ACL 17th April 2014

17 April 2014

You may have heard the news that former Senator Brian Harradine passed away earlier this week.

He is Australia’s longest serving independent senator in the history of Australia’s federation

ACL’s Managing Director Lyle Shelton reflects on his years of service in his blog piece this week.

(Lyle Shelton and local supporters will be staffing a stall at Easterfest in Toowoomba this weekend. If you are at the event, please go and say hi.)

In other news, ACL’s Dan Flynn writes about how religious freedom has been eroded in Victoria with a court decision against a Christian youth camp.

In this week’s radio interviews, ACL’s Katherine Spackman speaks to Archbishop Dr Glenn Davies about children in detention and Dr David Daintree about a new think tank in Tasmania.

Have a blessed Easter.

ACL TEAM

P.S. We congratulate Mike Baird on being elected NSW Premier. ACL’s David Hutt comments on the appointment to Eternity Newspaper.

Brian Harradine’s life an example of principled public leadership

By Lyle Shelton, Managing Director

I never knew the former Senator Brian Harradine, who passed away this week. But I did hear him speak in the early 2000s at a seminar associated with the annual Parliamentary Prayer Breakfast. He was passionate about a bioethical issue that was to dominate the decade.

Religious freedom eroded in the court decision on a Christian youth camp

By Dan Flynn, ACL Victorian Director

The Australian Christian Lobby said it’s a sad day for religious freedom with the Victorian Court of Appeal’s decision to dismiss a Christian youth camp’s appeal to be exempted from an instance of discrimination, necessitated by its religious beliefs.

Queensland petitions to sign

ACL is encouraging supporters to consider signing two Queensland petitions – one about Adult Entertainment Permits and the other about a new greyhound racing track which will promote gambling.

The first petition is sponsored by Member for Kallangur, Trevor Ruthenberg, calling for a repeal of laws which prevent local government from having the authority to approve or restrict the location of Adult Entertainment Permits.

Anglican Archbishops express concern about children in detention

Dr Glenn Davies is the Anglican Archbishop of Sydney and the Metropolitan of New South Wales. In this interview with the ACL’s Katherine Spackman he discusses the Australian Anglican Archbishops recent media release expressing concern about children in detention and asylum seekers.