In November 2006, the then Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs published a second article, also in The Monthly, entitled Howard's Brutopia.
2.
RuddKevin, ‘Faith in Politics’, The Monthly, October 2006, 29. Dietrich Bonhoeffer was imprisoned and executed a month before the end of WWII for his involvement in the plot to assassinate Hitler. Rudd described Bonhoeffer as ‘the man I admire most in the history of the twentieth century’, 22. Early on as PM, the Opposition regularly taunted Rudd, asking ‘What would Bonhoeffer say?’: See RosnerBrian, ‘To Kevin from Dietrich, a few words of solace’, The Australian (Sydney), 2 July 2010, <theaustralian.com.au/news/opinion/to-kevin-from-dietrich-a-few-words-of-solace/story-e6frg6zo-1225886885078>, at 24 July 2010.
3.
Rudd, above n 2, 24–25. Rudd described Bonhoeffer's political theology as ‘… one of a dissenting church that speaks truth to the state and does so by giving voice to the voiceless’.
4.
Ibid25.
5.
Ibid29.
6.
Crabb's 2006 study found, eg, more than 20% of speeches by well-known Australian politicians referred to Christian terms such as Christ, church, faith, pray, Jesus and Bible: see CrabbAnna, Invoking Religion in Australian Politics (2009) 44:2Australian Journal of Political Science259–279, 263.
MaddoxMarion, God Under Howard — the Rise of the Religious Right in Australian Politics (2005) 69.
12.
See MaddoxMarion, ‘An Argument for More, Not Less, Religion in Australian Politics’ (2009) 3Australian Religion Studies Review346.
13.
For example, Catholic Archbishop Daniel Mannix sponsored Catholic lawyer and political activist BA Santamaria. Mannix (and other clerics) supported the political careers of former Irish Catholic Labor politicians including Scullin, Lyons and Cal well.
14.
In the 2004 federal election, the Coalition exchanged preferences with Family First; PM Howard encouraged the link. This exchange assisted the Coalition while allowing Family First to win a Senate seat in Victoria: see WarhurstJohn‘Religion in 21st Century Australian National Politics’ (Australian Senate Occasional Lecture Series, Theatre Parliament House, 5 May 2006) 13.
See, eg, BeazleyKim (Speech to the Australian Christian Lobby, Canberra, 29 October 2005) <http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/> at 15 August 2010. In his speech, Beazley refers to Bonhoeffer as one, amongst others, who ‘transformed their societies by living out their strong faith-based values’.
18.
See Maddox, above n 11, 101.
19.
Warhurst observes that most leading humanists in parliament are in the Labor Party and notes federal Labor MP Carmen Lawrence formed a cross-factional Humanist Group in 2000 to counter what they saw as the growing influence of religion in parliamentary debates and decisions: see Warhurst, above n 14.
In a study about the involvement of churches in the Rudd government's 2007 election, Smith notes Festival of Light and Australian Christian Values Institute would have voted: Christian Democrat or DLP, Family First, then Coalition; in contrast, Centre for an Ethical Society or Micha College would have voted: Australian Democrats, Greens, Family First, then Labor. Smith also notes the influential Australian Christian Lobby supported Family First and generally opposed both ‘libertarian Labor candidates and the Greens’: see SmithRodney, How Would Jesus Vote? The Churches and the Election of the Rudd Government (2009) 44:4Australian Journal of Political Science632.
See EvansChris, ‘New directions in detention, restoring integrity to Australia's immigration system’ (Speech to Centre for International and Public Law, Australian National University, 29 July 2008)
28.
Ibid. The Howard government had released all or almost all children from detention by well before the 2007 election, so Minister Evans was arguably restating Coalition policy.
ABC Radio, ‘People smugglers should rot in hell: Rudd’, PM, 17 April 2009, <abc.net.au/pm/content/2008/s2546098.htm> at 31 July 2010. By contrast, at no point did Jesus Christ condemn the Good Samaritan's assailants.
See CathNews, ‘Rudd government “gutless” on asylum seekers: Bishop’, October 26–30 2009, <cathnews.com/article.aspx?aeid=17301> at 31 July 2010.
43.
MarrDavid, ‘Power Trip — the political journey of Kevin Rudd’, (2010) 38Quarterly Essay65.
44.
Ibid.
45.
The same probably cannot be said for those who espouse more extreme religious views; I suspect such people — whether political figures or in other roles — would be (and are) subject to more searching scrutiny about their religious claims.
