The Rationalist Society of Australia’s advocacy for secular reform of Mackay Regional Council meetings could open the door for members of minority faiths to also participate in the opening prayer ritual, but non-religious people may continue to be excluded.

Speaking on ABC radio on Tuesday, George Christensen (pictured), the former conservative Nationals MP and now councillor of the north Queensland council, said he would have no problem with including people of non-Christian faiths.

“I’ve heard from the mayor, and he’s not interested in pulling away from what our current structure is and what we currently do. If we’re approached by people of other faiths, that may be a consideration that we enter into,” he said.

“I’ve been in different situations where other faith leaders have actually delivered prayers. I can’t pray to their god but I’ve got no problem with them praying and being in their presence at all.

“So, no, I wouldn’t [have a problem with including them]. That would be up to the mayor and council if they decided they wanted to go down that track. I don’t see anything wrong with it. But, as far as I am aware, we haven’t had any approaches.”

On ABC radio the same day, the RSA’s Executive Director Si Gladman called on Mackay Regional Council to end the discriminatory practice of imposing Christian worship in its meetings. He urged the Mayor Greg Williamson to explain why it appeared only Christian pastors and preachers were given the opportunity to open council meetings with prayers and sermons.

Mayor Williamson has so far not answered simple questions as to whether his council had ever invited any non-Christians to take part.

Cr Christensen labelled the RSA as “irrational” for targeting Mackay council.

“We haven’t had one complaint from a member of the Mackay regional public, as far as I’m aware, on this matter,” he said.

“We’ve got, obviously, letters that are coming from an outside organisation. And I’m surprised that, actually, they’re targeting Mackay. I had heard from the mayor that they had written to him, but my understanding was that they were targeting a lot of local governments. But it seems that they’ve got their sights set on Mackay for this, which is very, very strange.”

Speaking today, Mr Gladman said opening up the opportunity people of non-Christian faith backgrounds to participate would be a “step in the right direction”, but would not go far enough to address discrimination.

“Given that the current practice seems to consist of only Christians leading multiple minutes of sermonising and praying, it would be an improvement if members of other faiths had the opportunity to participate,’’ he said.

“Yet, it would do nothing to end the ongoing religious privilege in Australia that renders the non-religious as second-class citizens.

“We will continue to advocate to the Mackay council and others across Australia to adopt fully secular practices that separate religion and government, and do not advantage or disadvantage anyone based on their religion or belief.”

In the ABC interview, Cr Christensen revealed that people invited to lead the ‘Opening Prayer’ were drawn from a ministers’ fraternal known as ‘Mackay Churches Together’. 

He also took issue with criticism of the nature of the “sermons” and the length of them – including the claim of an 11-minute sermon having been observed earlier this year.

“There was one incident where a new minister – he actually spoke at length… Look, I’ll be frank here. Some eyebrows were raised during the length of time that that went on. That was an aberration,” said Cr Christensen.

“He did speak for 11 minutes, but it was hardly a sermon. This was a message all about doing good to your fellow man, which is what we’re there for. And that’s a tradition. That’s a concept that’s held by just about every faith and those that don’t have any.”

The Rationalist Society of Australia is actively lobbying and 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.

Image: Councillor George Christensen (Facebook)