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Before the last election, Scott Morrison promised he would deliver religious freedom protections.
And yet, close to 800 days since the election in 2019, the Prime Minister is still yet to deliver.
Earlier this year FamilyVoice featured a webinar with the Hon. Kevin Andrews on religious freedom.
Nearly 300 people registered on the night, but if you missed it you can catch up on our FamilyVoice YouTube channel.
Kevin paid tribute to the ongoing work of FamilyVoice. “It’s often been a tough battle, against the current zeitgeist which reigns supreme in the liberal media and elsewhere,” he said. “Your efforts, your prayerfulness, your thoughtfulness, your concern about the future of this country in a very real and substantive way – thank you very much!
He then noted that many Australians think there is religious freedom in Australia – in practice, as well as in law.
“But in fact there is very little protection of religious freedom here,” he said. “There is some protection in the federal Constitution, but not in the states.”
Senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells speaks out
FamilyVoice’s Greg Bondar recently met with NSW Senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells to discuss this critical issue.
Senator Fierravanti-Wells is a very strong supporter of religious freedom. She has rightly pointed out that:
Australians of family and faith want to be able to live their lives in accordance with their faith and their convictions. The growing body of cases in Australia of people facing harassment, intimidation and persecution because of their religious beliefs and actions highlights the need for positive religious freedom laws. Some are even losing their livelihoods.
Indeed, since the 2017 same-sex marriage campaign and postal survey, people who hold and practice traditional values of marriage and family have been intimidated and harassed.
When freedom of speech, thought, conscience and belief is framed only as an “exemption” to other rights, they are “read down” against positive rights, rendering them subordinate to those other rights. A regime of positive rights in the form of religious freedom legislation would give greater effect to the right to manifest one’s freedom of thought, conscience and belief as outlined in Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
With a federal election fast approaching, it is incumbent that we maintain the pressure on the Federal Government to deliver on religious freedom.
I urge you to send a quick message to the Prime Minister telling him to please act immediately to protect this important right.
For family, faith and freedom,
Peter Downie - National Director
FamilyVoice Australia