The Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) today congratulated Julia Gillard and her ALP team on their election victory and said they looked forward to working with the newly-elected Government on many issues of interest to Christians.
“Although Ms Gillard has declared her own lack of religious belief, we appreciate the fact that she went out of her way to engage with the Christian constituency during a frenetic election campaign and has also acknowledged the importance of Australia’s Christian heritage,” ACL Managing Director Jim Wallace said today.
“Ms Gillard has also made strong commitments on a number of issues of concern to Christians, including her decision to continue and expand the popular school chaplaincy program, her commitment to retain the definition of marriage as being between a man and a woman, and her support for ISP-level filtering of Refused Classification material. These are commitments she made clear would not be traded away in negotiations with the Australian Greens,” Mr Wallace said.
“Also very welcome have been Labor’s commitments to continue to tackle homelessness as a national priority (with the goal of halving homelessness by 2020), to work to close the life expectancy gap between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians, and to continue to increase foreign aid funding,” he said.
“We look forward to liaising closely with the newly-elected Labor Government on a wide variety of matters ranging from lifting people out of poverty both in Australia and overseas, to addressing the sexualisation of children and promoting the health of families.”
Mr Wallace also conveyed the ACL’s commiserations to Tony Abbott and the Coalition on their election loss.
“They fought a solid campaign and it has been good to see the Coalition become reinvigorated under Tony Abbott’s leadership – particularly given the importance of having an effective Opposition in a democratic society.”
He added that it was encouraging to see the willingness with which both sides of politics engaged with the Christian constituency during the 2010 Federal election.
“We appreciated the attendance of both Mr Abbott and then Prime Minister Kevin Rudd at our Make it Count event which was webcast live to churches throughout Australia on June 21, and also Julia Gillard’s willingness to made a video address to Christians and respond to the same questions on August 6. We also welcomed the responsiveness of both major parties and most minor parties to our election questionnaire on issues of concern to Christians.”
Media Contact: Glynis Quinlan on 0408 875 979
I am concerned as a Christian, as to what rights we might lose under this government. The Greens policies, which the people that voted for them obviously didn’t read, scare me. Maybe if we lose some rights, we will look at how we vote as a group next time.
Agree with @Michael. PLEASE keep on Gillard about her committments. Personally, I don’t trust her…….
I understand that maintaining a relationship with parties such as Labour is stragically important for the ACL. Don’t compromise and sell out your Christian convictions in the process. If chimps voted, Julie Gillard would have put on a monkey suit and spent a day at the zoo to get elected.
To be honest I don’t trust her in the slightest and I don’t julia has done anything at all to earn any respect from any christians. We also need to learn what policies all major parties have and look at their moral standards as well before we vote next time, which will be fairly soon I am sure.
I too don’t trust Julia one little bit. The prospect of a serial adultress moving into the Lodge with her current partner is horrifying. A Fabian Socialist from way back is also of concern. Being a member of Emily’s List is bad news for those of us who try to uphold the sancity of human life from conception. If I were a betting man I’d put good money on same-sex marriage being introduced into ACT during her term as PM. Coupled with the recent same-sex adoption bill in NSW, I consider Australia is now entering a neo pagan era.