We know of Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s Pentecostal brothers in the government — Brother Stuie (Stuart Robert) and Brother Matt (WA Senator Matt O’Sullivan) — but what about Sister Anne?
Dr Anne Webster, a National Party MP from Victoria elected in 2019, has the plum role of chair of the federal Parliament’s joint committee on human rights which is set to examine the government’s contentious religious discrimination bill.
As chance would have it, Webster is a product of the Christian politician factory known as the Lachlan Macquarie Institute. In her first speech to Parliament, Webster paid tribute to her local pastors in Mildura, Bruce and Margaret Sharman of the Diggerland church, a self-described “vibrant” Pentecostal church affiliated with CRC Churches International, previously known as the Christian Revival Crusade.
Webster has let it be known that the human rights committee’s inquiry into the religious discrimination bill should not cross into discrimination on the grounds of sexuality. This puts her at odds with Labor and moderate Liberals who want it to consider questions of religious exemptions in the Sex Discrimination Act.
Lachlan Macquarie Institute
The fine print of Webster’s CV reveals that she graduated from a Lachlan Macquarie Institute (LMI) training course in 2011. As we reported last week, the secretive institute works hand in hand with the Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) which wants stronger “religious freedom” guarantees in the Morrison government’s legislation.
A key LMI figure is influential Christian businessman Tony McLellan who has been appointed emeritus chairman of the ACL, reflecting his years of work there. McLellan is a director of LMI and donates to it. Two other LMI directors, James Wallace and David Burr, are also directors of the ACL.
The institute’s objective is to prepare Christian men and women for political and cultural leadership — what it calls “wise leaders”. It runs training programs jointly developed by the LMI and ACL. The most sophisticated is a 14-week course aimed at producing leaders in politics and public service. The course costs $30,500, with an LMI scholarship meeting $26,000 of that. It offers “unparalleled access” to Christian leaders, experts and influencers.
The institute’s namesake, Governor Lachlan Macquarie, is held up as a conservative disciplinarian who believed that the Protestant religion and British institutions were indispensable for liberty and a prosperous civilisation. Macquarie launched two British-based organisations: the British and Foreign Bible Society and the Sunday School movement.
Anne Webster and who else?
The LMI keeps secret the names of those who have undergone its training. However, Crikey has found a record of Lachlan Macquarie Internship alumni, published on its site in 2016.
The publication came with the warning that it was a secure page and available only to interns and alumni: “[It] is not to be shared publicly due to the sensitive nature of some of the alumni working environments. I encourage you all to continue to keep in contact and pray for the wider LMI alumni that we hope to see begin to redeem policy and politics in Australia.”
The page lists 45 names, including Webster’s, who at that stage had made an unsuccessful attempt at preselection for the seat of Mallee with the National Party.
Other alumni went on to work in political offices and religious lobby groups. They include:
Martyn Iles Iles is managing director of the ACL. According to his LMI bio he was a member of a Reformed Brethren church, the conservative, evangelical movement which once counted Morrison as a member. Iles was part of a 2014 training program.
Matthew Hochman Hochman attended LMI in 2012 and went on to work with Tasmanian Liberal MP Eric Hutchinson. For the past seven years he has been a senior adviser to Guy Barnett, now a senior minister in the Tasmanian government. (Barnett describes himself as pro-family with Christian values and as being “instrumental” in the 2004 Howard government amendments to the Marriage Act.)
Philip Fusco Fusco, who attended in 2011, had been involved in the Liberal Party since he was a teenager and had twice run for preselection in Victoria. Fusco stood for the Liberals in the 2019 election for the Victorian seat of McEwen but was beaten.
Peta Simpson Simpson attended an LMI program in 2013. In 2015 she was elected vice-president of the Women’s LNP in Queensland. She ran for preselection in the seat of Fisher for the Liberal National Party, coming second to former Howard minister Mal Brough.
Rohan McHugh McHugh worked at the ACL before studying with LMI. He is executive director of Freedom for Faith, a Christian legal think tank that exists to see religious freedom protected and promoted in Australia.
Rhys Vallance Vallance became the ACL’s Western Australian director after his LMI training. After four years he left to become an official with the conservative Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees’ Association.
Grant Dusting Dusting is a non-executive director with the Bible Society. He previously held positions with the WA Liberal Party and was on the staff of WA MP Matt Taylor. Dusting attended LMI training in 2012.
Kezia Doughty Doughty attended LMI in 2013. She did her placement with National Party MP Adrian Piccoli, then NSW education minister, and also helped then federal Liberal MP Louise Markus organise the Australian National Prayer Breakfast. (Markus is a member of Hillsong and entered politics when Morrison was director of the NSW Liberal Party.)
Allan Starr At the time of his LMI training in 2013 Starr was working with Liberty Ministries, which aimed to “support people with unwanted same-sex attraction”. Liberty warned on its website that its work might not result in “people being healed of their same-sex attractions”: “Ultimate healing and wholeness is found only in Jesus Christ when we meet Him face to face.”
Liberty Ministries no longer exists. Its site redirects anyone interested in “navigating same-sex attraction and gender incongruence” to “Living Faith”, a new Sydney Anglican ministry.
Starr was part of the autumn 2013 program and did his placement with the Canberra Liberals in the ACT Assembly.
This confirms the suspicion there is a well-organised and well-funded entryist campaign to subvert Australian politics. Or is conspiracy a better word? The aim is to set a form of evangelical Christianity as the nation’s de facto established religion, using methods designed to get around any obstacle the constitution’s weak protection (section 116) might provide. It seems to be making good progress.
I think that we have already sustained an evangelical coup – back in 2018.
Tories often steal the Left’s ideas when they suit or can be tortured and mangled to serve their ends.
It was once a conscious Fabian emulation rather than, as now, full-on Trot type takeover, any survivors being disappeared.
It should be making progress, it started before 1986.
If only there was really a hell for them all to rot in.
It’s hardly likely any of them believe this crap except as a road to money and power.
If it were like Iain M Banks’ novel ‘Surface Detail‘ it’d almost be worth joining one just to have them stuck in a Hell imaginatively manufactured in a substrate Hell, run commercially by a service provider – if one so amoral could be found…oh, wait… as a thundering herd of eager suppliers rush forward.
The word religion was operatioalised badly from a human rights perspective to define discrimination.
What is religion? What is it not? Does an individual or a society have to accept everything or nothing or a little bit and if so then what bit?
Where is the line of best fit in all of this? Numbers and words have a relationship. Otherwise numbers are just numbers and words are just words. It’s not this or that.
It is this and this and that and that, or it is not in total or part, and weighing up the odds and evens in each circumstance in context depending on the impact on an individual or group intentional or not.
What does this mean?
It means correlating a fact and a belief to get the best outcome for all has a poor line of best fit or correlation. Numbers guide our words. Beliefs guide our action but other significant variables may be present which influence cause and effect and outcome.
Words and actions and judgements do correlate at some point but it is the well thought out questions that reveal the most useful and telling information.
Arguing a religious discrimination Bill to become law in our current Government, is scary. But who is best equipped to decide what should and shouldn’t be in this circumstance. Do we know what is good for ourselves and others? At what point do we have a right to choose. Individually we have a right to define ourselves. Group dynamics get tricky. There are a number of ways to become a leader of a group. Being responsible for the self totally is another matter but is probably a good guide for how not to pick childish smart arse leaders.
In news that will surprise no-one paying attention, ‘Labor’ has announced that it will support the Bill in the current form.
Yes I saw this on the news. Government across the the parties would uphold it. That doesn’t mean it’s not problematic. Socially and politically it would be a minefield not to support it.
When you’ve managed to extricate yourself from your disappearance up your own fundament, perhaps you could give credence to the concept that society has the right, nay, obligation to steer itself towards it’s own goals, without the influence of hidden conspiracies.
So much for the separation of church and state. The Liberal party is fast becoming the Pentecostal Party. They are after all the Liberal party’s recruitment centre.
Marvellous investigative work here, to inform and warn us all of the righteous religious, superstitious, regressive, repulsive ratbaggery that some resort to in order to feel vaguely human, post-infancy. Is there treatment? Sigmund?
When I arrived in Australia in the early 1980s I felt I had come to a country that was based on fairness and decency and was secular. It is sadly becoming more polarised and more faux Christian.
Last time I looked, this country was indeed founded as a SECULAR democracy under the Constitution. We are becoming more American by the day! This article is a good enough reason to put the LNP LAST on your ballot paper at the next election.
It is only a matter of a few months since there were reports in the local South Australian media that the Liberals here had to take drastic action to purge their party of these lunatic ‘cult’ Christians, in order to stop them from taking over the entire organisation. Be aware…these ‘cults’ are dangerous. Do something now to get rid of them with voting action…as suggested above…because words are NOT enough!!
Written by an atheist…who thinks they are ALL mad!!!!!
Is Australian democracy under challenge from sectarian ‘influencer(s)’?
Main-stream Churches of every denomination has a responsibility, not only to their congregations, but also parliamentary democracy? An emerging infiltration of secular parliamentary democracy has begun to surface, and blossom. American style political infusion? The timing exquisite. Just as parliament has struggled under current LNP management and, on eve of upcoming Federal Election. Pandemic timing. Reduce sitting days. Disperse parliamentary voice? Denial of accountability, transparency?
My interpretation of the Christian scriptures would combine a participation in a parliamentary democracy, with a Jesus-like focus of serving the community with humility. Most Christian evangelicals with an intention of entering parliament show none of that, instead setting up a clique to serve their own needs. In some cases, they are no more Christian than ambitious types who join the golf club for its networking opportunities, even when they absolutely detest golf.
Their gospel of prosperity is the opposite of the Christian Gospels
Oh dear, then the rich establishments are not Christian. We are in trouble!
The rich establishments in non Christian countries are no better and no worse than those in so-called Christian countries. So why would we be ‘in trouble’ ?
Very few of our “rich establishments” are anything more than means of oppression anyway, so again why would we be ‘in trouble’ ?
I think the Catholics, Jesuits and Masons play golf, along with a few other hanger oneras. Council members may attempt as do chambers of commerce and justice members. The also like to fly gliders. Narromine is a hot spot around this time of year.
“Christian” evangelicals are not in fact Christians, but proponents of a combination of old testamentarians and
Baalites.
The ‘prosperity doctrines’ they espouse are so far from the ethos of the christ that they are not even in nodding acquaintance.
“Greed is good” – to paraphrase – and the lack of “Christian” values in what they expound points to only one conclusion – they don’t actually believe in the teachings of the christ, or at best in selected bits.