Not enough if its not in the law!

Below is a transcript of Bishop Charles Gauci's talk outside the Parliament regarding the Anti-Discrimination Amendment Bill where he shares that what the Chief Minister and Attorney General are saying is not enough as per legal advice.

Thank you for sharing some of your story with us.
I want to start off by saying I don't believe in discriminating against anyone. It's not part of my faith to discriminate.
That by my faith cause me to love and respect every human being. Because they are all loved by God and they have God-given dignity, innate dignity.

I am not here to support any political movement. I want to be above that in my role.
Because I have to support and love all people. I also want to say that what I'm going to say here is not about attacking any individual, I presume the goodwill of individuals.

What I can criticize what I consider to be flaws in the proposed legislation. I do that because I really want to walk with integrity. I want to also be in the pursuit of truth.

I was heartened to hear the Chief Minister speak this morning when she said that they want to preserve the rights of schools, Christian schools and other schools to employ leaders who are part of that faith and religious educators who are part of that faith and to preserve and that all staff preserve the ethos of those schools. That sounded very good to me.

The Attorney General assured me personally about three, four days ago of the same reality. I met with the Chief Minister this afternoon and the Attorney General in person and they told me that the intention is to make a statement in Parliament tomorrow to say clearly that these rights will be preserved
clearly.

And that they are not about the taking away the right of Ministers and others in Churches in the homilies and sermons that they give that they are not going to be liable to the new law. And I said but it's not written in the law and they said we'll make a public statement that will be recorded saying that that's how the law is meant to be interpreted.

Now, I'm not finished yet, now I listened to all that and they said they're going to send me in writing something today about what we have discussed. I'm not a lawyer so I could ask some questions...after I left the meeting I spoke to my lawyer and he said that is not enough! My lawyer said even though they may be well-intentioned that is not enough because if it's not treated in the law, it can be disputed, and it could end up in all types of legal arguments.

So, I would I really want to believe and it was a good meeting we had that they meant what they said, but my lawyer tells me we need to go further.
And that to me is important to really get this done right with the right legal protections. I repeat we are not here about discriminating about against anyone because of their beliefs, ethnicity, orientation, but we are here to ensure that our Faith schools remain authentic Faith schools, that they are able to teach what we really believe and explain to the family’s young people.

About half of the students in our Catholic school don't come from Catholic families or even more but they like what we present, and they value what we present.

And all those families would expect us to be true to who we are meant to be, And I know that's true for all Faith schools whether it's the Christian schools and even the other schools, because we are here to represent the whole Northern Territory community.

So, my dear friends, I think it's important that those who are able to hear us, hear us clearly. That they
take the right advice legally to make sure that we are covered properly.

That we are really ensuring that what we stand for remains. So, let's continue treating this strongly but with respect. I repeat we are not about attacking individuals. I think that's most important. But we are about legislation here and clarity on that legislation.

So, I ask those in a position to do so. Please make sure this is watertight. That we are not leaving any gaps for misinterpretation, misunderstanding and lack of clarity that could end up in
all types of disputations. Thank you.

If you see me walk out shortly it's not because I'm protesting, but because I have an engagement with Saint John's School where we are meeting with parents and students there for presentations at this time of the year and it's my right my duty I should say to be with those young people and their families. Thank you.