Australia: Archbishop escapes further trial but Anti-Discrimination laws still stop free speech
One of Australia's leading Christian groups has today spoken out over news that a complaint against Hobart’s Catholic Archbishop Julian Porteous and the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference has been dropped. The Australian Christian Lobby welcomed news of the complaint being dropped by the complainant, Greens candidate Martine Delaney. However, Australian Christian Lobby Managing Director Lyle Shelton said it was a travesty of justice that Tasmania’s Anti-Discrimination Commissioner believed the Archbishop had a case to answer simply for distributing the Catholic Church marriage booklet “Don’t Mess with Marriage.” “What Archbishop Porteous did was completely reasonable and he should have the right to express a point of view on marriage,” Mr Shelton said. “This was an example of where State-based Human Rights Commissions are often being weaponised by activists against those with different views. “A complaint does not even have to be legally defensible for process to sta