A Victorian councillor who believes Christianity “built Australia” and “built democracy” is pushing for his local government to repeal its decision to remove prayers from formal meetings.
For tomorrow’s meeting of the Moyne Shire Council, Jim Doukas (pictured) has put forward a motion to rescind the council’s 4-3 vote in July that removed prayers.
The Rationalist Society of Australia has written to Moyne councillors today, raising human rights concerns about the imposition of prayers in government meetings.
In his ‘supporting notes’ with the motion, Cr Doukas argues there was no community consultation carried out into removing the prayer.
“There was no community consultation with an issue as significant as this and one that has such a divisive and personal effect on the wider community,” he says.
“By rescinding this decision, it allows time for proper democratic community consultation to take place, therefore allowing for an informed decision to be made in relation to the Prayer.
“Following the proposed full community consultation, Council will be in an informed position to decide whether the Prayer remains or is removed.”
In July, Cr Doukas claimed that removing the prayer was “hypocritical and typical of the Left”, which he said was “filling kids’ heads…with stupid ideas” in regards to white supremacy, climate change and other things.
“Our basic democratic principles are founded on the Bible. That’s without question,” he said.
“And it’s interesting that all these non-practisising Christians, and even the atheists and those that are anti-Christian devil-worshippers, I bet you they all celebrate Christmas.”
Susan Tayor, another councillor who supported keeping the payer, warned that “battle lines” had been drawn and councillors were “now in the trenches”.
In a letter to councillors today, RSA Executive Director Si Gladman said that imposing acts of religious worship infringed on the fundamental human rights of many people in attendance at meetings.
He informed them about the RSA’s submission to the United Nations Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review into Australia’s human rights in July. The submission – supported by another eight non-religious, ex-religious and pro-secular organisations – raised the issue of prayers in government as an example of discriminatory and unfair treatment against non-religious people based on religion and belief.
Mr Gladman also said the practice of observing prayers as part of government meetings was also incompatible with the Victorian Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities. He also noted that the practice went beyond the powers given to the Moyne council under the state’s Local Government Act. A peer-reviewed legal analysis published in the Alternative Law Journal in 2019 concluded the practice of local councils incorporating prayers into their formal meetings was unlawful.
In 2023, another Victorian council removed prayers from its governance rules after a law firm, acting pro-bono for a councillor, sent a letter advising the council that the inclusion of the prayer was unlawful on these grounds – that requiring a prayer went beyond the powers given to the council and that the practice was incompatible with the Victorian Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities.
In the letter, the RSA also noted that current Census trends suggested that ‘no religion’ may overtake Christianity at next year’s Census in the Moyne local government area, but said governments and decision-makers should not use the ABS data as an accurate measure of religious and non-religious affiliation because of the coercive and biased nature of the Census question.
The Rationalist Society of Australia is actively advocating for prayer rituals to be replaced with more appropriate practices in councils and parliaments. See the latest updates here.
Si Gladman is Executive Director of the Rationalist Society of Australia. He also hosts ‘The Secular Agenda’ podcast.
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Image: Screenshot, Fitzmedia Productions (Facebook)