1018 Don't Divide Us

“All Australians – whether they practise a religion, are lapsed, or belong to the quickly swelling ranks of those declaring No Religion – could be worse off under the proposed Religious Discrimination bill.”

In this video, Australia's longest-serving High Court judge, Michael Kirby, warns that the proposed bill would not protect Australians from discrimination but would instead facilitate intolerance and work to divide rather than unite.

Mr Kirby is a patron of the Rationalist Society of Australia, part of an alliance of freethought organisations that has banded together for the first time to seek a national Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities, instead of the religious discrimination bill being pursued by the Federal Government.

President of the Rationalist Society Dr Meredith Doig said the problem with the religious discrimination bill is that “it will divide the community on religious grounds, instead of bringing us together in the spirit of Australia’s traditional ‘live and let live’ tolerance.”