A Christian Voice in Politics

Gordon Moyes has spent his life working practically towards better outcomes for the ordinary Australian. He is committed to a Biblical yardstick for the improvement of our society, as it was explained primarily by Jesus Christ and the Prophets.

Dr Moyes shares with Isaiah a vision for a righteous and benevolent society:

Say no to wrong, learn to do good, work for justice, help the down and out, stand up for the homeless, go to bat for the defenceless (Isaiah 1:17).

As the Superintendent of Sydney’s Wesley Mission for 27 years he brings a lifetime of experience in working for the community to the Parliament of New South Wales. In this role he often brought Australia’s high-flyers to Australia’s down-and-out in order to find new solutions to entrenched social problems.

Being a cross-bench Member of the Legislative Council Dr Moyes is not required to vote or speak against conscience or Biblical authority.

He continues a distinguished tradition of service by Christian clergymen in the New South Wales Legislative Council that began with Rev Thomas Scott [Former MLC 1824 - 1829].

In May 1825 New South Wales was proclaimed an Archdeaconry (part of the Anglican Diocese of Calcutta), with Rev Thomas Scott as the first Archdeacon. At the same time by Royal Warrant, dated 16th November 1824, the original warrant of 1823 was revoked and a revised Legislative Council nominated, with the Archdeacon replacing the Surveyor-General.

Rev William Broughton replaced Rev Thomas Scott, as Archdeacon, and became a Member of the Legislative Council on the 16th September 1829. In 1836, the Bishopric of Australia was formed and the Archdeacon of New South Wales, Rev Broughton, became the first and only Bishop of Australia. As Bishop, he retained his membership of both the Legislative and Executive Councils. He served as a member until the 5th January 1843.

Since then, the following clergymen have been appointed to serve or are currently serving in NSW Parliament:

Rev Hon John Dunmore Lang [Former MLC 1843-56].
Rev Hon Edward Jones Brewster [Former MLC 1846-1848].
Rev George Wells Smailes [Former MLA 1862-1934].
Rev Hon William Robson [Former MLC 1900-1920] (Protestant Party. Liberal Party. National Party)
Rev Robert Davidson [Former MLA 1901-1910] (Liberal Party. Reform Party)
Rev Thomas Simpson Crawford [Former MLA 1910-1917] (Australian Labor Party)
Rev James Wilson [Former MLA 1920-1925] (Progressive. Soldiers and Citizens’ Political Federation)
Rev John Smith (Jock) Garden [Former MLA 1930-1934] (Labor Party. Communist Party. Labor Party)
Rev Donald Peter Macdonald [Former MLA 1941-1947] (Independent)
Rev Hon John Marsden Mason [Former MLA 1965-1981] (Liberal Party)
Rev Hon. Neil Edward William Pickard [Former MLA 1973-1991] (Liberal Party)
Rev Guy Andrew Yeomans [Former MLA 1984-1991] (Liberal Party)
Rev Hon Fred Nile [Current MLC 1981- ] (Call to Australia (Fred Nile Group). Christian Democratic Party (Fred Nile Group))
Rev Hon Gordon Moyes AC MLC [Current MLC 2003 - ] (Christian Democratic Party (Fred Nile Group))

So what are the problems with our society?

No one can doubt that the fabric of New South Wales society is facing difficulties and crises on a number of fronts. We are also facing a deterioration of many of our great institutions – most evidently in our schools, hospitals and law courts. And remedies are becoming increasing difficult to fund with an ever-decreasing pool of common revenue.

We have all heard the old truism that ‘prevention is better than cure’. Particularly from a Government point of view prevention also has the added bonus of often being cheaper and more effective.

If we are to hand over Australia to our children in better shape than we received it from our parents we need to start becoming more preventative in our approach to law making and budget spending. Today’s adults are the custodians of our environment, health system, schools, and justice system, and have benefited from where our own predecessors looked after it, and have been disadvantaged where they did not.

Over many decades at Wesley Mission Dr Gordon Moyes has become a pioneer in early intervention and preventative approaches to social problems. For example, under the vision of Dr Moyes Wesley Mission introduced the first gambling counselling service in Australia and the first crisis credit office for those who found themselves stuck within the crippling cycle of financial debt. It is Dr Moyes’ passion to also bring a preventative approach to the social services provided by the NSW Government.

What about the breakdown of the family unit?

As the family is the primary social unit it is doubtful whether lawmakers have any greater responsibility than to preserve Australian family life. The health of a society can be judged by the health of its families. The sense of community one experiences and the strength of the bonds and moral guidance one receives within the family mitigate against the proliferation of most of the ills found in wider society.

Investing in families is perhaps our greatest prerogative in the quest to build up Australia’s bank of ‘social capital’. Unfortunately this necessity has been lost on many as the very notion of ‘family’ now finds itself embroiled in politics. The traditional family is now having to justify itself. A new rights-based argument based on abstract and unbalanced understandings of tolerance and anti-discrimination seeks to overturn this traditional notion with legalised same-sex and group marriages. This move is unprecedented throughout human history and stalls attempts at the real challenge of our age – to invest in the health of traditional families.

Should there be any crossover between religion and politics?

People have debated the validity of a specifically Christian voice in politics. Some repeat the mantra that “religion and politics should not mix”. For a start here are four important reasons why this is not the case:

  1. Some of the most positive and lasting campaigns for social change have developed as religious movements, and some of the worst atrocities occurred when the church was too afraid to speak up on political matters. Take for examples the American civil rights movement led by Rev Dr Martin Luther King Jnr or William Wilberforce’s years of campaigning to eventually see the end of slavery throughout the British Empire.

  2. The principles of democracy mean a Christian conscience is as valid in society as any other conscience. Moreover, to participate in the democratic process a Christian person cannot and should not separate their conscience and set of values from their faith. It is integral to who we are. Much to ire of some democracy means that Christian people are free to participate in the political process as Christians. Up until very recently it was taboo for a politician or public figure to call themselves a Christian, and still is in many circles. For someone to have to hide or sideline his or her faith in public life is clearly undemocratic.

  3. Why should Christians and the church be the only group in society to be silenced within the democratic process? Everyone from 4WD, dog and gun owners, unions, industry and environmental groups, and sporting and ethnic associations are entitled to have a political voice and to group together on political issues. Why not Christians? We have valid opinions just like the rest of society and should be entitled to speak out on important public matters.

  4. It is a gross misinterpretation of the principle of separation of church and state to justify the secular state and its removal of all religious belief and morality. Rather an understanding of the sovereignty of the Christian God appears in the opening sentence the Australian Constitution where the States are declared to “humbly relying on the blessing of Almighty God”.

Unlike today’s ‘separationists’ it was actually religious peoples in the early United States who first came up with the principle of church-state separation so that religious liberties might be protected and that the religious persecution that existed under the Old World’s state-sponsored denominations would be avoided. However nowhere did the founders of the Australian or American Constitutions intent to support anything like the modern secularism that aims to remove any aspect of religious belief or morality in legislation. Among other things this is a denial of the foundational Ten Commandments in which our judicial system is based.

Those who hear the comment that Christianity should not involve itself with politics need to identify it for the lie that it is. Christianity will not be silent on or shy away from the great issues of our time. Christ himself not only spoke about a personal faith, as important as that is, but also about a social gospel, and dare I say it, a political gospel.

To read Gordon Moyes’ inaugural speech to NSW Parliament click here.