The Catholic Weekly 20 February 2022

SUNDAY 20 February, 2022 CatholicWeekly The www.catholicweekly.com.au THE CHURCH. ALL OF IT FIVE ROGUE Liberal MPs have “blindsided” Prime Min- ister Scott Morrison by voting with Labor on the Religious Discrimination Bill, resulting in the bill being pulled and likely killed altogether prior to the federal election. Bridget Archer, Trent Zim- merman, Katie Allen, Dave Sharma and Fiona Martin crossed the floor during a marathon all-night debate on 9 February, mounting the most devastating Parliamen- tary revolt in four decades. The MPs voted to amend their own government’s bill to entirely remove section 38(3) of the Sex Discrimination Act, which gives religious educa- tional institutions an exemp- tion from discrimination laws on matters of sexual orienta- tion, gender identity, marital status or pregnancy, based on the tenets of its faith. The amendment came in response to Morrison’s last-minute pledge to ban dis- crimination against students on the grounds of sexual ori- entation, which was seen as insufficient because transgen- der students would be left out. Martin, a former child psychologist who was Mor- rison’s “captain’s pick” for the inner-west Sydney seat of Reid at the 2019 election, was the lynchpin of the rebellion against the bill. Zimmerman and Arch- er had indicated from the start that they would oppose the bill unamended, whi le CONTINUED P2 ¾ Adam Wesselinoff STAND AGAINST EUTHANASIA Turn the tide and sign the e-petition to NSW Upper House MPs Pain for PM as rogue Liberals split to sink Religious Discrimination Bill THOSEWHO stand against eu- thanasia and assisted suicide laws in New South Wales are being urged to sign and share a digital petition to stop the pas- sage of the Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill 2021. Next week, a NSW Parlia- mentary Committee examining the proposed laws will hand back its final report, after which theBill is expected tobe formal- ly introduced into theNSWLeg- islative Council. Labor MLC Greg Donnelly established the short petition as a way for people to make their voices heard to all members of theNSWLegislative Council. Archbishop Anthony Fish- er OP has asked people to take a moment to sign the petition and share it with friends and family. “We really canmake a differ- encewhenwe speakup, so I en- courage you to sign the petition and stand for life,” he said. Bishop Richard Umbers, who serves on the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference Commission for Family, Life and Public Engagement, also urged everyone to sign and share the petition. “The legalisation of euthana- sia and assisted suicide sends a message to already vulnerable people that their lives are not worth living, that they are better off dead. We need to denounce this for the lie that it is andbold- ly proclaim the truth that eve ry human being is valuable. CONTINUED ON PAGE 6 Debate to the death Labor MLC Greg Donnelly. PHOTO: G PORTELLI The Five and the Furious Clockwise, top left: Trent Zimmerman MP Nth Syd- ney, Bridget Archer MP Bass, Tasmania, Katie Allen MP Higgins, Victoria, Dave Sharma MP Wentworth, NSW, Fiona Martin MP Reid, NSW IT’S NOT TOO LATE, BUT YOU MUST ACT NOW! ¾ Marilyn Rodrigues CATECHISTS: OUR QUIET HEROES P6 THAT’S RIGHT, I’M NOT AN ARAB P14