Many Victorians are reeling after the passage of the Andrews government’s ‘Change or Suppression’ Bill. This is the most draconian legislation of its kind in the entire world.
When a man designs a law which is…
- medically inappropriate according to the AMA,
- legally inappropriate according to the Law Institute of Victoria,
- singularly targeting faith communities for things like prayer,
- making parents potential “domestic abusers” for counselling their own children,
- empowering bureaucrats to police, control, and re-educate faith communities…
you have to ask, “What makes Daniel Andrews tick?”
Daniel Andrews is Australia’s longest serving major political leader, having served just over six years as the Victorian Premier. He says he’s a Catholic… but actions speak louder than words.
Let me share some of his policies and public comments to give you a picture of the man…
- Andrews created the nation’s first Equality Minister, whose portfolio is resourced by the department of Premier and Cabinet, in 2015.
- He appointed a full-time Gender and Sexuality Commissioner in 2015 to advocate for LGBTIQ+ issues and they have the ear of the Premier himself.
- Same sex-adoption was legalised in 2015 so that a child can be placed in a motherless or fatherless home by design.
- Andrews was the first Premier ever to walk in a Pride March. He led the Melbourne Pride March in his first year in government and he hasn’t missed one since. Now, in 2021, he has promised that Melbourne Pride will become one of the largest LGBTQ events that there is.
- He opposed there being a vote on same-sex marriage in 2017 because he said it would unleash hate and bigotry. (So, that’s what he thinks of those who opposed same-sex marriage).
- Laws were passed in 2019 to allow a person to change their sex on their birth certificate – whether or not they’ve had any medical treatment – and a child’s sex can be altered on their birth certificate at will.
- A discussion paper was released on a whole-of-government LGBTQI strategy in 2020. Andrews is very clear he wants this to shape every part of his government.
- The Andrews government provided $15M in funding for a Pride Centre that is to be opened in St Kilda in 2021. It will be a government space in which to host LGBTQ advocacy.
- Also in 2021, the ‘Change and Suppression’ Bill was passed without amendments. I have covered this extensively, noting that it imposes massive criminal penalties on doctors, medical professionals, pastors, people of faith, and parents for things as mild as giving advice, praying, or conversations. Andrews said,
“Some faith leaders have been critical of a law to ban the worst form of bigoted quackery imaginable. This is not kindness and love or the protection of a vulnerable and persecuted group. This is not something to be proud of.”
- A government Gender Equality Strategy was released recently. It is something of a Marxist creed, talking at length about colonialism, transgender diverse empowerment, and it attacks gendered clothing and gender stereotypes.
- Rainbow flags have been raised over government buildings on several occasions. Andrews says,
“Pride is not a cold acceptance, it’s a celebration. If you’re a member of the LGBT community and there’s someone in your life that you love, then do me a favour. Next time you’re on a tram in Melbourne, hold their hand. Do it with pride and defiance because you have that freedom. Here in the progressive capital, I can think of nothing more Victorian than that.”
Daniel Andrews will never say something like that to a person of faith. He’ll never say, “Go out there and live out what you believe.”
This is not about equality. It’s not about tolerating everybody. This is about Pride at the expense of everybody else. That is what Daniel Andrews – and his whole government – is all about.
Now, let’s consider his record in relation to life…
- In 2008, Andrews was the Health Minister in Victoria and that’s when abortion to birth was legislated. Victoria led the nation in this respect and, as Health Minister, Andrews played a major role in getting the abortion to birth legislation passed.
- Andrews voted against all of the following amendments…
- Providing pain relief to a foetus that can feel pain while being dismembered during an abortion;
- Rendering medical care to a child born alive as a result of a failed abortion;
- Banning partial birth abortion – the practice of partially delivering a baby and then killing it;
- Requiring mandatory reporting of suspected child abuse victims at abortion clinics;
- Requiring information to be provided about the health risks of abortion;
- Offering women impartial decision-making counselling;
- Notifying the custodial parent of a child who is seeking an abortion.
I repeat, these are all amendments that Daniel Andrews voted against. He said afterwards, “I’m not a Catholic Health Minister, I’m a Victorian Health Minister.” In other words, he doesn’t believe his faith has real application in the public realm.
Dozens of babies have been born alive and left to die since these laws were passed, unamended.
- In 2015 the Andrews government was involved in the legislation of “safe access zones.” That is a 100-metre buffer around all abortion clinics where communication on the subject of abortion in a way that could be seen or heard was banned. This directly resulted in the criminal conviction of a sidewalk counsellor, whose quiet counselling ministry had seen hundreds of babies saved and their mothers helped. Their work is now illegal.
- Victoria became the first state in Australia to legalise euthanasia in 2017 (apart from the brief episode in NT in 1995). Andrews gave the Health Minister, Jill Hennessy, a hug when that passed.
- The Andrews government was responsible for removing Special Religious Education from schools in 2015 and then made Respectful Relationships compulsory (with content similar to Safe Schools). Tens of thousands of students once received SRI in Victoria, now it is rare.
- The Safe Schools program was funded and established by the Victorian government in 2010. The program included explicit advice on sexual activity, being trans, chest binding, and worse. When the federal government announced it would review the material, Andrews said,
“If the [federal] government decides to cut the funding for this program, I’m proud to announce that the Victorian government will make up the shortfall. ‘Safe Schools’ is officially saved in Victoria… I get my policy advice from experts not bigots.”
- Guidelines were issued to Victorian schools in 2015 which banned children from singing traditional Christmas carols that “glorified God.” Students were not to sing any carols which welcomed the birth of Christ including Silent Night, Away in a Manger, and others.
- Andrews is responsible for the Doctors in Secondary Schools. One hundred high schools are visited by GPs and students can get health care without their parents’ knowledge. There are issues like abortion, STIs, gender dysphoria – and doctors don’t necessarily have to tell parents.
- Requirements were changed in Victoria in 2019 so that chaplains no longer have to be Christians – they can be people with any faith, or no faith.
- The Andrews government attempted to change religious freedom laws in 2016 so that religious institutions could not hire staff that would support their ethos exclusively. This was one of the rare occasions early in his tenure when a proposal failed – and Andrews wasn’t happy about it.
- Most recently, we saw Daniel Andrews’ attitude toward Margaret Court. She was to receive Australia Day honours and Andrews said,
“I don’t want to give this person’s disgraceful bigoted views any oxygen. Grand slam wins don’t give you some right to spew hatred and create division. Nothing does.”
(While he bullied a 70-year-old woman to hundreds of thousands of Twitter followers).
This is the legacy of one man’s political career. He has radically changed Victoria, and his influence has changed the Labor party.
Nobody in this country has a more radical and aggressive social engineering agenda than Daniel Andrews.
I hope you can see, as a person of faith, that Daniel Andrews despises what you believe. He has a passion against it that has driven him for years now and he’s getting worse, not better.
November 2022 is the next chance to vote this man out – and you must
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