A number of Victorian Labor MPs supported the Liberal Party campaign to keep Christian prayers as part of the daily proceedings in parliament, according to a member of the state’s upper house.

Speaking in parliament on 15 August, Liberal MP Evan Mulholland (pictured) – who spearheaded a petition for the Legislative Council to continue imposing prayers at the opening of each day – said many Labor members of parliament “supported” and “encouraged” his efforts.

Mr Mulholland claimed that these Labor MPs wanted to force the Labor government to abandon its 2021 commitment to replace Christian prayers with something more reflective of Victoria’s diverse community.

In his speech, he criticised a Labor MP’s comments that the petition to keep prayer had been “fake”.

With the support of the Australian Christian Lobby, Mr Mulholland’s petition collected more than 11,000 signatures and was debated in the Legislative Council in late July. In that debate, Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes appeared to signal she was backing down from her commitment to replace prayers.

In the lower house on 15 August, Labor MP Lauren Kathage applauded her colleagues in the upper house for explaining “the petition was fake” and “was about something that was not happening.”

Later that day, Mr Mulholland hit back at Ms Kathage and revealed that many Labor MPs had supported his push to keep prayers.

“I was…shocked to hear her claim that that petition was fake and it was not an actual thing that the government was doing when in fact it was an election commitment of the government, a Labor government, to get rid of the prayer,” he said.

“In fact many of her own colleagues were supporting me and encouraging me along so they could force the government to change their commitment.”

In August 2021, Attorney-General Symes said the government was committed to “workshopping a replacement model that is purpose fit for Victoria” if re-elected. As recently as February this year, she acknowledged the government’s “unmet commitment”.

In early August, the Rationalist Society of Australia wrote to Premier Jacinta Allan and Attorney-General Symes seeking clarification on whether it would deliver on its promise to the Victorian community. The government has not yet provided a response.

A large number of MPs in the Victorian Parliament, including many Labor members, are already boycotting the prayers.

As revealed in the Religiosity in Australia research series, polling data from 2018 shows that religion is not important to most Australians, and less than 20 per cent of people observe prayers on a weekly basis.

In the national Census, Christianity has continued its rapid decline, with ‘no religion’ set to overtake it at the 2026 Census.

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.