Currently, the NT Government is considering a way forward to uphold their election commitment to protect Christian schooling, freedom of speech, and freedom of religion. This is admirable and we thank the NT Government for making this a priority in 2025.
There is a concerted effort from some to stop and weaken these changes. Please respond to this call to ensure the final Bill fulfils the commitments made.
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WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE
We need the Bill to protect Christian Schools ability to hire Christian teachers. This means the ability for Christian schools to preference Christian teachers and ensure they go to church and uphold the Christian ethos of the school.
We need the Bill to protect Christian Schools ability to preference students at enrolment based on the same religion.
We need the Bill to remove all vilification laws in the NT. This means the removal of all of 20A which was introduced in 2022 by the former Labor Government. Vilification laws at all levels have been weaponised against Christians including:
- Jasmine Sussex, a breastfeeding counsellor, has been expelled the Australian Breastfeeding Association and brought before the QLD Civil and Administrative Tribunal for stating “men can’t breastfeed” and other comments made on social media in response to a man claiming he has breastfed his newborn child.
- Lyle Shelton, a past Managing Director of the ACL, wrote a blog about a local ‘drag queen storytime’ event held at a public library, saying that “drag queens don’t make good role models for children”. He was accused of vilification and has been defending himself in court because of that statement for over 5 years.
Our vilification laws are fundamentally flawed and need to be removed from legislation. Freedom of speech and religion cannot exist while any vilification laws exist in the Northern Territory.
HOW CAN YOU HELP
Your voice will help give the Attorney General community support for the changes and outweigh the loud minority against these changes.
