The Catholic Weekly 15 May 2022

FEDERAL OPPOSITION Leader Anthony Albanese has not responded to calls for a NSW Labor Senate candi- date to be disendorsed after it emerged she had described Jesus as gay and written of- fensive comments about Pope Francis and the Catho- lic Church on her Twitter ac- count. It comes as the Coalition accuses Labor of double standards after it called for the disendorsement of the Liber- al candidate in the northern Sydney seat of Warringah, Katherine Deves, for having written comments on social media in which she described transgender children as “sur- gically mutilated and steri- lised” and called for transgen- der participants to be barred from participating in female sport. Labor’s national jun- ior vice president Mich-Elle Myers, who is fourth on the ALP’s NSWSenate ticket in the May 21 election, has deleted and apologised for comments she wrote in 2012 and 2013 which have triggered outrage from the Christian group, Family Voices Australia. In a tweet posted during ABC TV’s Q and A program in May 2013, Ms Myers, who was at that time working for the Mar- itimeUnion of Australia, wrote “Jesus was gay! You heard it here first”. Ms Myers has singled out Pope Francis and the Catho- lic Church in a number of her tweets including one tweet, since deleted on Christmas Day in 2012 which read: “Dear Pope, get your head out of you’re a**e. The behaviour of your peers threatens humani- ty not ‘the gays.’ Three days later, Ms Myers posted another tweet, criti- cal of the Church: “I’ve had enoughof theCatholicChurch and the s**t that comes from their mouths” . CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 A TALE OF TWO FURIES Socialmedia slander scandals insidebothmajorpolitical parties exposea shockingdouble standardacross thepolitical divide ¾ Michael Kenny SUNDAY 15 May, 2022 CatholicWeekly The www.catholicweekly.com.au THE CHURCH. ALL OF IT THE CATHOLIC WEEKLY INFORMEDVOTER’SELECTIONGUIDE ELECTION 2022 P16 $2 I’ve had enough of the Catholic Church and the s**t that comes from their mouths.” ALP candidate, Mich-Elle Myers Labor political candidate Mich-Elle Myers, left, and Liberal Katherine Deves are in the spotlight over hurtful public comments. But only one is facing widespread criticism, inviting observations from many that a double standard is being employed. PHOTOS: ALP.ORG.AU , MICK TSIKAS/AAP INFORMED VOTER’S ELECTION 2022 GUIDE IN THE 13 March 2022 edition of the CatholicWeekly, theVoting for the CommonGood election guide contributed to by the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney’s Justice and Peace Office was highlighted. It dealswith issues such as aged care, disability, mental health, refugees and asylum seekers, Indigenous Australians, housing affordability and caring for our common home and is available at just iceandpeace.org.au/ election-2022/. Australia’s Catholic Bishops also issued an election statement, Towards a Better Kind of Politics, addresses some of these issues as well, but speaks also of palliative care, JobSeeker, rel igious discrimination and school choice andmodern slavery. The statement is available at catholic.org.au. To supplement these guides, the belowconsiders the policies of the two major parties and two minor parties in relation to the freedom of religion speech, refugees, euthanasia and the fate of babies born alive after an attempted abortion. Our hope is that using these three guides together will assist you in casting your vote in next week’s election. Does the party support the introduction of a Religious Discrimination Bill? Does the party support religious organisations, including schools, preferencing staff of their own faith? Does the party support religious organisations, including schools, refusing to employ or continue employing an openly gay or transgender staffmember? Will the party’s proposal to remove so-called‘discrimination’ against LGBT students affect the ability of religious schools to teach religious doctrine about marriage and family, gender and sexuality? Yes, in the same form as originally introduced to Parliament. Supports introducing protections against discrimination on the basis of religious belief or activity. Also supports combining all federal anti-discrimination laws into a single piece of legislation. No. It will push for a Charter of Rights instead. Yes, in the same form as originally introduced to Parliament. Yes, and will seek to override state laws preventing this (but only for religious educational institutions). Yes. Yes but only where a court or tribunal decides this is an ‘inherent requirement’ of the role. Yes. Will refer thismatter to the Australian Law ReformCommission. Will refer this matter to the Australian Law Reform Commission but have said Labor will seek to protect teachers from discrimination at work while maintai ning the right of schoo ls to preference staff of the same faith. No. Has not made a comment on this specific issue but has said that it will not accept “political activismand harassment against religious schools.” The Coalition has not made clear whether its undertaking to protect students against discriminationwill affect religious teaching in religious schools. Labor has committed to ensuring religious schools can continue to teach in accordance with their doctrine and will consult and carefully consider any consequential legislative amendments that may be required to ensure this occurs are matters. Will remove the ability of religious schools to ‘discriminate’ without providing any protections for religious teaching.Will also replace the school chaplaincy programs with “anti-bullying” initiatives, eg Safe Schools. Will oppose any attempts to remove existing protections for rel igious schools. Say that “gay and transgender students at these schools are not being discriminated against” and believes removal of protections could be used to attack religious schools. Should statements of belief that are not malicious, vilifying, harassing or inciting violence be protected against anti- discrimination claims? Yes. Labor will only protect statements of belief against claims of religious discrimination, not other forms (eg on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.) Does not support protections for statements of belief. Yes (based on its support for the Religious Discrimination Bill as introduced). Should an employee whomakes a statement of religious belief outside of work hours be protected from disciplinary action? Yes, in some circumstances. Has notmade public a policy onprotection of employees. Believes employer rules regarding statements made by employees should be ‘necessary and proportionate.’ Yes, in some circumstances (based on its support for the Religious Discrimination Bill as introduced). Should religious charities that express a traditional view of marriage be permitted to keep their charitable and tax-exempt status? Yes. Will support amendments to the Charities Act tomake this clear. Has notmade public a policy on charitable and tax-exempt status. No. Has notmade public a policy on charitable and tax-exempt status. Will the party vote in favour of allowing the NT and ACT to legalise euthanasia and assisted dying? No. Yes. Yes. No public policy but Senator Pauline Hanson voted in favour of a similar bill in 2018. Does the party support changing federal laws that currently prohibit providing advice about assisted suicide over the phone or internet, eg via telehealth? No. Will seek legal advice on the matter. No public statement made but based on pro-euthanasia policies, it is very likely the Greens support an amendment. Has not made public a policy on this matter. Does the party support federal legislation requiring babies born alive after attempted abortions to be given medical care? No. Has not made public a policy on this matter. Has not made public a policy on this matter but NSWGreens spoke out against a similar provision. Yes. What is the party’s refugee policy? The Coal ition wi l l continue with offshore detention as well as the current humanitarian intake of 13,750 people each year and provide an additional 16,500 places over four years for refugees fromAfghanistan. Labor will maintainoffshore detention and increase Australia’s humanitarian intake to 27,000 each year. The Greens will seek to abolish offshore detention, place a 7-day limit on onshore detention, increase Australia’s humanitarian intake to 50,000 per year with an additional 4000places for refugees fromAfghanistan. One Nation believes Australia should reduce its refugee intake for five years and use the money to fund critical Australian services. It also supports Australia withdrawing from the 1951 UN Convention on Refugees. The CatholicWeekly