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The Hon. JOHN RYAN [9.15 p.m.]: I want to join in an active debate that is occurring in the Bankstown area—one we have had in this House—and express a view as to whether Bankstown City Council should re-introduce a regular prayer prior to its council meetings. Bankstown City Council, like almost every council in Western Sydney, used to have a prayer before its council meetings. The prayer was recently removed. Submissions to the Mayor of Bankstown, Ms Helen Westwood, asking her to consider restoring the prayer met with the following response:
I don't think this is really a burning issue in the community. The separation of church and State is very important for Federal, State and local government as well. It's the role of the community's religious leaders to lead the community in prayer, not the council.
However, it is not true that we have a separation of church and state in Australia. It is an American concept brought about because most of the American founding fathers had escaped religious persecution in Europe and specifically applied that concept to their Constitution. In constitutions that descend from Great Britain—as ours does—the idea of having church and state separated gets somewhat compromised by the fact that our head of State, Her Majesty the Queen, is the head of the Church of England. It has not been our tradition to separate church and state in quite the same way as they do in the United States of America.
That is not to say that there is not a healthy reason for both sides of that equation to keep out of each other's business. Nevertheless, the total abandonment of prayer in councils and parliaments is the abandonment of an important part of our cultural life that most people find important. I understand that the councils of Ryde, Mosman, Warringah—when it was a council—Willoughby, Waverley, Dubbo, Port Stephens, Lismore, Shoalhaven, Canterbury, Wyong, Hawkesbury, the City Council of Adelaide, the City of Sydney Council and other councils in Western Sydney, such as Penrith City Council and Blacktown City Council, start their meetings with not only a short prayer but also with the singing of the national anthem. In 1991 Mark Latham, the former Federal Labor Leader, tried to remove Liverpool council's prayer and in 1993 community pressure caused it to be restored.
There is no compromise in the important division between church and state if there is a prayer at the beginning of council meetings. There is no compromise to that relationship if prayers are read at the beginning of council meetings, just as we do not compromise our independence on matters religious when we read a couple of short prayers before we commence. Prayers are an important standard setting for many people. Most people see prayers as acknowledging something greater than ourselves; very few people hold the view that there is no greater power or being than ourselves. Therefore, for a council not to have a prayer simply abandons the field altogether. There should be a modest statement of prayer at the beginning of the meeting. I accept, and have no problem with, a need to word these things carefully so that they are inclusive of multiple faiths.
Most Jews, Christians or Muslims for example would have no problem with the prayer that commenced this day's meeting of the House. They are happy to know there is some level of religious observance. It is not a matter of prayer being divisive. Most people find an act of prayer unifying and uplifting. It sets a standard, even in places like councils and other public institutions. Some community organisations, such as Rotary, and even a credit union that holds luncheons in these parliamentary premises, commence their meetings with prayer. So it is not an inappropriate expression. [Time expired.]