Recognition of our cultural heritage in Brisbane City Council meetings

Principal Petitioner Wendy Francis, Mitchelton
Date Closed Fri, 04 Sep 2020 This epetition has ended
No. of signatures 1324 signatures

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Petitions express the views of the Head Petitioner and may not represent the views of Council.

Residents draw to the attention of the Brisbane City Council their belief that the tradition of reading a Christian prayer prior to the opening of Council meetings continues to have a legitimate place. The practice is an acknowledgement of our legal and cultural heritage which has been decisively shaped by a Christian ethos, and which continues to foster our free and prosperous democracy. We recognise our Indigenous heritage in council with a welcome to country. We also recognise that Christianity is an important part of our cultural heritage. The majority of Australians chose to identify as Christian in the most recent census. To remove the long-standing tradition of the opening prayer from Council takes away something of Australia's cultural heritage. Australia was founded with the principle of separation of church and state but it was never intended to keep religious ideas, people or prayers out of public life.

Your petitioners therefore request that the tradition of reading a Christian prayer before Council meetings be retained.

Council response

The reading of a prayer is a Westminster tradition which commenced in the United Kingdom in 1558, and was common practice by 1567.

In the Australian Federal Parliament, a prayer has been read at the beginning of meetings of the House of Representatives and the Senate since 1901. The Queensland Parliament commenced reading a prayer to open proceedings of meetings in 1860 and has continued to this day.

The first minuted mention of a Council meeting being opened with a prayer was in 1960. On 21 February 2017, an acknowledgement of the traditional owners of the land was included in the opening of Council meetings following the prayer.

As the reading of a prayer is a long-standing tradition in all levels of government in Australia, this practice will continue to be followed during Council meetings.

Thank you for raising this matter.

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