Australian Senate defeats Greens and Gay politicians move to abandon Lord’s Prayer at start of day
CANBERRA, Australia, February 13, 2014 ( LifeSiteNews.com ) - In only 24 seconds the latest effort to have the Lord's Prayer removed from the start of the Australian Senate 's day was defeated, with senators from both the coalition government and the opposition Labor Party voting against it. Under the Senate’s standing order, the president of the Senate is required to read the parliamentary prayer upon taking his chair at the start of the day, regardless of adjournment or suspension from the day before. Australia's Senate chamber The motion against the reading of the prayer, advanced by Greens Sen. Richard Di Natali , was to have the Senate officially refer the matter to the procedure committee, which is already tasked with reviewing the existing standing orders. The Greens party has a member on the committee and a spokesman told LifeSiteNews the issue would be actively pursued. They wish to have the prayer replaced with an invitation to a minute of silence f