Three years ago Daniel Andrews took on the Catholic Church and won. His push for voluntary assisted dying laws seemed to go against every rule in politics — and yet the long feared electoral backlash never happened.
Indeed the Victorian premier’s popularity increased, despite the huffing and puffing of the church in cahoots with the Murdoch media (which still haven’t forgiven him).
Now Andrews is doing it again — he introduced a bill passed by the lower house yesterday to ban gay conversion “therapy” even amid warnings it will put him on a collision course with the religious right and church groups across the country.
Andrews’ willingness to take on the church has become a significant part of his image as a modern progressive politician. Yet his pursuit of secular policies sets him apart from his generation of political leaders, and signifies a radical shift from Labor’s Catholic roots.
In some cases his stance has been unavoidable — Victoria has become the site of some of the worst horrors uncovered by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.
But at other times his motivation has seemed more targeted and deliberate, revealing a determination to tackle some of the most toxic elements of his own religion, and build a legacy around good secular policy.
Whether the wave of social reform in Victoria under Andrews reflects his government’s agenda or the expectations of a progressive electorate is hard to say. But on every occasion it has scored him political points, driving up his popularity and dividing his conservative opponents.
So how has Andrews defied the church? And what does it say about him as a politician, and the diminishing power of the church in his state?
Mandatory reporting for priests
Andrews butted heads with the Catholic Church last year when it introduced laws that would make it mandatory for priests and church workers to report child abuse — even if it compelled them to break the seal of confession.
Melbourne’s Archbishop Peter Comensoli said he would rather go to jail than break the confessional seal. Even Melbourne’s most beloved progressive priest, Father Bob Maguire, expressed concern: “They’ll have to get the prisons ready.”
Andrews was defiant, saying the bill was intended to send a message all the way to the top of the Catholic Church in Rome.
“I’ve made it very clear that the law of our state is written by the Parliament of Victoria” he said. “It’s not made in Rome.”
Support for sexual abuse victims
Andrews showed his support for sexual abuse victims after Cardinal George Pell was acquitted of abusing two choir boys in April.
“I see you. I hear you. I believe you,” he said.
The Australian said the statement showed Andrews had “made it clear his sympathies did not lie with the 78-year-old man seven High Court judges found had been wrongfully imprisoned by Victoria for more than 400 days”.
But Andrews said Catholics like himself needed to “face up” to the fact that there are people, some of whom are “free men”, who “moved predators around working-class parishes for decades, and others who knew that it was going on and actually facilitated it”.
He also wrote to Prime Minister Scott Morrison asking him to release secret sections of a report on the historical conduct of Pell.
‘Yes’ vote
Andrews campaigned in support of the “yes” vote during the same-sex marriage plebiscite in 2017 — despite his opposition to the survey. He framed his support as a vote on equality: “Love is love, fair is fair, and equality is not negotiable.”
Of course it paid off. The state’s “yes” vote of 65% was the highest in the country, and more than 3% above the national average.
Andrews also committed $500,000 for LGBTIQ counselling and support services during the vote.
Safe Schools
The Safe Schools program was another battleground where the church and the Murdoch press united to take down Andrews — and failed.
He stood by the program after a chorus of conservative federal government backbenchers led the Turnbull government’s revolt against it.
Andrews withstood a religious blowback from Murdoch media, with The Australian campaigning on it day after day.
He also stood up to intense lobbying by the Australian Christian Lobby which claimed the program — which offers professional development for teachers to support LGBTIQ students — had the potential to “increase gender confusion in young people”.
Gay conversion ‘therapy’
The government vowed years ago to take a “zero-tolerance approach” to anyone attempting to treat homosexuality as a disorder that can be “fixed” through medical or therapeutic means.
After a bill banning the practice was introduced to parliament this week, church leaders claimed the law was the biggest threat to religious freedom in years.
Comensoli said the ban went too far. “Who I pray to, how I pray, what I pray for, and most particularly who I pray with is not of concern to any government,” he told The Age. The Australian Christian Lobby said the bill was “built on lies”.
But Andrews called the practice “bigoted quackery” that has “no place in this state”.
The ban has divided the Liberal opposition, with an internal tussle breaking out between frontbench MP Tim Smith and religious hardliner Karina Okotel.
Voluntary assisted dying
Even Andrews’ Deputy Premier James Merlino was not willing to vote in favour of a law that would give terminally ill people the right to end their life.
Andrews strongly supported the legislation, saying he had been pushed to change his mind after his father’s death.
The bill passed in 2017, and with 85% of voters in favour the premier was proved to be on the right side of history.
When will we stop looking at the Catholic Church through the narrow lens of local and instead join the dots globally? Numerous enquiries worldwide have identified the same failings, criminality and coverups. Surely we are at the point where we must consider it not as an organisation harbouring criminals but as a criminal organisation. Once we’ve got over that hurdle, start undoing its protections. Won’t mandate advising law enforcement of crimes? Charitable status gone. Won’t release records on crimes committed by its staff, diplomatic representation gone (oh, and think of the saving of not having to have two Australian diplomats posted to Rome – one to chat with the Italian said and one with the Catholics. Wake up world, not only is it a misogynist, paternal oligarchy, it’s a criminal cabal.
Couldn’t agree more.
True. Dan Andrews is a much needed leader who has actually taken steps to effectively separate the state from a so called religious institution that is in fact an international criminal organisation that has and continues to sexually abuse / destroy the lives of children.
Whilst being completely true, and due to the sheer size and power that the Catholic Church wields, they are not alone. Plenty of other Religious groups are just as guilty of the same types of bad behaviors, and their influence on Politicians the World over.
and isn’t the catholic church the world’s largest capitalistic empire?? tax free status for notional quackery.
keep up the good work dan
It is the largest educational institution, for primary school, on a global scale.
Much of which is indoctrination disguised as education.
Take a look at the Catholic schools in the USA. The religious stuff aside, at the end primary school the kids are numerate and literate. Ask any teacher in the USA or Canada.
At State level (ministerial acknowledgement) such is not the case at Yr12 in Australia.
Ever had anything to do with education in any country Rolly?
55% of cathokic priests in the USA have been accused of sexual abuse.
Currently? Evidence or sources? Even the matter in NZ (Dilworth school and not Catholic) occurred decades ago.
Just add having banks to all their other business interests, nothing is ever enough for the catholic church
and yet the say greed is a sin.
Anyone who stands up to Murdoch/shockjock media ranters is a hero of mine ….and I’m old n grey with a v long memory of media mogul fear n loathing/dole bludger mythology masquerading as news.
I’d just like to point out to Comensoli that his god is false and his church is a fraud. Of course, I’m not singling them out: these comments go for all religions.
That said, Comensoli’s assertions about his privacy become invalid once he uses the things he wants to keep private to lobby and abuse the government publicly for disagreeing with him.
Why didn’t you mention the liberalisation of changing gender ID for transgender peope?
One of his 1st big reforms and took 2 attempts to get it through, but he never gave up on it.
Its a proud list of achievements.
But a tiny quibble – Victoria did NOT have the highest Yes vote of any jurisdiction in the county in the postal plebiscite: the ACT walked it in with 75% yes.
With apologies to John Howard (and that’s the only time you will see me write that) it is Canberra that is the real “Massachusetts of Australia”.
Crikey is no better than other msm and the ABC in its contempt for the ACT and its failure to get simple facts correct.
Hardly helpful, and completely off point. I’m sure Crikey would be happy to admit to the error.
Lol. The ACT is only a territory in name: It’s actually just a rather quirky artificial suburb with a legal porn industry.
With the public behaviour of some of our leading politicians, the porn industry is probably a necessity in Canberra.
You hit the nail right on the head. John Howard, pandering to the demands of a bunch of braying bishops and that element of the medical industry unable(or unwilling) to differentiate “extending life” and “prolonging misery”, ignored the wishes of a very large majority of Australians to bestow the unnecessary problems with euthanasia and marriage equality.
The current prime minister continued that attitude of “to hell with the will of the people” in his own response to marriage equality.
One can only hope that the Victorian legislation evolves into something more like the much more compassionate and practical laws now in force in progressive countries such as the Netherlands and Belgium. One can only lament that the Northern Territory laws were squashed by bigots and never got to grow.