RECLAIM OUR
RELIGIOUS LIBERTY
2022 UPDATE: URGENT ACTION NEEDED — CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS UNDER ATTACK!
A Queensland Christian school has come under heavy attack by the political and media elite for asking its students and their parents to sign a statement of Christian values that upholds the BiblicaL stance on gender and sexuality. That school has since dropped the values statement, its principal has stood down and now laws are to be introduced banning faith-based schools from instituting such measures.
“The sad truth is we are not truly free to express our faith in Australia
.”
— George Christensen
True religious liberty does not exist in Australia.
Sure, we can go to church or a temple and read religious texts like the Bible, but try espousing some of the more difficult faith-based views and see where it gets you.
In rugby player Israel Folau’s case, it got him fired and suspended from the game he loved.
In Catholic Archbishop Julian Porteous’ case it got him a referral to an anti-discrimination tribunal.
In conservative blogger Bernard Gaynor’s case it got him so deep in legal battles he had to sell his home.
The sad truth is we are not truly free to express our faith in Australia.
Whatever happened to the notion that “it’s a free country”?
The problem has come about mainly due to State laws that seek to put sexual identity and other such considerations above and beyond freedom of faith.
It has also come about due to woke corporations and institutions waging ideological war on anyone who dares challenge the progressive zeitgeist, even if the challenge emanates from their faith.
To deal with this situation, the Morrison Liberal National government promised at the last election to enshrine religious liberty into law.
To date, this has not been done. Worse still, draft laws that were mooted last year are woefully inadequate, giving huge concessions to the gripes of left-wing activists and their friends in the media instead instead of truly protecting people of faith.
Thankfully, on behalf of the government, Attorney-General Michaelia Cash is reported to be significantly re-writing the bill and has said she intends to bring it back to the parliament before the end of the year.
To truly live up to commitments that the government gave to Christians and people of faith at the last election, the government must pass its proposed Religious Discrimination Bill with at least the following amendments:
The definition of “religious activity” in section 5 of the bill should include any activity which is consistent with a religious belief. Religious activity should only be limited by general criminal law.
The permission structure for employers in section 8(3) of the bill to discriminate against employees granted by the “unjustifiable financial hardship” exception be removed.
The definition of relevant employer in section 5 of the bill should include government employers and smaller corporations.
The words “vilify” and “harass” in sections 8(4)(b) and 41(2)(b) of the bill should be replaced with words that are clear, and which set a reasonably high threshold.
In section 10(2)(b) of the bill, changes should be made to ensure religious charities are able to act in accordance with their beliefs regardless of commercial activity.
The notion in section 8(1)(c) of the bill that “reasonable” indirect discrimination be allowed should be removed and replaced with the term “necessary” indirect discrimination.
In the objects clause in section 3 of the bill, the Ruddock Review recommendation to grant all human rights equal status should be added.
Further, the government needs to appoint – as a matter of urgency – a religious freedom commissioner to the Human Rights Commission to ensure that newly enshrined rights to freedom of faith are protected and not ignored by State Governments and woke corporations and institutions in this country.
If you’re concerned about our loss of true freedom of faith in Australia, I urge you to sign my open letter to the Prime Minister and Attorney General asking them to act to reclaim our religious liberty.
Yours in hope and faith,
George Christensen
THE CASE OF Israel Folau, Rugby player
In April 2019, Australian Rugby player Israel Folau posted to his social media account that hell awaits homosexuals, adulterers and others and that they should repent.
Rugby Australia ended Folau’s contract saying those comments contravened their Code of Conduct. In response, Folau brought a claim against Rugby Australia under s772 of the Fair Work Act alleging his sacking was unlawful because he was terminated on the basis of his religion. The court was going to have to decide whether Folau was terminated because of his religion or whether he was terminated because he breached his employer’s Code of Conduct and could have set a legal precedent for religious expression in Australian workplaces.
Finally, the parties settled for a confidential amount.
THE CASE OF Julian Porteous, Catholic ARCHBISHOP
In September 2015, a transgender person, Martine Delaney, lodged a complaint under the Tasmanian Anti-Discrimination Act with the state Anti-Discrimination Commissioner against the Catholic Church and, in particular its high ranking authority, Archbishop Julian Porteous, for merely expressing a traditional view of the Church on marriage.
This complaint concerned the booklet Don’t Mess With Marriage and the statement “marriage should be a heterosexual union between a man and a woman and changing the law would endanger a child’s upbringing”. The Act makes unlawful the “offending” of another person. Although Delaney eventually withdrew her complaint, it was scandalous that an Archbishop would have to appear before a tribunal to defend his teaching of Catholic Church doctrine.
THE CASE OF Dr Jareth Kok, Family Doctor
In an ongoing case, Dr Jareth Kok, a Victorian family doctor with more than 15 years of experience and an unblemished record, received two anonymous complaints from the Medical Board of Australia relating to his personal social media posts about same-sex marriage, transgenderism, radical feminist theory and various conservative political issues. The complaints were not made by Dr Kok’s patients.
In response, the Medical Board of Australia exercised emergency powers to investigate more than 10 years of Dr Kok’s internet history and pick out potentially offensive comments, without Dr Kok’s knowledge. In August 2019, The Medical Board of Australia suspended Dr Kok’s registration to practice medicine on the basis that it was in the ‘public interest’.
Dr Kok appealed to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal which found no evidence that in his actual practice Dr Kok had compromised the best interests of his patients. However, it decided to suspend Dr Kok until the Medical Board of Australia brings the matter to trial where Dr Kok’s medical licence may be struck off the medical register.
THE CASE OF Ryan, General manager
An Australian general manager at a digital services company was terminated in his employment after answering unexpected questions at work about the ‘Safe Schools Program’. For simply opposing the program, Ryan was terminated for allegedly creating an ‘unsafe’ workplace. After pursuing lengthy legal action for the abrupt and unjust treatment he received, the case was eventually settled out of court with compensation, but Ryan had to find another job.
THE CASE OF Michelle, Counsellor
A Victorian counsellor was disqualified and stripped of her accreditation after a complaint was made by a political activist to the Victorian mental health qualifying body. The counsellor had previously never received a complaint from any clients and never spoke about her personal or political views during counselling sessions. The complaint referred to videos of the counsellor’s talks on the topic of science and ‘LGBTIQ’ at various Christian conferences.
At the same time, the Victorian mental health qualifying body required the counsellor to sign up to controversial ‘LGBTIQ’ seminars despite the issue never coming up in her mental health teaching and counselling sessions Finally, the counsellor was forced to choose between costly legal action and taking a different career path, choosing the latter.
DEAR PRIME MINISTER AND ATTORNEY-GENERAL:
We ask for the government to uphold its election commitment and take urgent action to enshrine religious liberty in our country.
We call on the government to introduce to the federal parliament an amended version of the Religious Discrimination Bill that does not acquiesce to those who oppose religious freedom but truly protects people of faith.
We call on the parliament to pass this legislation as a matter of urgency and certainly before the next election.
We also call on the government, regardless of the outcome of parliament’s vote on the bill, to appoint a religious liberty commissioner to the Human Rights Commission who is tasked to protect the rights of people of faith.
Signed,
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Authorised by George Christensen, Mackay for Pauline Hanson’s One Nation Party.