Weekend Wrap for 9 November 2019
Labor considers religion as a factor in its election demise, as a new survey of attitudes towards religion in public life delivers comes out. Here's the latest edition of the Weekend Wrap, bringing news and views on secular matters, for another week.
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The National View
A review of how Labor lost the federal election has recommended, among things, that the party improve its standing among groups within the Christian community (The Australian).
LGBTQI+ advocates are calling on the Labor Party to oppose any roll back for discrimination protections for their community, with Rodney Croome arguing that the party’s internal review undermines the narrative that Labor needs to re-connect with religious voters at the expense of LGBTIQ+ Australians (Out in Perth).
A new ABC survey shows that most Australians think discrimination against religious people occurs ‘occasionally’ or ‘often’, while the same survey suggests most want religious people to keep their beliefs to themselves (ABC).
An educational course aligned to the Australian Christian Lobby is teaching young Christians that the world is heading for a ‘Kairos moment’ in which the secular world ‘unravels’ (SMH).
Controversial tennis great and religious figure Margaret Court, whose religious-based campaigns against same-sex marriage have inspired campaigns for her name to be removed from a stadium, is urging on Tennis Australia to “honour me” and celebrate her Grad Slam 50th anniversary (SMH).
Around the Country
WA: Opposition Leader Liza Harvey believes parliament will decide on voluntary assisted dying legislation by the end of the year despite the efforts of a rogue conservative MP to delay the vote (West Australian).
QLD: Liberal MP Jann Stuckey is calling on the Labor government to bring on a vote on voluntary assisted dying before the state election, due next year (Courier Mail).
QLD: A voluntary assisted dying advocate says the issue should not be politcised or made into a religious issue (The Wire).
NSW: Advocates for voluntary assisted dying in New South Wales are pressing for VAD to be debated again in the state parliament, having written to a parliamentary working group urging it to revive the issue (SMH).
NSW: Catholic Archbishop Anthony Fisher is urging religious people to “resist any move to exclude religion from the public square in an increasingly secular culture” in the wake of a new push to remove the Lord’s Prayer from state parliament (Catholic Weekly).
VIC: An Anglican priest and his male partner have married in a church ceremony in Bendigo (Star Observer).
Commentary and Analysis
Emily Clark takes a deeper look at religious diversity in Australia and what the results of a new survey suggest about the expression of religious faith in public (ABC).
Jordan King Lacroix writes that although Scott Morrison's politics seem influenced by his religion, the two are often misaligned (The Big Smoke).
Peter FitzSimons calls out the hypocrisy of Margaret Court's plea for tolerance and equal treatment, given her history of homopobic statements (SMH).
That's it for another week!
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