Lyn Allison (Victoria, Australian Democrats) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate—

(a)

notes that:

(i)

on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s Insiders program on Sunday, 26 February 2006, the Treasurer (Mr Costello) said that he thinks ‘we can offer a tolerant Australia which respects the rights and liberties of all as long as we’ve got agreement on a few key points. One is a secular state’, and

(ii)

on Monday, 27 February 2006 during question time, the Minister for Finance and Administration (Senator Minchin) said ‘It is a fact that in Australia, as a long part of the Western tradition, there is a separation of church and state’; and

(b)

calls on the Government, if it is serious about a secular state, to take steps to:

(i)

remove religious references from statutory oaths and pledges,

(ii)

abolish official parliamentary prayers,

(iii)

remove tax advantages that solely apply for religious purposes, and

(iv)

consider other ways of achieving a true separation of church and state.

Question put.