For God’s sake: Melbourne council dumps ‘unlawful’ prayer
A decades-old tradition of reciting a prayer before getting down to business has been scrapped by a Melbourne council over concerns it breaches human rights.
The City of Boroondara voted on Monday night to stop reading the council prayer along with the Acknowledgement of Country to begin its meetings.
The motion passed nine votes to one.
The council prayer read: “Almighty God, we humbly seek your blessings upon this council. Direct and prosper its deliberations to the advancement of your glory and the true welfare of the people of the City of Boroondara. Amen.”
Councillor Jim Parke, who voted for the motion but had no personal objection to the prayer, said some found the decades-old tradition “insidious” and in need of “erasure”.
“Those frightfully offensive words apparently have no place in this chamber,” he said.
“It’s funny when you consider what’s happening on the world stage as we speak that people can find such reason to be outraged and appalled and need to scurry off to lawyers and the like.
“But there you have it, that’s the reality of 2023: people actively seek out reasons to be offended.”
Councillor Victor Franco, who described himself as a non-believer and has been campaigning for the prayer’s removal, said it was not a matter of causing offence but rather the separation of church and state.
“Boroondara council is not a church,” he said.
“We need to focus on what we were elected to do, namely our roles and responsibilities as defined by the Local Government Act.
“It’s about our meetings being inclusive and welcoming for all. Something that when we have an official prayer, they are not and have not been.”
Law firm Maurice Blackburn wrote to the council about the issue on behalf of Cr Franco earlier this year, alleging the prayer was a breach of the Victorian Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities.
Its principal lawyer Jennifer Kanis said the firm’s view was that the prayer was unlawful and welcomed the council’s decision to scrap it.
“We hope this decision by Boroondara will prompt other councils who still recite a prayer at the start of their meetings to review how they operate,” she said.
In 2021, Victorian Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes promised Labor would workshop a replacement for the Lord’s Prayer in state parliament if it was re-elected last year.
Labor was re-elected with an increased lower-house majority but the century-old tradition remains.
