Councillors at a Queensland council that only invites Christian preachers to deliver minutes-long sermons at the opening of its meetings say they are re-introducing a nativity scene to the city’s Christmas celebrations to be inclusive and to respect multiculturalism.

The Redland City Council this week voted to bring back a nativity scene to the council’s official Christmas celebrations, with councillors supporting a motion that included formally acknowledging “Christmas is a celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ”.

Councillor Jason Colley presented the motion at Wednesday’s general meeting to allow for applications from approved community groups to install a nativity scene at the council’s Christmas event.

He said he was disappointed in council’s initial response to a community petition that it had no plan to incorporate a nativity scene into its celebrations.

“I would suggest that, truly, to be inclusive … we would acknowledge and recognise that the most recent Census showed that 52 per cent of Redlands residents that listed an affiliation identified as Christian,” he said.

“To be truly inclusive of their beliefs we should ensure that acknowledging the historical significance of Jesus’ birth for those who choose to do so is not off limits.”

Councillor Lance Hewlett argued that it was important in a multicultural society to acknowledge Christmas as a Christian celebration. 

“We’re a multicultural society, and Christians are a very large part of our society. If we’re not culturally advanced enough to acknowledge what Christmas is and what it stands for, like every other religion around the world tends to do, I think it’s a travesty,” he said.

Councillor Shane Rendalls said the decision “adds to our multiculturalism and pluralism of beliefs” in the Redlands area.

For a number of years, the Rationalist Society of Australia has been warning the Redland council that its practice of only inviting Christian pastors to deliver sermons and prayers at the opening of its meetings likely put the council in breach of the Anti-Discrimination Act 1991 (Qld) and was inconsistent with the Human Rights Act 2019 (Qld).

Redland council’s Standing Orders provide for “an invited person [to lead] the local government in a brief devotional segment”. Yet, in practice, the council limits this part of proceedings exclusively to Christian ministers.

Among the Bible stories and praying in these devotional segments, which are typically five minutes in length but can last up to 10 minutes, Christian preachers have also:

• brought the “leaders of council” to God;
• called on councillors to “reflect upon the Lord Jesus”;
• prayed for “travelling mercies” for a councillor who was about to begin her holidays;
• asked for Jesus to release “healing power” over a councillor who had “the sniffles”;
• prayed to Jesus to help a gentleman in the room who was “keeping a financial secret from his wife”; 
• “committed” councillors and even members of the public gallery to God;
• made references to “the Evil One”;
• and suggested it would be a good thing to run the council based on the Bible.

Following her election in 2023, Redland’s new mayor, Jos Mitchell, raised the issue with her colleagues and argued that, if the opening segment were to continue, it should reflect the diversity of the Redland community.

In 2023, the Redland council’s chief executive officer urged the RSA to raise its concerns with the Queensland Local Government Association (LGAQ). But the LGAQ later told the RSA that it had “no authority or jurisdiction to intervene in, or direct operational matters of councils”.

Earlier this year, the Crisafulli government told the RSA that it would “respect the diversity of approaches” taken by councils regarding the observance of religious prayers and sermons.

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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