I wouldn't vote ALP even in a one Party State.. but.. this statement is totally wrong...... "Five minutes ago, secularism meant freedom of religion, not freedom from religion." The writer appears to have little if any idea of the meaning "secular " A shame really , because some of the Article was interesting..

Until the ALP goes all the way back to its original Labor doctrine, then worrying about them is a total waste of time. Labor has been hijacked by academic elitists & their bandwagon is dishing out such handsome perks that Labor will never be Labor again.

Next time Labor should just ape Morrison and question funding and promises, pointing to the broken ones, all of them for the term of the Turnbull/Abbott/Turnbull/Morrison government. Their appalling social justice record, the deplorable suicide rate and exclusions. Plus the ever-growing gap between the haves and have nots as a consequence of this "CHRISTIAN" government's actions as they seek to give action to THEIR master's teachings!?

To the point where some senior cabinet ministers are trying to equate religious freedom and free speech with completely disgraced homophobia, discrimination and persecution of folk for the circumstance of their birth and consequential, God-given difference!

Were the master to walk among us today, many of these "CHRISTIANS" WITH HIS GENTLE, KIND, FORGIVING WAYS AND PREDILECTION FOR EXCLUSIVE MALE COMPANY!

Many of the openly "CHRISTIAN" ministers of the crown would judge him to be homosexual and deny him access to many positions?
Alan B.

Not so, Alan B. I am homophobic to the extent that I do not believe in homosexual "marriage". But that does not mean that I want to throw homosexuals off buildings like our Muslim brothers. And I am not a Christian at all. I am an atheist. Nobody can convince me that a male sticking his penis up another male's anus is a natural thing to do. An anus is not a vagina. An anus is a one way valve. it is not meant to be penetrated from the other direction. Failure to understand that just gives proctologists a lot of patients.

And don't throw that "It is all love" crap at me. Using that excuse, there is nothing wrong today for people using contraceptives, for fathers to "love" their daughters, or for mothers to "love" their sons.

Dear Kurt,
I liked your article very much. However, from your list of Christian leaders of the ALP, you omitted the staunchest Catholic of them all- Arthur Augustus Calwell. He was awarded the Grand Silver Star as Knight Commander of the Order of St. Gregory the Great by Pope Paul VI in 1967. This was in spite of strong animosity from some Catholic bishops and members of the ALP, due to the sectarianism that existed following the split in the ALP in 1955. From Calwell's book,"Be Just and Fear Not", I quote: "Bishop Arthur Fox of Victoria said on the Monday after the 1966 elections: 'I am glad the (Holt) Government won. The security of the nation is more important than a mess of pottage".

And as Arthur Calwell has been the only Australian politician shot (on 21 June 1966), he does hold a special identity in the political life of this country.