Christian Senator Matt Canavan has spoken to Vision Radio about his faith, his immigrant background and his hopes for Australia’s future ahead of the federal election.
The Queensland National Party Senator who’s not up for re-election revealed: “I’m a practising Catholic. I was raised as a Catholic and went to a Catholic school. I think I’m very lucky to have had that upbringing.”
“At different times of your life, faith is more important than others. And I suppose it was when I got married and had children that I started to really reflect and think a little bit more about what it means to believe in God.”
“Obviously, it’s a very personal thing. but it’s something that always grounds me.”
“It puts everything in life in perspective and it definitely reduces the stress you have in life because I try to trust that God’s got a plan, whatever happens.”
WHY HAVING A RELIGIOUS WORLDVIEW IS IMPORTANT IN POLITICS
“I think that the Christian worldview plus other religious worldviews have very insightful things to say about moral and ethical issues which often crop up [in politics].”
“There are moral challenges about how to weigh up different people’s rights, beliefs and values which get to the heart of what makes up a good society.”
“So the idea that we just whitewash religious viewpoints on those [challenges] cuts us off from some of the best parts of our heritage as a Judeo-Christian society.”
“They lead us down some very narrow, often utilitarian, pathways that I think in the last 100 years or so, have led to lots of disasters in the modern world.”
“So I’m always a very strong advocate for religion to be part of politics and part of a political discussion.”
SENATOR CANAVAN WELCOMES BEING ATTACKED FOR HIS FAITH
Senator Canavan has often been criticised for publicly expressing his Biblical views.
He told Twenty20 presenter Neil Johnson: “I actually like people attacking me. I’m a little bit of a contrarian.”
“Jesus told us that we’d be mocked. We’d be condemned. So it’s taken as a badge of honour if people want to attack me for my religion.”
“I do believe our value is gifted by God and that every individual has inherent value.”
“I do think that cultures and societies that are organised around a basis of respecting particular rights that each individual has, tend to deliver better results compared to a very secular materialistic utilitarian view.”
“That [secular view] tends to open up the possibility of trading off someone’s use or dignity as a human being to potentially deliver a greater good for a greater number.”
“I think that worldview has been bankrupt and led to lots of destruction.”
“We’ve come from a Judeo-Christian heritage and I think we’ve been best as a society when we’ve stayed true to that.”
MATT CANAVAN’S VIEWS ON IMMIGRATION AND HOUSING POLICIES
Senator Canavan has strong views on the nation’s immigration policies and their impact on housing:
“It’s a national embarrassment that a country with our wealth, our prosperity, our resources can’t put a roof over all of the heads of its people.”
“That alone should be enough to pull back on the amount of immigration we’re taking in.”
“I’m a descendant of migrants. My nonno and nonna came here from Italy after World War II and they had to assimilate and learn to speak English.”
“They settled in a very small country town in Ayr in North Queensland. Nonno cut cane and worked hard. There was no welfare. He had to just provide for his family himself. And they became very proud Australians.”
“So I have no problem with migration at a moderate level, much, much lower than what we’ve got today.”
“It has to be at a level that we can properly assimilate people and they don’t end up in ghettos.”
A SHOCKINGLY LOW BIRTH RATE IS FUELLING THE PUSH FOR MORE MIGRANTS
In response to talkback callers on Vision Radio, Senator Canavan acknowledged that Australia’s extremely low birth rate is fuelling a push for more migrants.
“We are depopulating as a country. Our birth rate is only 1.5 babies per woman now. It’s very, very low, even lower than some European countries now.”
“Within three generations, just 75 years away, we’ll have just 11 million Australians descended from those here today [if current trends continue]. It’s a stunning and shocking statistic.”
“This is a major issue. And if we don’t fix it soon, it’ll be too late to do anything about it.”
POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS TO TURNING AROUND THE LOW BIRTH RATE
“I think getting young people into housing as early as possible is one of the keys to bringing our birth rate up, because the longer it takes to get your first home, normally means most people will delay their first child.”
“If they delay their first child. it will often mean they have fewer children than they might otherwise want to.”
“I think what Hungary’s done is excellent. You can get a roughly $50,000 low interest loan to buy your first home when you’re newly married.”
“If you have a first child you get three years of no repayments. Second child you get a third of the loan written off. And if you have a third child, you get the whole loan written off.”
“I love that policy because it sets up such an incentive for young people to both get into a home [and have kids].
AUSTRALIA’S LUCKY COUNTRY STATUS IS UNDER THREAT
“I’m very optimistic about the future of Australia, but I think we are on the precipice of losing the lucky country status.”
“We do have a unifying Australian culture, which believes in the rule of law, believes in equality between the genders, believes in a fair go for everybody.”
“And we should defend that to the death because it’s the bedrock of why we’ve got probably the most harmonious, peaceful, prosperous country in the world.”
“We’ve been very, very lucky in the last 30 years or so. We haven’t really had a proper recession in my lifetime in the workforce.”
“But I worry that we are cruising for a bruising right now. Our productivity is in freefall. Our state of living in freefall. Other countries are overtaking us in terms of investment attractiveness and we’ve squandered another mining boom that’s fast receding now.”
MATT CANAVAN’S WORST FEARS FOR THE OUTCOME OF THE FEDERAL ELECTION
Senator Canavan fears the worst outcome of the election will be if Australia ends up with what he calls an LGBT coalition government — standing for Labor, Greens, Bob Katter and Teals
“They will go more radical, more crazy, less sensible on things like energy and housing policy.”
“The only way to avoid that, in my view, is to vote for a Liberal National Party [government].”
“I’m sure your listeners aren’t necessarily happy all the time with the LNP. I’m not happy all the time. I get frustrated at times, even as part of the team.”
“But there’s no doubt in my mind that a strong LNP government would be much better than a weak, divided, all over the shop, LGBT government.”
“IN THE END, OTHER THINGS ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN POLITICS”
“There’s a high degree of unity between the Nationals and Liberals on the major policy settings before the election.”
“I think it’s a great thing about the Liberal National Party that we’re not just a bunch of robots.”
“In the Labor Party, if you step out of line just one iota, you’ll be kicked out of the party.”
Whatever the result of the election, Matt Canavan says it won’t be the end of the world if it doesn’t go his way.
“Politics is important, but I actually believe that what’s most important in your life is your family, your community, your church — you can have a lot of influence on those things too.”
“My job as a father of five is a lot more important than my job as a Senator.”
Photo: Facebook – Senator Matthew Canavan
Click on the link below to listen to the full interview with Senator Canavan
