Vic - Religious Freedom ... again!

Some interesting articles have been published about the proposed removal of exceptions from Victoria's Equal Opportunity Act.

Mr Rob Hulls, the Attorney-General, is determined to "remove ALL discrimination".

In the 29 July edition of News Weekly, Charles Francis QC had an excellent article:

VICTORIA: Religious freedom under threat
Charles Francis QC.
"From its beginning, Australia was a secular country in that it had no established church. There was freedom of religion for a rich variety of faiths. The Australian Commonwealth had a rich Judaeo-Christian heritage, and churches provided hospitals, schools and other quasi-religious institutions from which the community derived considerable benefits. There were many great Christians who made very significant contributions to our country, and our Christian heritage played a very important part in the development of the great Australian democracy.

"In 1976, the Hamer Liberal Government prepared Victoria's first Equal Opportunity Bill. I was one of the members of the Liberal Party committee responsible for advising on the bill. At an early stage, I concluded that the bill was contrary to the best interests of Victorians. In October 1976, I spoke in the Liberal Party room, pointing out some of the many defects in the bill, and also wrote a number of memoranda on the subject...."

Charles died this week and will be remembered for his strong stand on such issues.

Another excellent article - this time by Christopher Pearson in The Australian, highlights the submission by a range of religious leaders - known as the Ad Hoc Interfaith Committee - all protesting against the removal of religious exceptions from the Act.
The second part of the title refers to a speech by Peter Adam, Principal of Ridley College (Anglican, Melbourne) which said we should leave Australia since the aborigines got here first and that our homes and churches are "stolen property". 

Hulls unholy ... and is Mr Adam still here?