RSA Weekly Saturday 8 November 2025 Hi , The video that we published this week of Attorney-General Michelle Rowland speaking at the Christian prayer breakfast about faith and values underpinning her role has lit up social
media, especially on X and Bluesky, where tens of thousands of people have viewed it and hundreds have reshared and commented. See the article and video about her comments below. For those who may be interested, leading rationalist thinker Steven Pinker is touring Australia in February next year. Click on the ads below for dates and other details. If you'd like to share your thoughts about articles in the RSA Weekly, email me on: sigladman@rationalist.com.au. Si Gladman Executive Director, Rationalist Society of Australia |
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| GO GENTLE AUSTRALIA Opposition to 'cruel' NSW VAD bill
grows7 Nov: The Rationalist Society of Australia has added its support to a joint statement by Go Gentle, Dying with Dignity NSW and a number of medical, legal and seniors’ rights groups to oppose a bill that seeks to restrict access to voluntary assisted dying (VAD) in aged care in New South Wales. The statement urges NSW upper house members to protect an older person’s right to access VAD, no matter where they call home. Read the full article |
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| RSA Australia’s Attorney-General says Jesus’ “principles and values”
underpin her role5 Nov: The Albanese government’s new attorney-general has told a Christian gathering that the “principles and values that Jesus lived by” underpin her role. Speaking at the Christian annual prayer breakfast in the Great Hall at Parliament House on Monday, attended by many members of parliament, Michelle Rowland said “our values and faith” guide the decisions of lawmakers. Read the full article |
| NEWS US Supreme Court considers longshot appeal to overturn same-sex marriage 8 Nov: The Supreme Court will consider hearing a longshot case to overturn
the legalisation of same-sex marriage in America, sparking fears among the LGBTQ community that the landmark decision could meet the same fate as Roe v Wade. At a closed-door meeting on Friday, US time, the justices are set to discuss whether or not to accept the appeal of former Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis, who repeatedly refused to issue marriage licences to same-sex couples. Read the full article |
| ABC WA government to buy St John of God Mount Lawley Hospital, fund major hospital upgrades 6 Nov: The West Australian government is in "advanced
negotiations" to take over Catholic hospital St John of God Mount Lawley Hospital. The Cook government has scrapped the planned $1.6 billion upgrade of Perth's Convention and Exhibition Centre to create a hospital building fund to help purchase the hospital. Read the full article |
| THE GUARDIAN Pauline Hanson skips parliament to speak at conservative conference at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago 6 Nov: Pauline Hanson skipped parliament this week
to speak at a conservative conference at Donald Trump’s luxury resort in Florida, where she was pictured alongside Gina Rinehart, Australia’s richest woman. The One Nation leader lambasted both major parties in Australia during the speech while praising the US administration. Read the full article |
| THE GUARDIAN Mary was not co-redeemer, Vatican says amid spread of cult of the Madonna 6 Nov: Pope Leo has instructed Catholics not to refer to Mary as
having helped her son Jesus save the world from damnation, amid the spread of an exaggerated worship of the Madonna, often on social media, that has emboldened claims of apparitions, weeping statues and self-styled prophets. Read the full
article |
| THE AGE Ley condemns Coalition colleagues’ abortion comments as ‘insensitive’ 5 Nov: Opposition Leader Sussan Ley has criticised the Coalition MPs who
intervened in a debate about employer-paid parental leave for mothers of stillborn babies, saying it was insensitive to raise concerns that the entitlements could be claimed by mothers who have late-term abortions. Read the
full article |
| NATIONAL SECULAR SOCIETY (UK) EHRC opposes ‘Islamophobia’ definition 5 Nov: The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has set out strong opposition
to a proposed non-statutory definition of 'Islamophobia'. Responding to a consultation from a Government appointed working group on Islamophobia / anti-Muslim hatred, the EHRC said no definition should be adopted. Read the full article |
| CATHOLIC WEEKLY Christian leaders share prayer, solidarity in Sydney 4 Nov: Minister for Multiculturalism Steve Kamper MP and NSW Opposition Leader Mark
Speakman MP were among more than 1,000 Christians from across denominations and traditions who attend the ‘Celebrate Jesus – Together in Unity’, an event hosted by the Christian Alliance Council of NSW. Read the full article |
| PARLIAMENT OF VICTORIA Understanding the coercive practices of high-control groups 3 Nov: In his appearance at the parliamentary inquiry into cults and
fringe groups, investigative journalist Richard Baker questioned whether ‘advancing religion’ should remain a blanket justification for concessions, suggesting instead that a public benefit test could ensure that groups receiving privileges also demonstrate genuine contributions to the community. Read the full article |
| ABC ACT voluntary assisted dying scheme begins, allowing Canberrans to 'die with dignity' 3 Nov: November 3 marks the beginning of the ACT's voluntary
assisted dying scheme, making the territory the second-last Australian jurisdiction to legalise it. Unlike other jurisdictions, the ACT's scheme does not require someone to have a diagnosed timeframe until death. Read the full
article |
| THE GUARDIAN Trump threatens to go into Nigeria ‘guns-a-blazing’ over attacks on Christians 2 Nov: Donald Trump on Saturday said he had ordered the
Pentagon to begin planning for potential military action in Nigeria as he stepped up his criticism that the government was failing to rein in the persecution of Christians in the west African country. “If we attack, it will be fast, vicious, and sweet, just like the terrorist thugs attack our CHERISHED Christians!” he posted on social media. Read the full article |
| SMH Sydney private schools to receive cash for new preschools 2 Nov: Almost $16 million has been awarded to five non-government schools across in Sydney
and south-west NSW to build new preschools, as part of a $60 million NSW government program to build and upgrade 50 preschools co-located within independent and Catholic schools. Read the full article |
At the Christian prayer breakfast in Canberra this week, Attorney-General Michelle Rowland said that the “principles and values that Jesus lived by underpin the role of Australia’s first law officer” and claimed that “our values and faith” guide lawmakers. What do you think? Email your comments to: editor@rationalist.com.au |
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| RATIONALE Where does human thinking end and AI
begin? Eli Alshanetsky: I see education as the proving ground for a new challenge: learning to work with AI while preserving the integrity and visibility of human thinking. Crack the problem here, and a blueprint could emerge for other fields where trust depends on knowing that decisions still come from people. Read the full article |
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| RATIONALE Letters to the Editor: Leftism, a ‘mental
illness’? Oh, Right! Mary Collis: This rhetoric from Senator Ralph Babet that Leftism is a “mental illness” – suggesting Rightism is sanity – is far from the truth. It’s rhetoric with no basis. Leftists tend to be intelligent debaters, not hot heads yelling slogans. I know there are outliers who are not these things, but it is these qualities of calm discussion that tend to describe all the Leftists I know.
Read the full Letters column |
| THE GUARDIAN Strap in for a feral lead-up into Christmas in the NSW parliament Anne Davies: Abortion is always a lightning rod issue, evidenced by
the crowd of 500-plus who blocked Macquarie Street last Wednesday to mark the introduction of Ruddick’s bill. Voluntary assisted dying is also one of those issues that will unite the conservatives in the upper house. Read the full article |
| ABC Parliamentary inquiry probes experiences of children in high-control religious groups Jonathon Kendall: At eight years old, Mirriam Francis
remembers locking herself in the bathroom to avoid "auditing" — a series of intense interviews in which she was asked intrusive and sexual questions. Fighting back tears, she recounted these sessions and her experiences within the Church of Scientology at a parliamentary inquiry this week. Read the full article |
| THE AGE Less is more when it comes to extending vicarious liability for historical child sex abuse Chip Le Grand: The Victorian government is
currently split on how to extend vicarious liability for historical child sex abuse to religious orders and other organisations. It is an issue of grave importance for people who were sexually abused as children decades ago and are still seeking redress. It is also an area of the law where saying less may help to do much more. Read the full article |
| THE GUARDIAN Why is Donald Trump threatening military intervention in Nigeria? Eromo Egbejule: In parts of central Nigeria, deadly clashes
between itinerant Muslim herders and predominantly Christian farming communities are rooted in competition over land and water but exacerbated by religious and ethnic differences. Read the full article |
| THE GUARDIAN Mamdani’s mayoral race was marred by unhinged Islamophobia. It’s not going away soon Arwa Mahdawi: The New York mayoral election
may be over now, but the racism and Islamophobia underpinning it aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. However, Mamdani’s victory does provide a glimmer of hope. The first step in solving a problem is addressing it. Read the full article |
| NATIONAL SECULAR SOCIETY (UK) Religion is being weaponised for political ends. The UK must embrace secularism Stephen Evans: From Tommy
Robinson's "Unite the Kingdom" rally and UKIP's Christian nationalist "crusade", to counter-protests in Whitechapel where masked Muslim men vowed to "defend their community" and prayed In the street, religion is being wielded as a political weapon, threatening social cohesion and the secular foundations of stable democracy. Read the full article |
| THE CATHOLIC HERALD (UK) Britain’s new wars of religion Thomas Edwards: What is new is the overt Christian nationalism. Met with “deep concern”
by the presidents of Churches Together in England — an ecumenical amalgamation of the country’s major denominations — it is not something that has been embraced by mainstream Christianity, but its presence is nonetheless notable. Read the full article |
| ABC RADIO Vladimir Putin and the Orthodox church One of the geopolitical tactics Russia has used in its war with Ukraine has been to divide opinion
among the world’s Orthodox Christians. Vladimir Putin is not the first Russian leader to style himself as a champion of Orthodox communities but in Greece and the Middle East, he’s tried to marshal sympathy among Christians. Listen to the full
episode |
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