24/06/2026
So predictable 🙈
Respect for our Christian heritage used to be something all sides of politics broadly understood.
Opening Parliament with the Lord’s Prayer was seen as a simple acknowledgement of the Christian heritage of our Nation, and the faith that shaped so much of our law and culture.
That’s why I find the current push to scrap the Lord’s Prayer so troubling.
Dave Kelly MLA is now publicly campaigning to remove it, calling the tradition that dates back to 1558 “outdated” and asking whether we are “a democracy or a theocracy”, as though the words Jesus handed down to us is somehow incompatible with democratic government.
What a foolish comparison.
Our democracy did not emerge in spite of our Christian heritage, but because of it.
💛The idea that every person has equal worth and value
💛 That rulers are accountable to a higher moral law
💛 That the weak and vulnerable deserve protection and care
These are all premises in our law and governance that are grounded in a Christian worldview.
Those truths helped underpin concepts like inherent dignity, individual rights, and equality before the law.
But for me, what is even more offensive than the “theocracy” line is the suggestion that the Lord’s Prayer itself is a “trigger” for survivors of abuse.
Abuse is evil and must always be condemned.
Yet to imply that the prayer Jesus Christ taught His disciples is, in itself, a symbol of that evil is effectively to say that any reference to Christianity must be read through the worst actions ever committed by people within the church.
That is a standard Dave Kelly MLA would never dream of applying to any other faith group.
Christians have been among the strongest voices calling out abuse and demanding justice and reform.
We can, and must, face the sins committed in our institutions without allowing those sins to define our Christian heritage.
So no, Mr Kelly, I don’t agree that a short daily prayer in Parliament is a slide towards “theocracy”, or that hearing the Lord’s Prayer is inherently harmful, as Christians, we cannot quietly accept that revision of our story.
Your words constitute a clear and unwarranted attack on our foundations, and against every Christian.
We should stand firm – graciously, but clearly – in saying that our Christian heritage is a vital part of the foundations and history that built the free, democratic Australia we love.
Part of honouring that heritage is keeping space in our Parliament to humbly pray the words, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,” without being told that this somehow makes us less of a democracy 💛🙏
Australian Christian Lobby, FamilyVoice Australia, Canberra Declaration
