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Australia’s Christian schools are under threat from “woke bigotry”, warns Senator Ralph Babet, who spoke up in their defence this week.

In a passionate two-minute speech yesterday, UAP Senator for Victoria Ralph Babet offered a strong defence of Christian schools on the floor of the Australian Senate.

He warned of moves afoot to “force religious schools, colleges and universities to teach secular ideas on sex and gender,” and countered that Christian schools should be free to teach historic church beliefs on sexuality. The purpose of Christian schools “isn’t just to educate,” Senator Babet explained, “but to show students how faith speaks to every facet of life, including sexuality”.

‘Christian Schools are Under Threat’

His remarks came in response to a Consultation Paper recently released by the Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) as part of their inquiry into Religious Educational Institutions and Anti-Discrimination Laws. 

According to Senator Babet, “thanks to the Australian Law Reform Commission, Christian schools are under threat”. He warned:

The ALRC wants to make religious schools abandon beliefs about human sexuality that have been around for thousands of years. In place of those sacred beliefs, they want to turn Christian schools into a mouthpiece for their own woke fads that weren’t even in fashion five years ago. They want to convert Christian schools into hypocrisy factories, full of people who say one thing but do another.

While the commission “have Christian schools in their crosshairs,” Senator Babet advised that “their discrimination will hurt Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist and all other religious schools”.

Ralph Babet himself was born in the Indian Ocean nation of Mauritius, whose population is majority Hindu. He migrated to Australia with his family when he was seven years old and was educated in the Catholic school system before studying business at the Swinburne University of Technology.

Human Rights Lawyer Warns of Christian School Closures

Senator Babet is not the first to level criticism at the ALRC for its stridently secular Consoltation Paper on religious schools.

In February, writing for the Spectator Australia, head of the Human Rights Law Alliance John Steinhof quipped that the ALRC’s Consultation Paper “will make hostile activists think all their Christmases have come at once”. He warned that “many Christian schools in Australia are in dire trouble, from the very source – the Australian government – whose job it is to secure legislative protection for them,” adding:

It contains proposals that, if implemented, would rob many Christian schools of their very purpose, and inevitably lead to closures. It is unclear if the government has counted the cost of absorbing unmanageable numbers of students into public sector schooling in every state and territory if they are legislated out of existence.

Beliefs on Sexuality ‘Not an Afterthought’ for Christian Schools

During his speech, Senator Ralph Babet drew laughter from his Senate colleagues when he suggested what the ALRC’s unjust proposals would look like when applied to Australia’s political parties:

Imagine forcing the Labor Party to hire staff who openly oppose Labor’s platform. Imagine forcing the Liberal Party to hire Adam Bandt. Imagine forcing the Greens to hire a staunch patriot and conservative like me. It doesn’t work.

He concluded his defence of Christian education in Australia by explaining:

For religious schools, religion is not an afterthought. A Christian school’s ethos is not just the sprinkles on top of a secular education. Their beliefs are their heartbeat. It is the very reason these schools exist.

Transcript of Senator Ralph Babet’s Speech

A transcript of Senator Ralph Babet’s speech appears below:

Christian schools educate almost a third of Australian school children.

But thanks to the Australian Law Reform Commission, Christian schools are under threat.

The ALRC wants to force religious schools, colleges and universities to teach secular ideas on sex and gender.

The ALRC wants to make religious schools abandon beliefs about human sexuality that have been around for thousands of years.

In place of those sacred beliefs, they want to turn Christian schools into a mouthpiece for their own woke fads that weren’t even in fashion five years ago.

They want to convert Christian schools into hypocrisy factories, full of people who say one thing but do another.

They have Christian schools in their crosshairs. But make no mistake. Their discrimination will hurt Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist and all other religious schools.

The ALRC has decided that religion is just some afterthought for religious schools. That the secular has triumphed over the sacred.

What a joke.

Imagine forcing the Labor Party to hire staff who openly oppose Labor’s platform. Imagine forcing the Liberal Party to hire Adam Bandt. Imagine forcing the Greens to hire a staunch patriot and conservative like me. It doesn’t work.

We would never tolerate this kind of compulsion in political parties. So why would force it on our nation’s religious schools?

Let’s look at the facts.

Religious schools exist to foster communities of faith. Their purpose isn’t just to educate, but to show students how faith speaks to every facet of life, including sexuality.

For religious schools, religion is not an afterthought. A Christian school’s ethos is not just the sprinkles on top of a secular education. Their beliefs are their heartbeat. It is the very reason these schools exist.

Everyone in this place should reject the ALRC’s woke bigotry.