The Australian Christian Lobby is hoping for a more open dialogue on faith-related issues with new Victorian premier Jacinta Allan, than it had with Daniel Andrews. National Director of Politics Wendy Francis told Vision Radio she is not expecting any major changes in policies, and conceded Ms. Allan is a formidable politician:
“Jacinta Allan is very well known for a number of different things. She is certainly part of Emily’s List which is an organisation that funds women to enter Parliament as long as they support a very pro-abortion agenda. She is a very powerful woman. I think she’s a very capable woman and she’s actually someone who is very strongly opposed to anything that she sees as anti-woman.”
“One of the first things she actually did even before she entered parliament at a young age —this is really interesting — is she campaigned against a venue that was doing lap dancing. So she has this sense of justice. And I would say that in some ways it’s been misplaced. But I’m hoping that we might be able to reach out to her in some way.”
”She was the minister responsible for the Commonwealth Games. So if we’re looking at what I think was the debacle of Daniel Andrews just pulling out of the Commonwealth Games, I think it’s quite embarrassing for our nation. She was the minister responsible for that. So she has worked very much hand in glove with him. She does have somebody now as her deputy premier who is from the right wing. And that’s probably a good thing. But I don’t think anyone who is looking for a change in leadership is going to get that with Jacinta Allan.”
However, Ms. Francis is hopeful that the new premier will be more approachable on faith-related issues: “I’m somebody who believes that there are differences in the way women and men lead. Daniel Andrews was a very domineering leader. The power all came back to him. It was all in his hands. I would be hopeful that a woman would lead in a different way. So I’d like to think that there would be more openness with Jacinta Allan and particularly with Ben Carroll as the Deputy Premier. I would hope that there would be more of an open door because there’s been a completely closed door for any dialogue on issues that concern faith communities with Daniel Andrews. He always said that he was all about equality and inclusiveness. He certainly did not show equality or inclusiveness to people in faith communities.”
The ACL National Director observed there are also no signs of the Victorian Liberals changing their own hardline stance on issues impacting Christians: “We’re seeing people kicked out of the party simply for having a pro-life stance or a pro-woman stance. They’re in an absolute mess. So this is one of the problems. When you don’t have a viable opposition, then the government can just walk all over the people, they get drunk with the power because there’s just really no strong debate coming from anywhere because the opposition is in such disarray. Victoria really is in a very, very sad state.”
Ms. Francis noted that’s a sign that hope will eventually prevail: “I think when it’s darkest, that’s when the light can shine brightest. That’s what I would be really encouraging Victorians. This is the moment in history that we can really grab and take. We can certainly pray. But we also need to act. We need to get out there and actually start speaking truth into power. In Victoria, there are faithful people who I believe if we get really engaged and we actually start speaking truth into power, that light can shine. We really can make a difference in Victoria and we can see it turn around.”
Click below to listen to the full interview with the ACL’s Wendy Francis:
