Australian Christian Lobby
Encyclopedia
The Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) is a Christian political lobby group having a head office in Canberra
and branches in six Australian states and territories. Its motto is "Voice for values". Its managing director is Jim Wallace AM.
The Australian Christian Lobby has three main functions. These are: supporting politicians who uphold Christian values, lobbying and thirdly informing, educating and activating Christians. As an example of the first two functions, Jim Wallace has twice organised meetings between leaders of 20 major Christian churches and Prime Ministers.
. The lobby group was the brainchild of John Gagliardi
, a lay leader of a large Pentecostal
church in Brisbane, who stated that the vision was to create an organisation that would have influence in the political arena, on behalf of all Christians, no matter what denomination. Gagliardi’s background was in journalism, and he held positions as Editor of the Townsville Bulletin
and as anchorman for the Channel 10 news. John McNicoll was a retired Baptist
Minister
turned lobbyist in Canberra before becoming involved in the Australian Christian Coalition. John Miller, who worked with a number of community and government organisations and held leadership positions within his independent, community-based church.
The name of the organisation was changed to the Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) in March 2001. The ACL has been described as already having "made its influence felt on a state and national level" at this stage.
faith reflected in the political life of the nation."
The ACL also operates the 'Make A Stand' website which the ACL claims "is a service provided to assist the Australian public to respond to political issues in a timely and effective manner."
, Limited By Guarantee, registered (having an ABN 40 075 120 517) with the Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC).
ACL files political expenditure returns with Australian Electoral Commission
(AEC).
Details regarding the Australian Christian Lobby’s Board and the ACL Staff are available.
ACL issues publications such as the magazine, “Viewpoint” which is provided to each Parliamentarian in Australia free of charge. It provides Media Releases and it communicates with its supporters via emailed newsletters.
While Australia does have established protocols for the classification of films, computer games, publications and music and for advertising standards this remains unresolved for outdoor advertising with one example showing, "a naked couple provocatively entwined next to a packet of condoms . . (in) proximity to a Catholic primary school". Australia's Prime Minister says, regarding this type of billboard they, "cause me to worry". Responding to a proposed regulatory change in the United Kingdom where, "billboard images of scantily clad models are to be banned in a bid to prevent the sexualisation of children" , a televised debate was held between Fiona Patten
of the Australian Sex Party
and Wendy Francis of ACL.
ACL advocacy for the homeless
has included a submission to the New South Wales Legislative Council Standing Committee on Social Issues Inquiry into homelessness and low-cost rental accommodation. ACL has consistently supported marriage
as, "the union of a man and a woman to the exclusion of all others, voluntarily entered into for life". In 2004, ACL jointly organised the National Marriage Forum to support this amendment to the Marriage Act and the Family Law Act. The current Australian Prime Minister has said, under her government "the Marriage Act will remain unchanged". ACL continues to advocate for marriage, as defined in the Marriage Amendment Act 2004.
A document on marriage, as linked to the needs of children, was prepared by the Catholic, Anglican and Presbyterian Churches, under the auspices of the Australian Christian Lobby. The document was endorsed by 50 of the national church leaders from the Anglican, Catholic, Christian Reformed Churches of Australia, Lutheran, Orthodox, Pentecostal, Presbyterian, Salvation Army, Seventh Day Adventist Church and Uniting Church.
The Australian Christian Lobby has congratulated ACT Greens
Party Convener, Meredith Hunter, on moves to introduce a voluntary code of conduct for retailers to help combat the sexualisation
of children.
which allow abortion
up until birth for any reason. ACL has also sponsored Gianna Jessen
, an 'abortion survivor' to come to Australia to talk about her experiences. ACL has campaigned on a number of occasions in response to moves to legalise euthanasia
by various territory, state and federal jurisdictions. ACL has highlighted how some legal Australian brothels have ties to human trafficking
and sex slavery.
, ACL has supported a trial for mandatory pre-commitment scheme. ACL has worked with Micah Challenge
to 'Make Poverty History
’ and to achieve the 'Millennium Development Goals
' on halving global poverty by 2012. In regards to refugees, the Australian Christian Lobby called for all parties to stop playing politics and to co-operate on a solution. "ACL supports the recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples
in the preamble of the Constitution".
Regarding the situation in Egypt
, the ACL has called on the Federal Government to pressure Egypt to protect religious minorities such as the Copts.
and Opposition Leader Tony Abbott
spoke about their positions on a range of issues affecting Christians. Prominent Christian leaders of major denominations attended the Make It Count event.
Prior to the Australian 2007 federal election, ACL hosted a Make It Count event with the then Prime Minister John Howard
and the then Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd.
's mandatory Internet Blacklist
. The ACL seeks to extend the blacklist to filter all pornographic materials and not just materials which are considered inappropriate for children (the original reason for the blacklist's creation). An Australian citizen who wants to download pornographic material via the internet would then have to request that their internet service provider unblock the filter. One day prior to the government announcement of a delay to the implementation of the filter scheme, the ACL was briefed leading to some criticism of their "disproportionate influence" on the filtering policy.
Australia is currently the only developed nation that does not have an R18+ classification for video games. The ACL has been in constant opposition to introducing an R18+ classification. The ACL's stance has been heavily criticised by the video gaming community, including Christian gamers. 98.2% of 58,589 submissions to a government run public consultation supported introducing the classification, as does the Catholic church. A commentator noted this shows the ACL does not represent all Christians.
, inheritances, superannuation benefits and social security income support.
The ACL called for the Government to rule out repealing the Marriage Act after the President of the Australian Human Rights Commission confirmed the commission supported same-sex marriage
. Jim Wallace has stated that the claim that there is discrimination against homosexual couples is a "myth".
The ACL is of the view that religious institutions, including religious schools, should have the right to apply discrimination on the basis of sexuality, though Jim Wallace has stated he would expect that any school conducting an expulsion on such a basis would do it "in the most loving way that it could for the child".
With Australian gay rights activists advocating an expansion of the "definition of marriage to include a range of relationship models", ACL has raised the possibility that if gay marriage rights were granted, the next push will be for marriage to include polygamous
relationships. The ACL also cite the hiding of genetic parental information to children as a reason to prevent gay marriage and prevent gay adoption.
The ACL has criticised the government for working with a gay advisory body to assist its decision making as "disgraceful and pandering to a minority".
Miranda Devine wrote in the Herald Sun
that Jim Wallace "has copped more than his fair share of abuse when it comes to defending traditional marriage".
The ACL has been described by a critic as "extremist Christians" and "dominionists", distinctions which the ACL deny and have countered.
Greens MP Colleen Hartland
has stated "I would think [the ACL's] hatred of gays is un-Christian."
The ACL have been accused of double-standards for criticising people who ridicule opponents of same sex marriage, yet allowing Bob Katter
to ridicule same-sex marriage at a rally they co-organised, and for criticising tactics used by gay-rights activists when they have previously used similar tactics themselves. They have also been accused of being misleading regarding survey results, and posting factual inaccuracies on their website. A high ranking Australian Catholic Bishop
claims that the ACL is "often driven not to change policy per se, but simply to make noise. To satiate those who support and fund the group."
on Anzac Day
in 2011: "Just hope that as we remember servicemen and women today we remember the Australia they fought for -- wasn't gay marriage and Islamic!" Critics responded immediately with statements such as: "Jim Wallace of the Australian Christian Lobby should be ashamed, using Anzac Day to push a homophobic and racist agenda." Wallace later apologised for the comments and deleted them.
In direct response to the controversy Australian Christians started a petition stating that the ACL does not represent their views. The petition was signed by over 250 people in its first 24 hours.
, featured a fully clothed, hugging gay couple holding an unopened condom packet. Adshel's CEO stated they removed the billboards after receiving around 30 complaints and that "None of the complaints indicated any liaison with the Australian Christian Lobby, so Adshel was made to believe that they originated from individual members of the public".
The ACL expressed concern at the cyberbullying of a staff member from some activists, which they stated followed Adshel’s decision to remove the advertisements.
The billboards were reinstated following counter-protests of their removal and revelations that the ACL was responsible for the campaign. When the ACL was accused of homophobia
an ACL representative publicly stated their complaints had nothing to do with homosexuality and that they opposed "the sexual nature of the ads". However several of the individual complaints to Adshel suggested the ads would "encourage homosexuality".
Both the major political parties voiced support for the ads; State Treasurer Andrew Fraser
said complaints about the ad were homophobic and Healthy Communities executive director Paul Martin accused the ACL of trying to have gay people "erased from the public sphere". Over 80,000 people joined a Facebook group supporting the ads following the ACL's actions. The ACL's actions backfired further with several advertising agencies deciding to run the ads free of charge.
Canberra
Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...
and branches in six Australian states and territories. Its motto is "Voice for values". Its managing director is Jim Wallace AM.
The Australian Christian Lobby has three main functions. These are: supporting politicians who uphold Christian values, lobbying and thirdly informing, educating and activating Christians. As an example of the first two functions, Jim Wallace has twice organised meetings between leaders of 20 major Christian churches and Prime Ministers.
Origin
Three men from different denominational affiliations and backgrounds founded the Australian Christian Coalition (ACC) in 1995. At the time of the founding, two of them resided in Canberra and one in BrisbaneBrisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
. The lobby group was the brainchild of John Gagliardi
John Gagliardi (australian)
John Gagliardi, is an Australian journalist, businessman, author and lobbyist.Gagliardi is a senior executive with US based nutritional supplements company Pharez Inc....
, a lay leader of a large Pentecostal
Pentecostalism
Pentecostalism is a diverse and complex movement within Christianity that places special emphasis on a direct personal experience of God through the baptism in the Holy Spirit, has an eschatological focus, and is an experiential religion. The term Pentecostal is derived from Pentecost, the Greek...
church in Brisbane, who stated that the vision was to create an organisation that would have influence in the political arena, on behalf of all Christians, no matter what denomination. Gagliardi’s background was in journalism, and he held positions as Editor of the Townsville Bulletin
Townsville Bulletin
The Townsville Bulletin is a daily newspaper published in Townsville, Queensland, Australia. It is the only daily paper that serves the northern Queensland region. The paper has a print edition, a free World Wide Web edition, and a subscription digital edition.The newspaper is published by The...
and as anchorman for the Channel 10 news. John McNicoll was a retired Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
Minister
Minister of religion
In Christian churches, a minister is someone who is authorized by a church or religious organization to perform functions such as teaching of beliefs; leading services such as weddings, baptisms or funerals; or otherwise providing spiritual guidance to the community...
turned lobbyist in Canberra before becoming involved in the Australian Christian Coalition. John Miller, who worked with a number of community and government organisations and held leadership positions within his independent, community-based church.
The name of the organisation was changed to the Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) in March 2001. The ACL has been described as already having "made its influence felt on a state and national level" at this stage.
Aim
According to the ACL's website, "The vision of the Australian Christian Lobby is to see Christian principles and ethics accepted and influencing the way we are governed, do business and relate to each other as a community. The ACL aims to foster a more compassionate, just and moral society by seeking to have the positive public contributions of the ChristianChristian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
faith reflected in the political life of the nation."
The ACL also operates the 'Make A Stand' website which the ACL claims "is a service provided to assist the Australian public to respond to political issues in a timely and effective manner."
Organisation
The Australian Christian Lobby is an Australian Public CompanyPublic company
This is not the same as a Government-owned corporation.A public company or publicly traded company is a limited liability company that offers its securities for sale to the general public, typically through a stock exchange, or through market makers operating in over the counter markets...
, Limited By Guarantee, registered (having an ABN 40 075 120 517) with the Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC).
ACL files political expenditure returns with Australian Electoral Commission
Australian Electoral Commission
The Australian Electoral Commission, or the AEC, is the federal government agency in charge of organising and supervising federal elections and referendums. State and local government elections are overseen by the Electoral Commission in each state and territory.The Australian Electoral Commission...
(AEC).
Details regarding the Australian Christian Lobby’s Board and the ACL Staff are available.
ACL issues publications such as the magazine, “Viewpoint” which is provided to each Parliamentarian in Australia free of charge. It provides Media Releases and it communicates with its supporters via emailed newsletters.
Issues related to family
In September 2011, during Child Protection Week, ACL released a report, For Kids’ Sake, in response to increasing levels of abuse, neglect and self harm surrounding children, for which it is claimed sliding marriage rates are partly to blame.While Australia does have established protocols for the classification of films, computer games, publications and music and for advertising standards this remains unresolved for outdoor advertising with one example showing, "a naked couple provocatively entwined next to a packet of condoms . . (in) proximity to a Catholic primary school". Australia's Prime Minister says, regarding this type of billboard they, "cause me to worry". Responding to a proposed regulatory change in the United Kingdom where, "billboard images of scantily clad models are to be banned in a bid to prevent the sexualisation of children" , a televised debate was held between Fiona Patten
Fiona Patten
Fiona Patten is leader of the Australian Sex Party and a former sex worker . She is also the CEO of the Eros Association."Sex is deeply rooted in the lives of all Australians. It is relevant to hundreds of pieces of legislation made around the country....
of the Australian Sex Party
Australian Sex Party
The Australian Sex Party is a Australian political party founded in 2009 in response to concerns over the influence of religion in politics. The party was born out of adult-industry lobby group, the Eros Association. Party leader, Fiona Patten, is CEO of Eros and the party's Registered Officer,...
and Wendy Francis of ACL.
ACL advocacy for the homeless
Homelessness in Australia
This article describes homelessness in Australia. The majority of long term homeless people are found in the large cities of Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Brisbane...
has included a submission to the New South Wales Legislative Council Standing Committee on Social Issues Inquiry into homelessness and low-cost rental accommodation. ACL has consistently supported marriage
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
as, "the union of a man and a woman to the exclusion of all others, voluntarily entered into for life". In 2004, ACL jointly organised the National Marriage Forum to support this amendment to the Marriage Act and the Family Law Act. The current Australian Prime Minister has said, under her government "the Marriage Act will remain unchanged". ACL continues to advocate for marriage, as defined in the Marriage Amendment Act 2004.
A document on marriage, as linked to the needs of children, was prepared by the Catholic, Anglican and Presbyterian Churches, under the auspices of the Australian Christian Lobby. The document was endorsed by 50 of the national church leaders from the Anglican, Catholic, Christian Reformed Churches of Australia, Lutheran, Orthodox, Pentecostal, Presbyterian, Salvation Army, Seventh Day Adventist Church and Uniting Church.
The Australian Christian Lobby has congratulated ACT Greens
ACT Greens
The ACT Greens is a green political party located in the Australian Capital Territory, and a member of the federation of the Australian Greens....
Party Convener, Meredith Hunter, on moves to introduce a voluntary code of conduct for retailers to help combat the sexualisation
Sexualization
The definition of the term, Sexualization has been the subject of debate and dispute. It has been described as the act or process of sexualizing. It refers to the making of a person, group or thing to be seen as sexual in nature or a person to become aware of sexuality...
of children.
Issues relating to life
ACL is opposed to abortion and works for the repeal of legislation that sanctions abortion on demand. ACL jointly organised a March for the Babies to commemorate the second anniversary of the passing of Victoria’s abortion lawsVictoria's Abortion Law Reform
Australia’s Victoria Abortion Law Reform is a bill passed under Section 65 of the Victorian Crimes Act 1958. The bill states that any woman who has an abortion is liable to receive between five and ten years of imprisonment. Medical practitioners who perform the abortions are also liable to receive...
which allow abortion
Abortion in Australia
Abortion in Australia is a subject of state law rather than national law. The grounds on which abortion is permitted in Australia vary from state to state. In every state, abortion is legal to protect the life and health of the woman, though each state has a different definition.There is no law...
up until birth for any reason. ACL has also sponsored Gianna Jessen
Gianna Jessen
Gianna Jessen is a recording artist and pro-life activist who is a saline abortion survivor.-Early life:...
, an 'abortion survivor' to come to Australia to talk about her experiences. ACL has campaigned on a number of occasions in response to moves to legalise euthanasia
Euthanasia
Euthanasia refers to the practice of intentionally ending a life in order to relieve pain and suffering....
by various territory, state and federal jurisdictions. ACL has highlighted how some legal Australian brothels have ties to human trafficking
Human trafficking
Human trafficking is the illegal trade of human beings for the purposes of reproductive slavery, commercial sexual exploitation, forced labor, or a modern-day form of slavery...
and sex slavery.
Issues related to poverty and justice
In an endeavour to minimise harms associated with poker machinesSlot machine
A slot machine , informally fruit machine , the slots , poker machine or "pokies" or simply slot is a casino gambling machine with three or more reels which spin when a button is pushed...
, ACL has supported a trial for mandatory pre-commitment scheme. ACL has worked with Micah Challenge
Micah Challenge
The Micah Challenge is an international campaign that encourages Christians to support the Millennium Development Goals. Their aim is to "encourage our leaders to halve global poverty by 2015."...
to 'Make Poverty History
Make Poverty History
Make Poverty History is the name of a campaign that exists in a number of countries, including Australia, Canada, Denmark , Finland, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Romania, the United Arab Emirates, Great Britain and Ireland...
’ and to achieve the 'Millennium Development Goals
Millennium Development Goals
The Millennium Development Goals are eight international development goals that all 193 United Nations member states and at least 23 international organizations have agreed to achieve by the year 2015...
' on halving global poverty by 2012. In regards to refugees, the Australian Christian Lobby called for all parties to stop playing politics and to co-operate on a solution. "ACL supports the recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples
Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....
in the preamble of the Constitution".
Regarding the situation in Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, the ACL has called on the Federal Government to pressure Egypt to protect religious minorities such as the Copts.
Issues relating to youth and education
ACL has established a training program for young people with the target group being 18 to 26 years. The Compass program was a "joint-initiative between ACL and the Compass foundation, which is based in New Zealand”. The program includes mentoring and coaching. ACL has provided input into the formulation of the proposed Australian National Curriculum. ACL lobbied against proposal to replace the terms Before Christ (BC) and Anno Domini (AD) with Before the Common Era (BCE) and Common Era (CE). That proposal was subsequently dropped. ACL hosted the Make It Count event on 21 June 2010, where then-Australian Prime Minister Kevin RuddKevin Rudd
Kevin Michael Rudd is an Australian politician who was the 26th Prime Minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010. He has been Minister for Foreign Affairs since 2010...
and Opposition Leader Tony Abbott
Tony Abbott
Anthony John "Tony" Abbott is the Leader of the Opposition in the Australian House of Representatives and federal leader of the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. Abbott has represented the seat of Warringah since the 1994 by-election...
spoke about their positions on a range of issues affecting Christians. Prominent Christian leaders of major denominations attended the Make It Count event.
Prior to the Australian 2007 federal election, ACL hosted a Make It Count event with the then Prime Minister John Howard
John Howard
John Winston Howard AC, SSI, was the 25th Prime Minister of Australia, from 11 March 1996 to 3 December 2007. He was the second-longest serving Australian Prime Minister after Sir Robert Menzies....
and the then Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd.
Issues relating to censorship
The ACL is one of the primary supporters of Senator Stephen ConroyStephen Conroy
Stephen Michael Conroy is an Australian politician and the current Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy in the Gillard Ministry...
's mandatory Internet Blacklist
Internet censorship in Australia
Internet censorship in Australia currently consists of a regulatory regime under which the Australian Communications and Media Authority has the power to enforce content restrictions on Internet content hosted within Australia, and maintain a "black-list" of overseas websites which is then...
. The ACL seeks to extend the blacklist to filter all pornographic materials and not just materials which are considered inappropriate for children (the original reason for the blacklist's creation). An Australian citizen who wants to download pornographic material via the internet would then have to request that their internet service provider unblock the filter. One day prior to the government announcement of a delay to the implementation of the filter scheme, the ACL was briefed leading to some criticism of their "disproportionate influence" on the filtering policy.
Australia is currently the only developed nation that does not have an R18+ classification for video games. The ACL has been in constant opposition to introducing an R18+ classification. The ACL's stance has been heavily criticised by the video gaming community, including Christian gamers. 98.2% of 58,589 submissions to a government run public consultation supported introducing the classification, as does the Catholic church. A commentator noted this shows the ACL does not represent all Christians.
Issues relating to gay rights
The ACL actively opposes various political moves to grant specific gay rights, particularly those regarding gay marriage, gay adoption and parenting, and has campaigned for the rights of religious organisations to legally discriminate on the basis of sexuality. However the ACL has supported some rights for LGBTI people, such as the legal rights of same sex couples to access MedicareMedicare (Australia)
Medicare is Australia's publicly funded universal health care system, operated by the government authority Medicare Australia. Medicare is intended to provide affordable treatment by doctors and in public hospitals for all resident citizens and permanent residents except for those on Norfolk Island...
, inheritances, superannuation benefits and social security income support.
The ACL called for the Government to rule out repealing the Marriage Act after the President of the Australian Human Rights Commission confirmed the commission supported same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage is marriage between two persons of the same biological sex or social gender. Supporters of legal recognition for same-sex marriage typically refer to such recognition as marriage equality....
. Jim Wallace has stated that the claim that there is discrimination against homosexual couples is a "myth".
The ACL is of the view that religious institutions, including religious schools, should have the right to apply discrimination on the basis of sexuality, though Jim Wallace has stated he would expect that any school conducting an expulsion on such a basis would do it "in the most loving way that it could for the child".
With Australian gay rights activists advocating an expansion of the "definition of marriage to include a range of relationship models", ACL has raised the possibility that if gay marriage rights were granted, the next push will be for marriage to include polygamous
Polyamory
Polyamory is the practice, desire, or acceptance of having more than one intimate relationship at a time with the knowledge and consent of everyone involved....
relationships. The ACL also cite the hiding of genetic parental information to children as a reason to prevent gay marriage and prevent gay adoption.
The ACL has criticised the government for working with a gay advisory body to assist its decision making as "disgraceful and pandering to a minority".
Miranda Devine wrote in the Herald Sun
Herald Sun
The Herald Sun is a morning tabloid newspaper based in Melbourne, Australia. It is published by The Herald and Weekly Times, a subsidiary of News Limited, itself a subsidiary of News Corporation. It is available for purchase throughout Melbourne, Regional Victoria, Tasmania, the Australian Capital...
that Jim Wallace "has copped more than his fair share of abuse when it comes to defending traditional marriage".
Controversy and criticism
The ACL's policies on censorship, abortion, euthanasia and homosexuality are all strongly opposed by free-speech, pro-choice, pro-euthanasia and gay-rights advocates respectively.The ACL has been described by a critic as "extremist Christians" and "dominionists", distinctions which the ACL deny and have countered.
Greens MP Colleen Hartland
Colleen Hartland
Colleen Hartland is an Australian politician, and a Greens member of the Victorian Legislative Council.-Early career:...
has stated "I would think [the ACL's] hatred of gays is un-Christian."
The ACL have been accused of double-standards for criticising people who ridicule opponents of same sex marriage, yet allowing Bob Katter
Bob Katter
Robert Carl "Bob" Katter is an Australian federal politician, a member of the Australian House of Representatives since March 1993 for the Division of Kennedy, and the leader of Katter's Australian Party...
to ridicule same-sex marriage at a rally they co-organised, and for criticising tactics used by gay-rights activists when they have previously used similar tactics themselves. They have also been accused of being misleading regarding survey results, and posting factual inaccuracies on their website. A high ranking Australian Catholic Bishop
Bishop (Catholic Church)
In the Catholic Church, a bishop is an ordained minister who holds the fullness of the sacrament of Holy Orders and is responsible for teaching the Catholic faith and ruling the Church....
claims that the ACL is "often driven not to change policy per se, but simply to make noise. To satiate those who support and fund the group."
Anzac Day 2011
The ACL attracted controversy after Jim Wallace tweetedTwitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
on Anzac Day
ANZAC Day
Anzac Day is a national day of remembrance in Australia and New Zealand, commemorated by both countries on 25 April every year to honour the members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps who fought at Gallipoli in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. It now more broadly commemorates all...
in 2011: "Just hope that as we remember servicemen and women today we remember the Australia they fought for -- wasn't gay marriage and Islamic!" Critics responded immediately with statements such as: "Jim Wallace of the Australian Christian Lobby should be ashamed, using Anzac Day to push a homophobic and racist agenda." Wallace later apologised for the comments and deleted them.
In direct response to the controversy Australian Christians started a petition stating that the ACL does not represent their views. The petition was signed by over 250 people in its first 24 hours.
Adshel advertisements
In May 2011 the advertising agency Adshel pulled a series of billboards from circulation in Brisbane following what has been described as a coordinated campaign from the Australian Christian Lobby. The advertisements, which were encouraging safe sexSafe sex
Safe sex is sexual activity engaged in by people who have taken precautions to protect themselves against sexually transmitted diseases such as AIDS. It is also referred to as safer sex or protected sex, while unsafe or unprotected sex is sexual activity engaged in without precautions...
, featured a fully clothed, hugging gay couple holding an unopened condom packet. Adshel's CEO stated they removed the billboards after receiving around 30 complaints and that "None of the complaints indicated any liaison with the Australian Christian Lobby, so Adshel was made to believe that they originated from individual members of the public".
The ACL expressed concern at the cyberbullying of a staff member from some activists, which they stated followed Adshel’s decision to remove the advertisements.
The billboards were reinstated following counter-protests of their removal and revelations that the ACL was responsible for the campaign. When the ACL was accused of homophobia
Homophobia
Homophobia is a term used to refer to a range of negative attitudes and feelings towards lesbian, gay and in some cases bisexual, transgender people and behavior, although these are usually covered under other terms such as biphobia and transphobia. Definitions refer to irrational fear, with the...
an ACL representative publicly stated their complaints had nothing to do with homosexuality and that they opposed "the sexual nature of the ads". However several of the individual complaints to Adshel suggested the ads would "encourage homosexuality".
Both the major political parties voiced support for the ads; State Treasurer Andrew Fraser
Andrew Fraser (Queensland politician)
Andrew Peter Fraser is an Australian politician in the Queensland State Parliament. He was first elected into the Queensland Legislative Assembly on the 7 February 2004...
said complaints about the ad were homophobic and Healthy Communities executive director Paul Martin accused the ACL of trying to have gay people "erased from the public sphere". Over 80,000 people joined a Facebook group supporting the ads following the ACL's actions. The ACL's actions backfired further with several advertising agencies deciding to run the ads free of charge.
See also
- Christianity in AustraliaChristianity in AustraliaChristianity is the largest religion listed by Australians in the national census. In the 2006 Census, 63.9% of Australians were listed as Christian. Australia has no official state religion and the Australian Constitution protects freedom of religion. The presence of Christianity in Australia...
- Internet censorship in AustraliaInternet censorship in AustraliaInternet censorship in Australia currently consists of a regulatory regime under which the Australian Communications and Media Authority has the power to enforce content restrictions on Internet content hosted within Australia, and maintain a "black-list" of overseas websites which is then...
- Euthanasia in AustraliaEuthanasia in AustraliaEuthanasia is illegal in Australia, but was legal for a period in the Northern Territory.-Current situation:Although it is a crime to assist in euthanasia, prosecutions have been rare. In 2002, relatives and friends who provided moral support to an elderly woman who committed suicide were...
- Human Rights in AustraliaHuman rights in AustraliaHuman Rights in Australia have largely been developed under Australian Parliamentary democracy, and safeguarded by such institutions as the Australian Human Rights Commission and an independent judiciary and High Court who apply the Common Law, the Australian Constitution and various other laws...