The Albanese government’s new attorney-general has told a Christian gathering that the “principles and values that Jesus lived by” underpin her role.
Speaking at the Christian annual prayer breakfast in the Great Hall at Parliament House on Monday, attended by many members of parliament, Michelle Rowland said “our values and faith” guide the decisions of lawmakers.
She said that she had learnt a “great deal” about herself since her appointment to the role following the Labor government’s re-election in May.
“For, while of course we have a separation of church, state and courts, I firmly believe that the principles and values that Jesus lived by underpin the role of Australia’s first law officer,” she said.
“Friends, in an increasingly uncertain world, it is our values and our faith in which we find purpose, stability and direction. And these values guide the decisions we make as individuals and as lawmakers.”
Ms Rowland said that, while there were no easy decisions in government, she was guided by a commitment to ensuring the justice system remained fair and accessible, upholding and promoting the rule of law, and protecting the most vulnerable.
Ms Rowland attends a Maronite Catholic church with her family.
She told the prayer breakfast that she has been praying to St Paul “quite a bit”, who she compared to a ‘chief operating officer’.
Non-religious, ex-religious and pro-secular groups are seeking help from Ms Rowland to address the discriminatory and unfair treatment that non-religious Australians face in government institutions and programs.
In July, the Rationalist Society of Australia – supported by eight community groups – detailed a number of examples of discrimination against non-religious people, on the grounds of religion and belief, in a submission to the United Nations Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review (Fourth Cycle) into Australia’s human rights. The submission argued that such discriminatory and unfair treatment was inconsistent with Australia’s various commitments in international human rights treaties and declarations.
Even though the proportion of the Australian population that identifies as not religious is on track to overtake Christianity at next year’s Census, the Albanese government has turned down pleas from non-religious Australians to stop imposing daily acts of Chrsitian worship in the federal parliament.
In September this year, a spokesperson for the prime minister told the Rationalist Society of Australia that the government did “not propose to seek a change to existing arrangements” and remove Christian prayers, even though it acknowledged parliament needed to “represent a diverse Australian community”.
Also, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Milton Dick, has deflected the RSA’s questions about the human rights implications of the institution’s practice of imposing daily acts of Christian worship.
Mr Dick also gave a speech at the prayer breakfast this week, revealing that he keeps a Bible reading, along with a Bible, in a small drawer next to the Speaker’s desk in the House of Representatives.
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Si Gladman is the Executive Director of the Rationalist Society of Australia. You can contact him at sigladman@rationalist.com.au or follow him on Twitter at @si_gladman
Photo: Michelle Rowland MP (Facebook)