This week on the political spot, some good news from Victoria. ACL Victorian Director, Dan Flynn, discusses the new Infant Viability Bill which has been introduced to correct the State's unacceptable current abortion laws.



Transcript

MEDIA RELEASE



8 March 2016



Victorian school communities should be free to say no to the so-called Safe Schools Coalition, according to the Australian Christian Lobby.



ACL Victorian Director Dan Flynn said the Andrews Government was wrong to force the age-inappropriate sexualised program on school communities and parents when opposition against it was growing.



“It is of deep concern to the Australian Christian Lobby and many Victorian parents that the Government is behaving like big brother and enforcing contested rainbow ideology onto our children,” Mr Flynn said.



Mr Flynn made the comments in response to a media report yesterday in which the Andrews Government first appeared to back away from making the program compulsory before back-peddling and reaffirming its stance to make Safe Schools mandatory in every Victorian high school by 2018.

“School communities that have decided not to align themselves with the program, such as Kyabram P-12 College, should not be forced to do so," Mr Flynn said.



He said bullying children for any reason was unacceptable but the Safe Schools program went way beyond the purview of an anti-bullying program.

“As parents and teachers become better informed they are questioning why their school should have the program, particularly when other anti-bullying programs are already available which already address minority issues,” Mr Flynn said.



“The Victorian Government should immediately withdraw the program from schools, pending its review by the Federal Education Minister Simon Birmingham.



“As a significant funder of the program, the Victorian Government has a duty to Victorian taxpayers to hold its own review into Safe Schools.

"Parents expect their children to be safe at school but encouraging boys who identify as girls to use the girls’ bathrooms and share school camp accommodation is not the way to do this," Mr Flynn said.



"Safe Schools tells children they must have access to the Minus 18 website which instructs girls in chest binding so their breasts are flattened and penis tucking for boys.



“We are opposed to making the program mandatory and forcing parents and children to take on this rainbow ideologically driven program.”



ENDS



Media: 02 6259 0431

With both the Premier and the Opposition leader giving the green light to a private members bill on doctors’ conscience in abortion, the Australian Christian Lobby has urged voters to vote for pro freedom of conscience candidates regardless of party.



The Victorian Premier and Opposition Leader have both stated that they will allow a conscience vote if a private members’ bill is introduced to restore freedom to doctors to decline to participate in abortion.



Denis Napthine and Daniel Andrews were responding to questions from Christian leaders at the Australian Christian Lobby’s Make it Count forum at Queens’ Hall, Parliament House on 23 September 2014.



Their commitments come following a question at the forum about Melbourne Doctor Mark Hobart, who faced sanctions for declining to assist a couple who wanted their baby girl aborted so they could try again for a boy.



“If a private members’ bill was introduced then we would certainly allow a conscience vote,” Dr Napthine said.



“My position would be to afford a conscience vote,” Mr Andrews said.



ACL Victorian Director Dan Flynn welcomed the leaders’ commitments to allow a parliamentary vote on whether or not doctors should be forced to participate in abortion by making a referral for an abortion.



“Victorian voters who value life are urged to vote for a pro-freedom of conscience candidate from either party at the 29 November election”, Mr Flynn said.

[caption id="attachment_33017" align="alignright" width="361"] From left: Attorney-General Robert Clark, Education Minister Martin Dixon and Andrew Ronalds MP at the briefing[/caption]



Earlier this week, ACL’s managing director Lyle Shelton and Victorian director Dan Flynn were invited to attend a government briefing for Christian leaders across Victoria to discuss the issues of faith and freedom in the state.



The event was aimed at clarifying the Coalition government’s position on freedom of expression and religion, which has come under question by some Victorians in the past few weeks.



Victoria’s Attorney-General Robert Clark, Education Minister Martin Dixon and Liberal MP for the Eastern Region Andrew Ronalds took questions from a group of around 70 Christian leaders about issues pertaining to religious freedom and expression, particularly in regards to religious education in public schools.



Mr Ronalds opened the briefing by discussing the importance of religious freedom, and that every parent has the right to choose whether their child participates in the Special Religious Instruction (SRI) program.



Mr Dixon spoke of his commitment to freedom of religion, his support for the SRI program and for allowing students the freedom to engage in lunchtime religious activities. He also supported the continuation of the school chaplaincy program in Victoria.



The Attorney-General addressed the state’s Equal Opportunity Act, which currently allows for religious organisations, particularly Christians schools, to appoint staff of their faith and ethos.



The government ministers then took questions from the audience on issues of concern to Christians.



ACL recently launched a campaign to reverse a ban on prayer groups and lunchtime Bible studies outlined in the SRI program policy.



[caption id="attachment_33019" align="alignright" width="333"] Attorney-General Robert Clark addresses Christian leaders[/caption]



Thousands of emails were received by Victorian members of parliament urging the government overturn the ban.



Late last month, Mr Dixon announced that he had directed his department to withdraw the elements of the policy that were the subject of the complaint.



You can read more about the details of the issue here.

Melbourne rally in support of persecuted Iraqi Christians this Saturday, 1:30pm, Federation Square



We thought we had learned from the ethnic and religious purges of the Holocaust and the Balkans.



‘Never again’ was the vain refrain.



But this week hundreds of thousands of Christians have been driven from their homes in northern Iraq under the threat of convert to Islam or die by Islamic state militants.



Chilling images of decapitation, crucifixions and summary mass executions have filled news websites all week.



The images are hard to verify but the reports indicate that the killings include Shiites, former Iraqi army members and Christians.



Churches are being ransacked and destroyed.



In alarming echoes of the Holocaust where Jews were marked with the Star of David, Christian homes have been marked with the Arabic letter ‘N’ to signify that they are followers of the Nazarene, Jesus.



Christians have been in this region for 2000 years and now almost all have fled.



Many of my Facebook friends have changed their profile picture to the Arabic letter ‘N’ as a show of solidarity.



It was also good to see prominent global Muslim leaders condemn the violence.



With world leaders understandably paralysed by the other numbing tragic crises in Gaza and Ukraine, much of what is occurring in northern Iraq is going on under the radar.



However, it was also good to see the Australian government pledge $5 million in aid.



This week, religious liberty analyst Elizabeth Kendal spoke to ACL’s Katherine Spackman about the plight of Iraqi Christians who have been ordered by ISIS militants to leave the city of Mosul or convert to Islam.



Leaders of Australian churches with Middle Eastern roots are understandably very concerned. Many have loved ones in war-torn Syria and Iraq.



They have organised a rally at Melbourne’s Federation Square this Saturday at 1:30pm.



ACL’s Victorian Director Dan Flynn and I will be there. If you can, please join us as a sign of solidarity with our brothers and sisters in Christ who are suffering.

I was amongst many Victorians at St Paul’s Cathedral in Melbourne this morning to honour the victims of the Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 disaster in the Ukraine last week.



The Anglican Primate of Australia, Dr Philip Freier hosted a multi-denominational and inter-faith service to comfort family and friends of those who perished.



Dr Freier spoke of the comfort that God seeks to bring to those mourning the loss of the 298 people on board the flight. He spoke of the journey ahead in repatriating the bodies of loved ones to be brought home for intimate farewell and burial in their communities.



The service was a moving expression of solidarity and a call for justice.



Dignitaries, including Victorian Governor Alex Chernov, the Premier Dr Denis Napthine, comforted grieving family members before and after the service. Members of the Sunbury Lions Football Club were visible in team colours, in support of the family of deceased locals Albert and Maree Rizk.



It was fitting of Canon Heather Patacca to pray:



"Merciful Father, hear our prayers and comfort us; renew our trust in your Son, whom you raised from the dead; strengthen our faith that all who have died in the love of Christ will share in his resurrection "



The Australian Christian Lobby joins with all Australians in extending love and comfort to the families who have lost love ones.

In the last week, the ACL has been quoted in the media on issues such as sports betting, and the case of Sudanese Christian woman Meriam Ibrahim who is sentenced to death. See below for links to mentions in the media.



On betting agency Sportsbet's Christ the Redeemer stunt in Melbourne this week:

• Herald Sun - Outrage over giant Jesus air-balloon floating over Melbourne



• 3AW - Betting company's stunt 'offensive'



• International Business Times - #KEEPTHEFAITH Giant Jesus for the Socceroos sparks fury all over Melbourne



• Marketing Magazine - Sportsbet's 'Christ the Redeemer' hot air balloon



• Courier-Mail - Outrage over giant Jesus air-balloon floating over Melbourne

ACL's Victorian Director Dan Flynn was also interviewed by Channel 9 News on Tuesday about Sportsbet's Christ the Redeemer hot-air balloon stunt.



On Meriam Ibrahim:

• Crossmap - Australia joins calls to stop Meriam's execution

In the last week, ACL has been quoted in the media on issues such as gambling, abortion, surrogacy, religious freedom, and the federal budget. See below for links to mentions in the media.



On gambling:

• ABC News - Government pushes ahead with Logan greyhound racing track despite community opposition 



• ABC Radio - Logan greyhound track faces growing opposition

On religious freedom:

• Christian Today Australia - Religious freedom in Australia to be tested as Christian Youth Camps case goes to High Court 

On surrogacy:

• Christian Today Australia - LNP must act to stop fabrication of kids' birth certificates, says ACL



• Star Observer - Historic first for Queensland fertility arrangements

ACL's Managing Director Lyle Shelton also spoke to Justin Smith on 2UE radio this week about religious instruction.



In this week's Politics InFocus, ACL's Lyle Shelton comments on why the howls of protest over the 2014 federal budget remain strident. Watch the interview below.







Budget 2014: an overblown response? from InFocus on Vimeo.



ACL's Victorian Director Dan Flynn had a letter to the editor published in the Herald Sun this week about abortion in the state:

In the last week, the ACL has been quoted in the media on issues such as sports gambling, the federal budget and legalising prostitution. See below for links to mentions in the media.



ACL's Victorian Director Dan Flynn was interviewed by 3AW's Neil Mitchell about the use Brazil's Christ the Redeemer statue to promote sports betting in the upcoming Soccer World Cup. Read more and listen to Dan's interview by following this link.



In this week's Politics InFocus, ACL's Managing Director Lyle Shelton speaks about the shortcomings in this year's federal budget as well as Amnesty International's push to legalise prostitution around the world. Watch the interview below.



 







Broken promises: Budget 2014 from InFocus on Vimeo.

MEDIA RELEASE



For release: Wednesday April 16, 2014



A dissenting judge in an anti-discrimination case against a Christian youth camp has warned that religious freedom is being eroded.



The Victorian Court of Appeal today dismissed an Appeal from a VCAT decision in 2010 which ruled that Christian Youth Camps had discriminated against Cobaw, a group for same-sex attracted youth, in the provision of accommodation. The Victorian Court of Appeal President Chris Maxwell & Justice Marcia Neave (the majority) ruled that discrimination (pursuant to Part 3 of The Equal Opportunity Act 2010) had taken place and that the refusal by CYC to provide the accommodation was not covered by any of the religious exemptions to the EOA.



However, Section 77 of the EOA provides that:

Nothing in part 3 applies to discrimination by a person against another person if the discrimination is necessary for the first person to comply with the person’s genuine religious beliefs or principles

Contrary to the approach taken by VCAT & the majority, Justice Robert Redlich decided that s.77 is an exemption available to a corporation and that CYC and its employee Mark Rowe, who refused the booking, were taking steps necessary to comply with their genuine religious beliefs that promotion of homosexuality was wrong.



The Australian Christian Lobby’s Victorian Director Dan Flynn welcomed Justice Redlich’s dissenting judgement saying it was important religious organisations retained the freedom to protect their ethos.



“The dissenting judgement of Justice Redlich correctly states the balance between the competing rights of equal opportunity and religious freedom. His judgement emphasises that if the scope of the religious exemption is read down by judges this frustrates the very purpose of the exemption – which is to protect religious freedom,” Mr Flynn said.



“Justice Redlich has made a critical contribution to Victorian human rights jurisprudence by articulating the principle that religious belief may give rise to an obligation of obedience to that principle in the commercial sphere.



“The clear sighted conclusion that once CYC became aware of the particular purpose for which the campsite was to be used was contrary to their beliefs or principles, they were compelled by those beliefs to refuse to allow their camp site to facilitate such a purpose.”Mr Flynn said that he hoped human rights lawyers in Australia would study the decision of Justice Redlich to better understand the intended scope of section 77 of the Act.