Weekend Wrap for 3 November 2024
Welcome to the NSL Weekend Wrap for 3 November 2024, where you can catch up on the latest secular-related news from around the country.
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At the National Level
More than one in 10 Australian teenagers identify as gay, bisexual, pansexual or asexual, a survey of high school students has found. Researchers surveyed 6,388 year 8 students between 2019 and 2021, finding that 12% of the teens reported diverse sexualities, while 3.3% identified as gender-diverse. The findings, the study’s authors say, highlight an “urgent need” for support services in schools and healthcare settings to mitigate against an increased risk of stigma, discrimination and violence. (29 Oct 2024)
Read more at The Guardian
The Catholic Church must do a better job of handling compensation for the victims of clergy sexual abuse, the Vatican's child protection commission said in its first annual report on Tuesday. The church has been shaken by scandals across the world for decades, involving paedophile priests and the cover-up of their crimes. These scandals have damaged the church's credibility and costed it hundreds of millions of dollars in settlements. The commission said compensation went beyond money and included "a much broader spectrum of actions." This includes acknowledging mistakes, public apologies and other forms of true fraternal closeness to victims-survivors. (30 Oct 2024)
Read more at ABC News
Around the Country
WA: The Labor government in Western Australia would aim to introduce legislation next year to remove religious exemptions to equal opportunity laws if re-elected in the March election, according to state Attorney-General John Quigley. Quigley has reaffirmed the Cook government’s commitment to “reforming and narrowing the religious exemptions” that apply for religious schools and religious bodies under the Equal Opportunity Act 1984 (WA). When the Albanese government was still considering its own reforms to remove religious exemptions from federal laws earlier this year, Mr Quigley postponed the Western Australia reform effort until after the 2025 state election so as not to “upset the applecart”. (28 Oct 2024)
Read more at the Rationalist Society of Australia
QLD: The Queensland cross-bench MP, Robbie Katter, says he thinks Liberal National party candidates who made anti-abortion comments prior to the state election were “dog whistling” but have little intention of deviating from the party line. The Katter’s Australian party leader told ABC Radio National on Tuesday that he would still seek to “test the parliament” on a potential private member’s bill to wind back some elements of Queensland’s 2018 laws that decriminalised abortion. The KAP MP’s vow to do so during the state election campaign turned abortion rights into a significant issue, credited with helping Labor to prevent the loss of more seats in Brisbane and its surrounds. The incoming Crisafulli government has said it has “no plans” to reform the laws and that there will be “no changes”. But if Katter brings a private member’s bill, the longstanding LNP practice is to hold a conscience vote. (29 Oct 2024)
Read more at The Guardian
SA: Anti-abortion activist Joanna Howe has been banned from parts of South Australia's upper house, with parliament told she allegedly insulted, intimidated and threatened MPs on the night of a vote about late-term abortion law. Dr Howe has hit back at the ban, calling it a "total abuse of power" which she would "strongly contest going forward". This week, Liberal politician Jing Lee revealed she felt unsafe and had been put in a compromised position after an encounter with an "external visitor" who made her feel "very vulnerable on the night" of a vote about proposed amendments to abortion laws. Upper house president Terry Stephens identified the external visitor as Dr Howe, who is a legal professor at the University of Adelaide, and who helped draft the proposed changes. (31 Oct 2024)
Read more at ABC News
QLD: Greg Williamson, the mayor of Mackay Regional Council in Queensland, which appears to give only Christian community leaders the opportunity to open its meetings with prayers, says the current practice does not favour or exclude any group. Williamson defended his council’s meeting procedures, rejecting concerns that they breached Queensland anti-discrimination and human rights laws. While Mackay council’s Order of Business for meetings provides for the recital of an “Opening Prayer”, the RSA has discovered that, at least in recent years, only Christian ministers appear to have performed this role. (31 Oct 2024)
Read more at the Rationalist Society of Australia
Commentary and Analysis
Luara Ferracioli: Particularly when it comes to abortion, the words we use in public debate matter
"It is no exaggeration to say that abortion is one of the most emotive and complex issues that citizens must grapple with in public life. But just because we find a practice morally unsettling, does not give us licence to employ harmful moral terminology. When we refer to late-term abortion as “infanticide”, as politicians and advocates have done in recent days, we wrong the women who had to have an abortion because of risk to their lives, or because continuing with a pregnancy was simply not in the best future interest of the foetus. Any quick dictionary check will tell you that “infanticide” is the crime of killing a child, usually specified as within one year since birth. To accuse women who have had an abortion of infanticide is to accuse them of one of the most horrendous crimes a human being can commit against another. It is also to ignore the fact that when women terminate pregnancies in the second and third trimesters, they tend to have acted out of self-respect and compassion." (25 Oct 2024)
Read more at ABC Religion & Ethics
Parnell Palme McGuinness: Reborn abortion debate could terminate a viable Dutton government
"Robbie Katter, the leader of Katter’s Australian Party, announced he’d consider forcing a vote to recriminalise abortion if the Liberal National Party were to win the Queensland election. Inevitably, Coalition members in Queensland and beyond were asked to declare their stance. Which means that Dutton, who has been a model of messaging discipline as he prepares for the coming federal election, is in danger of being pulled off course. This is an unhoped-for gift to Labor. Australians are overwhelmingly in favour of legal abortion. A political party that is perceived to be against legal and accessible abortion would be at a disadvantage among the 82 per cent of the population who, Pew research has found, believe abortion should be available in 'all or most cases'. Dutton knows, as Labor knows, as everyone in politics knows, that if this becomes an election issue, it could significantly harm his chances of scraping into government. Which makes it all the more curious that some in the wider Liberal and National parties are giving the question oxygen right now. It’s worth considering what is going on." (27 Oct 2024)
Read more at The Age
Michael James: What Does A Labor Loss Look Like For Queer Queenslanders
"Following their massive defeat in 2012 the Labor party was returned to power in 2015 and have since implemented a wide range of policies to support and protect the LGBTQIA+ community in Queensland. ... Whilst these are a range of positive changes for the queer community, many LNP members who have been returned to their positions in the Queensland election over night have actively voted against the afore mentioned legislation changes previously. Which begs the question, will these laws remain in effect under the new government?" (27 Oct 2024)
Read more at the Star Observer
Madison Griffiths: Once again, women’s bodies are back at the mercy of men and their ‘consciences’
"Following the state election on the weekend, Queenslanders are staring down the barrel of a conscience vote on abortion rights in a parliament where around 63 per cent of MPs will be men – on a health issue that concerns women’s choices. Within the newly elected Liberal National Party itself, three out of every four MPs are men, and the three MPs within Katter’s Australian Party – which promised to bring forward a private member’s bill to repeal abortion laws – are all men. There are few decisions that cut across party lines – be they family, religion, age, race and socio-economic status – as obvious as terminating a pregnancy. It is a deeply personal choice, one that does not discriminate." (30 Oct 2024)
Read more at The Age
Richard Baker: ‘Whole world on fire’: Inside one of Australia’s most extreme churches
"For more than 65 years, Noel Hollins ran one of Australia’s most extreme and secretive Pentecostal churches. His teachings warned of imminent armageddon and he exerted total control over the lives of thousands of followers who believed him to be the apostle of God’s 'one true church'. ... 'The hardest thing about being in a cult is figuring out you’re in a cult,' [former member Ryan Carey] said. 'We were taught the world was to be feared. We weren’t really living for this life or living for the next. You grow up with a fear that virtually armageddon was going to happen. And if you weren’t right with God, you were going to burn forever.' Carey said his decision to leave had cost him his relationship with his mother and sister, who remain in the church. The church also faces accusations of child sexual abuse going back decades, as well as extreme physical punishment of children under Hollins’ policy of 'spare the rod, spoil the child'. Former members spoke of men in the church being empowered to discipline children through beatings, strappings and choking." (30 Oct 2024)
Read more at The Age
Richard Baker: ‘Like Handmaid’s Tale’: Church’s doctrine pushed teen to marry her rapist
"[Geelong Revival Centre pastor Noel] Hollins was, according to Stacy, unmoved as she detailed an alleged physical and emotionally abusive relationship. In his view, there was only one solution to right her wrong: she would have to marry her alleged attacker. 'The pastor was told that it was in fact rape, but that didn’t change my sentence whatsoever. I was still out for a year and I still had to marry him,' she said. 'The pastor never asked me if I was alright.' ... And she said no one in the church’s leadership had any interest involving the police either. 'It was just get married. Fix this. Keep it quiet,' she said. Stacy’s treatment is one of many shocking revelations about the church’s expectations and restrictions on women revealed in a new investigative podcast series, LiSTNR’s Secrets We Keep: Pray Harder." (1 Nov 2024)
Read more at The Age
Stephanie Richards and Harvey Biggs: Power, passion and preselection: How social media has influenced South Australia's abortion debate
"When speaking to her followers, Professor Howe is unflinching in her use of contemptuous language when describing those with whom she does not agree. In one Instagram post, she refers to politicians, journalists and campaigners in support of abortion as 'unimaginably unhinged' members of a 'Baby Killers Club'. ... Regardless of people's views on Joanna Howe, it is hard to argue that her recent campaigning in South Australia has been without impact. Following the debate in the state's parliament, in which the proposed changes were ultimately voted down 10 votes to 9, abortion once again became a key topic in the lead-up to the Queensland state election. About three weeks out from election day, independent MP Robbie Katter said he would introduce a private member's bill to repeal the law decriminalising abortion. And the matter also became a talking point in federal politics, with Coalition senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price calling for a national debate on the issue. Suddenly, an issue many Australians might have thought was settled was back on the national agenda." (2 Nov 2024)
Read more at ABC News
Events and Campaigns
Go Gentle Australia have released The State of VAD, a report collating and analysing available VAD data from all jurisdictions for the first time.
Download the report here
The full videos of presentations and panel discussions from the 2023 Secularism Australia Conference are now freely available for viewing on the Secularism Australia website and on YouTube!
The Australia Institute are calling on federal parliament to pass truth in political advertising laws that are nationally consistent, constitutional and uphold freedom of speech. View the petition at The Australia Institute
The Human Rights Law Centre are running a website for those who want to support an Australian Charter of Human Rights & Freedoms.
Visit the Charter of Rights website here
A change.org petition has been started, calling for churches to lose their tax-free status and for "the religious influence of churches in Australian politics and society" to be limited. It's currently up to 31,000 signatures. View the petition at change.org
The Australian Education Union is running a campaign calling for “every school, every child” to receive fair education funding. It's currently up to 95,000 sign-ups. Support the campaign here.
The Human Rights for NSW alliance has launched a campaign calling for NSW to pass a Human Rights Act.
That's it for another week!
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