowhere: faith-based political parties
"In recent weeks there has been talk of the prospect of a Muslim party being formed to contest the next federal election. The prime minister has responded by saying he did not want Australia to go down the road of faith-based political parties. Since then, several commentators have mentioned that Australia has been down that road before, with some pointing to the Democratic Labor Party formed in the 1950s. But as others have rightly pointed out the DLP despite the support of many Catholics was never a faith-based party. Another party some commentators have mentioned is the Protestant Independent Labor Party of the 1920s and 1930s. It was more a protest against perceived Catholic influence in the Australian Labor Party than a party to advance the sectarian interests of Protestants. Yet no one seems to have cited the Democratic Party, formed in 1919 to advance the sectarian interests of Catholics, which contested the New South Wales state elections in 1920 and 1922." (17 Jul 2024)
Read more at Pearls & Irritations
Neil Foster: Hate Speech – Vilification Laws and Threats to Religious Speech
"I have presented a paper today surveying Australia laws on 'hate speech' and 'vilification', as they have an impact on religious free speech. The paper can be downloaded here." (17 Jul 2024)
Read the paper at Law & Religion Australia
Paul Gregoire: Christian Extremists Continue Attempts to Infiltrate Australian Politics
"When Senator Fatima Payman quit Labor on 4 July, as it refused to condemn the Israeli perpetrated genocide in Gaza and also sanctioned her for speaking out against it, the old school white political establishment and media automatically went in to tag team mode at a 5 July presser with the PM. Payman is Muslim. Reporters quizzed Anthony Albanese about the potential for a grassroots Muslim takeover of western Sydney politics. And the PM responded, “I don’t… want Australia to go down the road of faith-based political parties, because what that will do is undermine social cohesion.” Yet on hearing this, those who’ve been paying attention choked on their soup, as the real tangible threat to our secular system is in actuality the ongoing extremist Christian creep into politics, which hit overdrive in late 2017, after the Christian Right bore witness to the passing of marriage equality. No faith-based politics says Albanese, but he daren’t criticise the Christian Right, as the secular white political establishment is at core Christian. And the dead giveaway is prior to every session of parliament in multicultural, multifaith Australia, the Christian Lord’s Prayer is recited." (19 Jul 2024)
Read more at Sydney Criminal Lawyers
Mike Seccombe: Labor rejects advice to ditch tax break for private school donors
"Thousands of charitable funds that benefit private schools and their wealthy donors should be stripped of their tax-deductible status, a major report by the Productivity Commission has recommended. ... Before its release, Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury Andrew Leigh told The Saturday Paper the government was “open to” considering all the report’s recommendations – bar one. “The one recommendation we have said that we won’t pursue is the recommendation around school building funds,” he said. “That was in the interim report. We consulted widely on it and have opted not to pursue that.” The government’s response is testament to the influence of the private school sector and its affluent backers. When the draft report was released last November, the non-government lobby came out in furious opposition. And little wonder." (20 Jul 2024)
Read more at The Saturday Paper
Events and Campaigns
The WA government is seeking expressions of interest from organisations interested on taking on the role of being a peak body for the state’s LGBTIQA+ communities.
Read more at Out in Perth
Griffith University researchers are exploring Registered Nurses’ and Nurse Practitioners’ willingness to participate in Voluntary Assisted Dying (VAD).
Read more at The Lamp
The Australia Institute are calling on federal parliament to pass truth in political advertising laws that are nationally consistent, constitutional and uphold freedom of speech. View the petition at The Australia Institute
The Human Rights Law Centre are running a website for those who want to support an Australian Charter of Human Rights & Freedoms.
Visit the Charter of Rights website here
A change.org petition has been started, calling for churches to lose their tax-free status and for "the religious influence of churches in Australian politics and society" to be limited. It's currently up to 30,000 signatures. View the petition at change.org
The Australian Education Union is running a campaign calling for “every school, every child” to receive fair education funding. Support the campaign here.
The Human Rights for NSW alliance has launched a campaign calling for NSW to pass a Human Rights Act.
That's it for another week!
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