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Take a Stand for Our Religious Freedom It's a grave time for religious freedom in Australia. In the Australian Capital Territory, the Labor-Greens Coalition passed legislation to forcibly acquire Calvary Hospital, which took effect on July 3. The government considered Calvary Hospital “problematic” as [...]

by Professor Patrick McArdle  As of 3 July, Calvary Public Hospital no longer exists. Nearly half a century of service to Canberra by the Sisters of the Little Company of Mary and those who inherited their ministry has ended in public health care. Probably most [...]

Canberra Catholics and staff of Calvary Public Hospital grieved as the compulsory acquisition of Calvary by the ACT Government took effect on 3 July. The ACT Government took over the Catholic-run hospital from midnight, ending a five-week battle to save it from the takeover — [...]

Historically, threats to religious freedom have arisen mostly from the dominance of one religion over others, or from the state sanctioning an official religion. More recently, some states, such as the Chinese communist regime, have endeavoured to repress religious belief and practice entirely. While these [...]

New Zealand is the latest state to kill the livelihood of a teacher for non-compliance with the LGBTQ+. A Teachers Disciplinary Tribunal (TDT) hearing ruled against the unnamed maths teacher (Mr X) in February. Dismissed for “serious misconduct”, Mr X had his Christian faith belittled [...]

Former prime minister John Howard has come out swinging in defense of Canberra’s Calvary Hospital, saying the ACT Government’s forced acquisition is a “blatant assault” on the principle of private ownership. “Sometimes people say to me ‘Why do you keep banging on about the fundamental [...]

The takeover of the Calvary Catholic Hospital Canberra by the Labor-Greens Government in the ACT should send a shudder through every religious and privately run health and educational institution in the country. The snatch-and-grab operation by the ACT Government, which was rammed through the ACT [...]

Hopes of a Senate inquiry into the ACT Government’s compulsory acquisition of Calvary Hospital were “scuttled” by ACT independent Senator David Pocock on 15 June after he declined to support a motion by Coalition senators Michaelia Cash and Matt Canavan. Fr Tony Percy, who leads [...]

ALP’s proposed religious freedom policy must include keeping exemptions for faith-based schools. A new Australian Labor Party draft platform has been released with a section significantly improving the party’s support for religious freedom. The Party is taking submissions from ALP members on the draft platform, [...]

A ministry outreach in Sydney was mislabelled a right-wing terror threat in an apparent bid to stop the open-air ministry event. Greens MP for Newtown, Jennifer Leong, took to her Instagram page on June 9, treating the Canadian street preaching tour stop as an LGBTQ+ [...]

The Federal Court of Australia recently ruled that the Australian government could not terminate the Russian embassy’s lease in Yarralumla, despite the National Capital Authority’s reasoning that the embassy had occupied the site for too long without developing it. The Guardian noted that there were [...]

Fr Tony Percy, head of the Catholic campaign to save the hospital, has asked supporters to “accept the decision” and write to parliamentarians to voice their protest. The head of the Catholic campaign to save Calvary Hospital has asked supporters to “accept the decision” of [...]

Religious freedom, a fundamental human right, encompasses the belief in and worship of a higher power without constraint or inhibition. While countries like the United States and Canada have explicit protections for religious freedom, Australia's approach has been more nuanced, primarily relying on constitutional provisions [...]

The current debate regarding the ability of faith-based schools to preference staff who share a common faith appears to ignore a crucial principle of international human rights law that aims for a principled balancing of conflicting rights. World War II was the deadliest military conflict [...]

Take a Stand for Our Religious Freedom It's a grave time for religious freedom in Australia. As you may have already heard, in the Australian Capital Territory, the Labor-Greens Coalition has passed legislation to forcibly acquire Calvary Hospital on July 3. Calvary Hospital is [...]

The Prime Minister must intervene to stop the ACT government’s takeover of a Catholic hospital and assure Christians that their institutions are safe. The ACT government’s unprecedented decision to take over Calvary Public Hospital sets a dangerous precedent that should worry all Christian organisations. If [...]

Palliative care hospice Clare Holland House is also at risk, with ACT Government claiming staff want to "take palliative care into the future." Legislation to enable the compulsory acquisition of Calvary Public Hospital by the ACT Government has passed the territory’s Legislative Assembly after a [...]

The compulsory acquisition is because Calvary Hospital and the ACT government had a fundamental disagreement over the definition of healthcare. For the government, the provision of abortion is non-negotiable. Calvary Hospital relies on institutional conscientious objection to refrain from participating in abortion.

On 4 November 2022, the Attorney-General, the Hon Mark Dreyfus MP, asked the ALRC to recommend reforms to the law to implement the Government’s policy commitment to a Religious Discrimination Bill that is consistent with Australia’s international legal obligations. On 27 January 2023, the ALRC [...]

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 [...]