The Canberra Declaration

Senator Alex Antic Puts Australian Christian Freedom Index into the Parliamentary Record Senator Alex Antic introduced the Australian Christian Freedom Index to Federal Senate yesterday (Tuesday, 30 June), placing the first systematic audit of Christian religious liberty in Australia into the parliamentary record. The survey findings paint a sobering picture. “92% said that they think it’s riskier to affirm Christian beliefs than it was 5 years ago,” Senator Antic reported to Parliament. “42% said they experienced hostility, threats, or harassment for expressing what they consider to be a Christian worldview.” Additional data revealed that 25% of respondents were denied opportunities at work, volunteering, or leadership due to their beliefs — issues that Senator Antic noted likely relate to positions on marriage and family. The report documents specific cases of institutional pressure, including university students dismissed for conservative opinions in supposedly “freethinking academic institutions” and teachers in Christian schools expressing frustration at being “policed in an environment where their faith is meant to provide the ethos in their workplace.” Senator Antic drew a striking parallel, sharing accounts from those with firsthand experience of totalitarianism: “Personally, I’ve had many many people who have escaped communist countries that tell me that Australia feels eerily like what they fled many years ago. Sometimes they whisper to state their honest opinion to avoid being overheard or the need to police themselves lest they face disciplinary measures from HR departments.” He emphasised that “Many Australians of conservative persuasions have felt for a very long time that an ideology hostile to Christianity has taken hold in our institutions.” “It shouldn’t be this way in Australia”, he concluded. The ACFI team, comprising the Canberra Declaration, Australian Christian Lobby, Australian Family Coalition, Citizen GO, Family Voice Australia, and the Human Rights Law Alliance, express our immense gratitude to Senator Antic for bringing the issue before the nation’s lawmakers. Senator Antic encouraged all Australians to review the full report. “I would encourage anyone listening to go and read the Australian Christian Freedom Index document from May of this year which touches on a whole lot of important subjects,” he said. Read more: dailydeclaration.org.au/2026… Download or order your ACFI report: australianchristianfreedomin…

NZ Doctor Performed Euthanasia Using Another Patient’s Expired Drugs by @voiceforlifenz [NEWS] A New Zealand doctor carried out euthanasia using expired lethal drugs prescribed for another patient, before the legally required compliance review had been completed, official documents obtained by Voice For Life reveal. Voice For Life launched an investigation after closely examining a complaint recorded in the Registrar’s 2024 annual report while it was conducting a five-year review of euthanasia and assisted suicide in New Zealand. The investigation involved multiple Official Information Act requests to government agencies, including Health New Zealand, the Ministry of Health, New Zealand Police and the Health and Disability Commissioner, as well as correspondence with the Medical Council of New Zealand. Documents obtained revealed the seriousness of the incident, how it came to light and how Health NZ responded as events unfolded. They also expose serious flaws in the euthanasia system, raising serious questions about the management of lethal drugs, the effectiveness of safeguards, and the adequacy of monitoring and oversight. The incident, which occurred in March 2024, came to Health New Zealand’s attention only after a clinical advisor contacted the doctor involved to request completion of a new form, believing the assisted dying compliance process was still underway. The doctor replied that the patient was already dead. No safeguard mechanism had been triggered. Within hours, checks revealed that no prescription had been issued from the dispensing pharmacy for the deceased patient, and drugs previously supplied for another patient had never been returned to the pharmacy. Health New Zealand subsequently confirmed that the euthanasia had occurred without the Registrar’s compliance review, a requirement under the End of Life Choice Act 2019. Its internal investigation also established that the drugs used had been prescribed more than eight weeks earlier, had passed their expiry date, and were labelled with another patient’s identifying information. Again, no safeguard prevented the action. The incident was referred to New Zealand Police, the Health and Disability Commissioner (HDC), and the Medical Council of New Zealand. Despite an in-depth police investigation, no charges were laid. In a response to Voice For Life enquiries, dated 5 October 2026, Police stated: “Police determined that it was not in the public interest to lay charges in relation to this matter and subsequently filed the investigation.” The investigation concluded on 9 June 2025. Police have not disclosed their reasons for reaching that public-interest decision, nor whether investigators concluded that a particular criminal offence had been committed. They have also withheld their final investigation documents in full, citing privacy protections under the Official Information Act. The Medical Council of New Zealand subsequently requested and received the Police investigation file. They have declined to disclose to Voice For Life information about its consideration of the doctor’s conduct or any resulting findings, decisions, documents or disciplinary action. As of September 2026, the Ministry of Health confirmed that it did not consider the matter closed. Read more: dailydeclaration.org.au/2026…

Syncretism is Sand: Barna’s Urgent Call to Build a Biblical Worldview by @Rod_Lampard [BIBLICAL] George Barna’s new book is out, and it’s aimed at building a Biblical worldview on the basis of Matthew 7. Released in September, ‘How to Think Like Jesus’ covers eight chapters on the foundations of biblical literacy across 168 pages. As Jesus’ imperative in Matthew 7:24-27 states, the Christian’s faith is either built on the rock or on the sand. Foundations are important, Barna writes, because they make up our core beliefs. Our beliefs matter, he added, “because you do what you believe.” This foundation is so integral to who we are that we don’t even think about it. Barna writes, “It’s always there. It always serves you. It is so reliable that it is ‘out of sight, out of mind’.” Using the analogy of a house in need of repair and realignment, he then asked, “But what if your foundation is inadequate?” “You would feel compelled to address the problem before a disaster occurs.” “The foundation of your worldview needs to be handled with just as much urgency and care. If the foundation of your worldview is subpar, your worldview will suffer, which in turn undermines your entire life.” Barna is encouraging readers to look at their blind spots. What is our foundation really built upon? Is it based on a rock-solid Biblical worldview or the sands of syncretism? He states that when it comes to building foundational beliefs, most people choose the easy path: avoid conflict or maximise pleasure. For those in the United States, these choices, Barna stated, “reflect what is popular, common, comfortable, easiest, most beneficial, or expected. Surprisingly few Americans choose to develop their worldview based on what they believe God wants.” We tend to choose what we want instead. This is one important reason why only 4 per cent of Americans have a biblical worldview. Defining terms, he explained that a biblical worldview is “a philosophy of life that consistently reflects God’s ways and honours Him through your choices.” This is distinct from Postmodernism, Secular Humanism, Marxism, Eastern Mysticism, and Nihilism, among others. Barna then notes that the most common worldview among them all is syncretism. This is, he argued, “a cut-and-paste philosophy in which each individual adopts a smorgasbord of ideas borrowed from multiple worldviews. It usually represents an inconsistent and chaotic philosophy, but even more so, it unveils the intellectual ignorance and moral and spiritual indifference of Americans.” So, he added, “Don’t be lazy or disengaged when it comes to your worldview. That perspective impacts every decision you make every day of your life. If you do not thoroughly invest your mind, heart, and soul in getting your worldview right, you will pay a steep and constant price for that negligence.” When speaking with Tony Perkins from The Washington Stand about ‘How to Think Like Jesus’, Barna said, “Everyone has a worldview. It’s essentially their decision-making filter. So, if you get your worldview wrong, your decisions are not going to be things that honour God or that lead you to your best life.” Read more: dailydeclaration.org.au/2026…

Council Backs Calls for a Chapel in New $2 Billion Bankstown Hospital by Michael Cook, @Catholic_Weekly [NEWS] Canterbury-Bankstown Council has unanimously recommended that the state government provide a Christian chapel in the new $2 billion Bankstown Hospital. Deputy Mayor Rachelle Harika, who drafted the proposal, said her motion had “incredible support” on 27 October. “All I am asking is for the existing facilities at Bankstown Hospital, a Christian chapel and two separate prayer rooms, to be replicated at the new hospital,” she said in a social media post. Two petitions on change.org for a chapel have gathered almost 10,000 signatures. One of them explains why the multi-cultural, multi-religious community needs a chapel. “The lack of a Christian space for the new hospital’s Christian visitors is a logistical nightmare for its multi-faith community. It will entail people of all different creeds and religions frequenting limited multi-faith spaces,” wrote the petitioner. “To deal with this logistical problem, the Christian people of Canterbury-Bankstown, as a significant proportion of the LGA’s population, must be able to have their own chapel of solace, prayer and worship.” Read more: dailydeclaration.org.au/2026…

Pride Comes Before the Fall: Victorian Labor Government Bails Out LGBT Pride Centre by @JamesMacpherson [COMMENTARY] The Victorian Labor Government has spent $6m saving a gay pride centre from financial collapse, proving that LGBTQ rainbows do end in a pot of gold. And guess who’s paying for the glitter? You, darling. The Victorian Pride Centre was established by the Dan Andrews Government back in 2016, with a little help from the fairy-taxpayer. Back then, Victorians shelled out $40m of fantabulous funding. That’s a lot of sequins. The glittering millions helping to secure land as well as pay for construction of the State’s purpose-built gay and trans community centre. Just as an aside, the term “purpose-built” was borrowed from a report in The Australian. To be clear, I’ve no idea what a “purpose-built” gay and trans centre means in practice. Is there a special entrance? A designated area for dramatic exits? A room where people can practise saying “I’m literally being erased” without disturbing the neighbours? But I digress. Dan Andrews officially opened the gay place in 2021. That was back in the day when Victorians were still living in fear that the Rona would get them if they misbehaved. But not even dodgy Chinese lab workers (they were probably heterosexual) could stop Victoria’s LGBTQ centre from shimmying its way into existence. The Premier braved the virus, reportedly wearing a specially made Covid-era rainbow mask (of course), to officially open the Pride joint. Since then, the Victorian Pride Centre has played regular host to community functions. And, according to The Australian, about 16 gay and transgender groups rent space in the St Kilda building. Tenants include LGBTIQA+ health, legal, sporting, radio, artistic and youth services. All perfectly legitimate activities, of course. But you’d be wrong if you thought it was all Kylie Minogue, glitter cannons and RuPaul telling everyone they were born naked and the rest is drag. Behind the fabulous façade, something decidedly un-fabulous was happening… According to The Australian, "The Victorian Pride Centre has been battling a financial crisis for the past two years amid soaring expenses which include a spiralling wages bill." Who knew that employing the equivalent of nine full-time staff at about a million dollars a year would be unsustainable for a humble community centre? Read more: dailydeclaration.org.au/2026…

Christianity Today Publishes, Deletes, Republishes Article Suggesting Elisabeth Elliot Was Bisexual by Joshua Arnold [COMMENTARY] Recently, Christianity Today, formerly the flagship publication for American evangelicalism, published, deleted, and republished an article suggesting that missionary and author Elisabeth Elliot “was bisexual”. The indecision suggests both that the magazine leadership is sensitive to criticism and that it felt publishing this article was more important than placating the critics. Under the title, “What We Know — and Cannot Know — About Elisabeth Elliot’s Sexuality,” the subtitle whispers the entire narrative: “Historian William Stell has published an interview suggesting Elliot was bisexual. Her private papers make it plausible too.” Only in the 31st paragraph does the author, Elliot biographer Lucy S.R. Austen, make the key admission, “Christians disagree over sexual ethics and boundaries, and here we don’t have enough information to engage in those kinds of arguments.” Those five words, “we don’t have enough information,” topple the entire Jenga tower of insinuations that constitute the rest of the piece. Read more: dailydeclaration.org.au/2026…

“This Must Come Down”: Australians Protest Labor’s $9.6m Paedophile Advice Site by @Rod_Lampard [COMMENTARY] Furious Aussies are demanding that the Labor Government end its $9.6 million handout to a child abuse prevention website that coddles paedophiles. Greg Brown from The Australian broke the “born that way” story on 28 October, stating that the Albanese government is standing by a taxpayer-funded website that tells paedophiles not to “beat yourself up” for having sexual fantasies about minors. He said, “A module linked to the government-supported StopItNow! ­Australia website also pours doubt on whether paedophiles can stop being attracted to children, ­arguing it may be akin to gay-­conversion therapy.” The website is linked to a sister-site in the United Kingdom, which encourages so-called “minor-attracted people” (MAPs) to practice “mindfulness”. According to The Australian, StopItNow! asserts, “Mindfulness can help people come to terms with their feelings about this. Compassion and self-acceptance can also be very helpful. Having a sexual interest in children can feel lonely, and you may feel society doesn’t understand your situation.” Brown said that the devil-in-the-details discovery prompted the Coalition to accuse Labor of failing to prioritise the safety of children. Taxpayers are rightly angered because while most agree on protecting children from sexual abuse, they didn’t consent to that money being spent on pampering paedophiles as well. Former Liberal MP George Christensen was among the repulsed, leading the revolt. On his Nation First Substack page, Christensen called it sickening and argued, “Imagine reading that if you were a survivor of child sexual abuse. Imagine reading that as a mother or father who has to pick up the pieces after sexual abuse has torn through your child’s life. “Then imagine being told that questioning the material requires a more sophisticated appreciation of the subject.” He added, “The innocence of every single child is something sacred. And adults have an absolute responsibility to respect it. “As such, government-backed and taxpayer-funded material should leave absolutely no room for interpreting reassurance as permission for paedophiles to keep indulging their depraved fantasies about children.” Christensen then rightly stated twice that the Attorney General, Michelle Rowland, must explain who approved the funding, demand that the advice be reviewed, and publish those findings. Rowland defended the funding and the website’s advice. She said that the content was in line with recommendations from the Gillard-era Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. Family First’s Lyle Shelton also called on the Albanese government to come clean, adding that StopItNow’s advice for paedophiles should be taken down. Read more: dailydeclaration.org.au/2026…

Thou Shalt Not Heal by @JamesMacpherson [COMMENTARY] A Christian school has been forced to apologise for asking kids to dress up as disabled people that Jesus healed… you know, in the Bible. Apparently, even compassion needs a diversity impact assessment these days. Quick Bible lesson: When John the Baptist wanted proof that Jesus really was the long-awaited Messiah, the disciples presented compelling evidence, telling him, "The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor." So there you go. Jesus going around healing the sick and disabled isn’t a footnote. It’s fairly key to the story. You might even call it part of the job description. With that in mind, the good folk at Flinders Christian Community College on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula had an idea. Why not teach the kids to care for the disabled the same way that Jesus cared for them? They planned a walkathon to raise money for disability charities. And to help the kids understand why they were doing it, they had them dress up as people that Jesus healed. So the kids were to come dressed as blind people or as lame people… and the walkathon was to be called Walk in Their Shoes. You know… raising money for disabled people while teaching our kids to have empathy for those not as well off as themselves. It was a rather old-fashioned idea. Do something kind for someone else. Without first consulting a committee of professional offence-takers. Well, what’s that old saying? No good deed will go unpunished? Disability advocates were outraged. Read more: dailydeclaration.org.au/2026…

Backup Singers Needed: Aaron Duff and the Future of Australian Christian Music by @DJPaine, Australian Christian Records [TESTIMONIES] Aaron Duff has heard plenty of people say God has called them to make music. Usually, the calling comes with a fairly specific stage position. “I’ve never had somebody come up to me and say, ‘Hey, Aaron. I really think God’s calling me to be a backup singer.‘” Sorry if that has a few of you working in worship teams shifting uncomfortably… “And yet we generally need more backup singers than we need lead singers.“ It’s a wonderfully awkward point, delivered by someone who has spent the past four years helping other people get heard. Through Australian Christian Records, Aaron has produced music, connected artists with radio and introduced people who might otherwise have spent years working away in separate rooms. He’s done it around a full-time job with the Australian government. Now that job is taking him to China. In January 2027, Aaron and his family will relocate for three years, leaving a substantial question hanging over the organisation he’s built. Before we get to that, though, there’s a teenage boy with a Walkman worth meeting. Read more: dailydeclaration.org.au/2026…

Europe Is in Flames Again — Is There Any Hope Left? by @BillMuehlenberg [COMMENTARY] You can always tell it is the weekend: European cities are again being torched by the Islamo-Marxists. Whether it is Brussels or Paris or Lyon or Marseille or Barcelona or Milan or Florence or Bologna or Rome, the continent is now a war zone. Rioters have even stormed the Colosseum in Rome. As someone who had lived in Europe for five years, and been to all these countries, it is, of course, absolutely heartbreaking to witness what is now happening there. The many centuries of the slow building of Western civilisation are now being undone in a matter of days and months. And most Western leaders are either fully pathetic and useless about all this, or are in fact complicit in it. Whether it is Burnham or Macron or Sanchez or others, they seem to be simply pouring more fuel on the flames. And letting in millions of unvetted and unchecked migrants from the third world simply guarantees that Europe will end up just like the third world. I just saw a post on social media that nicely sums all this up in a short video. A motorcade said to be of Macron and his people is being chased out of a community by rioting Muslims shouting “Allahu Akbar!” As I said about it: “If true, will this finally wake him up? I doubt it. He is fully complicit in all this.” Read more: dailydeclaration.org.au/2026…

4 Ways Parents Can Help Their Kids Discern Truth in a World of AI, Deepfakes, and TikTok by Kathy Athearn, The Washington Stand [LIFESTYLE] As the influence of AI chatbots (such as ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, CoPilot, and Perplexity) continues to spread, it can be difficult for adults — let alone kids — to know what information is real and true, and what are deepfakes and conspiracy theories. A majority of teenagers and young adults receive their “news” via TikTok. (A Pew Research survey recently revealed that 43% of American adults under 30 regularly get their news from TikTok, and about 68% of teens use TikTok, with half of those teens using it for news.) Because AI chatbots and deepfakes look and sound real and even human, kids are becoming dependent on them for knowledge, advice, and even, sadly, companionship. So how can parents teach our kids to know what (and whom) to trust and how to receive real information? The following are four key guidelines. Read more: dailydeclaration.org.au/2026…

The Hardest Decision of My Life: Taking Adelaide University to Court by @ProfJoannaHowe [COMMENTARY] Taking my employer of 14 years to court has been one of the hardest decisions I have ever made. As a Professor of Law, I’ve spent years studying legal cases. I know that litigation is no small undertaking. It can cost an extraordinary amount of money, drag on for years and take a devastating emotional toll. But knowing all of that in theory is very different from facing it yourself. Last Monday, we had all the court documents ready to file. Yet I hesitated. For an entire week, I sat on them, unable to bring myself to press go. Because I knew what it meant. Once we filed in the Federal Court, there would be no turning back. Let’s start at the beginning. When I was summoned to see the Dean of Law last November, I knew it couldn’t be good. Her email, with its ominous subject line, “Meeting Request”, informed me, “You are required to attend a meeting with me on Thursday, 27 November 2025, 12.30pm, Law School Board Room, Ligertwood Building, to discuss an important human resource matter. A Senior WR Advisor will also be attending this meeting.” It was strange that the Dean was informing me of the precise location of the Law School Board Room. It’s a few meters from my office, and I’d met with her there many times when we served together on the Law School executive. There was a time when I was fêted at the university. Appointed at the age of 27 from a field of more than 80 applicants to the position of Lecturer, I started at the bottom of the pecking order in January 2012. A bright-eyed, hopeful, young woman ready to embark on the career of her dreams: an opportunity to engage at the intersection of law and policy through my research which, as I proudly told my selection panel, was oriented towards “investigating vulnerability in all its forms.” At that time, however, I was investigating vulnerability in a way that was compatible with the left-wing orthodoxy of the academy. My doctoral research, undertaken as a Rhodes Scholar at the University of Oxford, was on the rights of workers to contest their dismissal. It was an area of particular personal relevance to me. Although my father died from a tragic boating accident when I was only five years old, etched onto my brain were memories I now know showed his job was on the line. A recent immigrant with a big mortgage and his growing family to provide for, I remember the stress on my father’s face as I sat on the floor of his carpeted study whilst he attended to work calls. When I started at the University of Adelaide, I became interested in worker vulnerability in relation to temporary migrants – again an area of personal relevance. My father had come on a permanent visa and we’d made Australia our home. I was interested in Australian employers’ increasing reliance on temporary migrants and whether this really was the “triple win” touted in the migration studies literature. I went on, over the next decade, to have five babies and reach the top of my career: promoted to Professor of Law, the holder of several prestigious Australian Research Council grants, the recipient of numerous University of Adelaide and Law School research awards and one of the top publishers and research income recipients in my field. I was appointed by successive federal governments to the Ministerial Advisory Council on Skilled migration, regularly published opinion pieces in The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and The Australian, appeared on Four Corners and 7:30, represented Australia at the International Labor Organisation, was invited by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese as one of 100 Australians to attend the Jobs and Skills Summit and was even appointed by then Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neill to a three-person expert review of the entire Australian migration program. Everything was going swimmingly. And then, right when I was at the top of my game, I committed career suicide. Read more: dailydeclaration.org.au/2026…

Elections, Options, Utopia and Evil by @BillMuehlenberg [COMMENTARY] While my title may not be a perfect case of alliteration, it does contain four important words, especially given some key elections coming up. America has its midterm elections on Tuesday, 3 November, and at the end of November, Victorians will have their long-awaited state election in which it is hoped Labor is finally kicked out of power. Another term of Labor could spell permanent doom for this state. Of course, there are some differences here. Australian elections are mandatory, and non-voters can be fined for refusing to get involved. But in America, voting is optional, so many people can sit things out for various reasons. As I just said in a radio interview yesterday, sadly, many millions of American evangelicals will not vote. Incumbent parties tend to do less well in midterms, and evangelical Christians might think that they did their bit in 2024, so they can just forget about showing up to vote. And many of these Christians might not be thrilled with either party, or with various candidates, so they will simply opt out. But as I also said in that interview, the one person who should get all of our votes is not running. Jesus is not on the ballot, and instead we are left with only one sort of candidate: those who are flawed, finite, and fallible. No perfect candidate or party is available, so we have to make do with what is on offer. Sadly, that biblical way of thinking is anathema to some believers. I call them purists: they want all or nothing. For them, it is either a perfect candidate or no candidate. They think that they can just wait until some flawless and impeccable party or candidate comes around. Again, that just ain’t gonna happen in the world we actually live in. Read more: dailydeclaration.org.au/2026…

Aboriginal Elders Are Begging for Intervention to Save Their Kids by Warwick da Silva, @readNewsWeekly [ANALYSIS] Recently, an article was published in The Australian – as part of a series on Indigenous affairs in remote communities — that raised the controversial topic of another “Stolen Generation”. The article followed an Aboriginal elder in Western Australia who was calling for abused children to be taken away from “bad parents”. The point that the Elder wanted to emphasise was that what she proposed was not a matter of a new Stolen Generation. The “bad parents” she was talking about are parents who should be charged with neglect or abuse, just as would occur, naturally, if the children of such parents were suffering from these abuses in metro regions. Then the Department of Child protection (DCP) or a relevant law enforcement agency would step in to protect these children. Why then, in some remote and regional communities, is nothing done? Nyamal-Pitjikarli Elder Doris Eaton spoke up in particular with reference to abandoned young children living alone at a derelict property in Frisby Court in South Hedland. And unfortunately, this is not the only case. “If parents aren’t parenting, if parents are neglecting and abandoning and being violent in front of their kids and drinking and abusing drugs and being bad parents, then they should have their kids removed, and the Government needs to think up another name for what they’re going to call this,” the 76-year-old said. “This is not another Stolen Generation — that was kids being taken away from good parents. This is different. We need to take neglected and abused kids away from bad parents. Come up with a new name for that because there are no parents parenting properly in Frisby Court. There are just kids defending themselves from gnarbi (meth) and gunga (marijuana) and violence and dangerous men who want to take advantage of them.” Is intervention too political? Earlier this month, a few top advisers to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on the Voice highlighted voids in Indigenous policy and that politicians were “too timid” to act on widespread problems. The Western Australian Government has been under pressure, especially from State Liberal Opposition Leader Basil Zempilas, who has called the situation in South Hedland a national disgrace. “Ultimately, this comes down to the safety of children, and those children need to be provided for,” he said. He said of Child Protection Minister Jessica Stojkovski’s recent visit to Port Hedland: “To be clear, she only went out after sustained reporting in The Australian newspaper,” Mr Zempilas said. “She didn’t go up before that and only went up when it was clear that something needed to be done.” This case of the abandoned children at Port Hedland comes on the heels of the case of the murdered Hawke children in 2022 and the killing of five-year-old girl Kamanjayi Little Baby in Alice Springs last April. Leaked DCP reports showed that the Hawke children were at extreme risk of harm from an unhinged meth-addicted mother, herself the victim of brutal domestic violence at the hands of a series of savage male partners. Read more: dailydeclaration.org.au/2026…

Breaking the Cycle of Fatherlessness by Nathaniel Marsh, @Dads_For_Kids [LIFESTYLE] The harms of father absence are well-documented, and turning the tide of fatherlessness is what drives our work here at Dads4Kids. In the late 1990’s, Indigenous Elder Pastor Ron Williams (1940–2003), who also served as a Chaplain in Western Australia’s Eastern Goldfields Regional Prison (Kalgoorlie-Boulder), inspired the founding of the Dads4Kids Fatherhood Foundation in 2002 when he proclaimed, “Australia’s greatest need is fathers.” Nowhere is the need for fathers more apparent than in the prison system. International bestselling author Dr. Warren Farrell has said, “prisons are basically centres for dad-deprived boys”, and in the United States, it’s estimated around 90% of inmates did not have a significant amount of father-involvement growing up. Sadly, things are not much better here in Australia. I know from speaking firsthand with prison officers that the rates of fatherlessness for incarcerated people in Australia are similar to the US. Watch Dads4Kids’ new short film below to find out more. Read more: dailydeclaration.org.au/2026…

Prayer on Probation by @ChrisBowditch [COMMENTARY] For 42 years, I have lived as a Christian in Australia. The first 16 of those very much living out my parents’ faith before; at around 16-17, over about a year of having a series of experiences and intellectual breakthroughs, meaning I took on my parents’ faith as my own. The Christian faith has been, and continues to be, the engine room of my life. It is because of my faith that I seek to love all people even if I disagree with them. It is because of my Christian faith that I seek to be honest and hardworking in the different jobs I’ve had. It is because of my Christian faith that I have studied at University and sought to understand more about how people work together (Sociology), governments operate (Public Policy), and then how to understand the rich heritage of Christian theology that shapes so much of the world in which we live (Master of Divinity). It is the Christian faith that means, though I often don’t like it and many times fundamentally disagree with how it’s spent, I pay my taxes and don’t cheat on my tax return. It is my Christian faith that means I’ve cared for the old and the young, the sick and the dying, the confused and the struggling in many and various ways throughout my adult working life. I’ve worked with LGBTIQA+ people, people from a variety of racial backgrounds, people of great faith and people of none. It is my Christian faith that has motivated me to be a good, faithful and law-abiding citizen of this great country which I’ve had the good fortune to be born into and it is the Christian faith that led me to Tasmania some 30 years ago with my parents. There are thousands of people like me in Tasmania. Church-going, Bible-believing, good corporate citizens. We volunteer our time, we give our money, we work hard for our neighbours, whether they like us or not, to ensure that the place we live enjoys the best of God’s blessings and favour. None of this is going to change for me, or I suspect for any of my brothers and sisters in the faith. But I do believe we are entitled to be told why our unwillingness to affirm children’s bodies being mutilated, or our desire that people of the Christian faith express their sexuality as chaste singles or in heterosexual marriages, makes us worthy of a complaint, an investigation, or a court. I also believe Premier Rockliff must explain why he seems to think the majority of Christians in his electorate and in his state are dangerous. He leads a state that is struggling with real crime. Tasmania has the highest rate of young people under youth justice supervision in Australia (AIHW Youth Justice 2024-25). Over four years from 2020-21 to 2024-25, crime in Tasmania has risen by 44% (Tas Police 2020-21, 2024-25). Family violence offenders have risen by 10% (ABS), victims of robbery have increased by 139%, other theft by 61%, assault by 19% and sexual assault by 19% too (ABS). As a state, we have a huge problem with real criminals doing actual harm, and yet our parliament, led by our Premier with his ideological friends and fellow travellers in the Greens and the ALP, is seeking to make my prayers for God to change people, and your conversations with your own children about how your daughter can’t become your son, possible offences. Read more: dailydeclaration.org.au/2026…

Dhimmitude and the Captive Church by @MarkDurie [ANALYSIS] This is a passage from my book, "The Third Choice", in which I discussed the plight of churches under Islam, the distortion of their testimony, and the impact this distortion has on perceptions of Christians in the West. This is connected to my recent post, "The Captured Testimony of Kairos II". ~~~ Justus Reid Weiner, in his investigation of the deteriorating human rights situation of Christians living under the Palestinian Authority, pointed out that there is a widespread distrust of religious leaders among Palestinian Christians, who ‘obfuscate the situation as it affects their constituents’. One Christian man said, ‘Our leaders are liars: They tell the newspapers that everything is OK. But when Christians go to the market, they’re afraid to wear crosses.’ Weiner identifies the two main reasons for the denial: "Fear and intimidation – one Palestinian woman said, ‘We are afraid. They have knives [and] guns and can do whatever they want. They can kill you simply … [for] speaking bad about them.’Identification with the abuser – one Christian cleric ‘compared the behavior of Christian dhimmis to that of battered wives and children, who continue to defend and even identify with their tormentor even as the abuse persists.’ What Weiner describes is a vicious cycle, where dhimmis, eager to placate the Muslims and afraid if they do not, identify strongly with Palestinian nationalist aspirations (including anti-Israeli rhetoric). This ‘leads them to deny the persecution of their community’. As an example, Father Labib Kobtl, from the Latin Patriarch in Jerusalem, urged others to: … refuse … the propaganda that wants to prove that there were any studied or willed persecution from our Muslim brothers and sisters of the Christians. We consider it as a mere propaganda against Islam, a cold war against our Muslim brothers that only benefits the Zionists of Israel." Displays of devotion to the Umma such as this may appear to purchase some degree of temporary immunity from Muslim extremists, but they reinforce the cloak of silence over the sufferings of the Christian community, and contribute to the worsening human rights situation. In 2008, the Egyptian Muslim writer Ahmad al-Aswani lamented the escalating attacks on Copts in his nation, which have been egged on by Islamic leaders. Al-Aswani held Christian clergy partly responsible for denying that Islamic sentiment was behind the abuse. Read more: dailydeclaration.org.au/2026…

Redeeming 31 October: Reformation, Reclamation, Re-establishment by Jill Curry [HISTORY] 31 October is a momentous day in history, and we need to see it reclaimed from the hands of the enemy. Several important events happened on this day. > The Protestant Reformation On this day, 509 years ago, Martin Luther hammered his 95 theses onto the door of the church at Wittenberg, challenging some of the unbiblical teachings and practices of the then Roman Catholic Church to which he belonged. One of those practices was the sale of indulgences to forgive sin, from which the church profited. His defiance eventually led to him being excommunicated, but the movement spread and became the Protestant Reformation. He translated the Bible into the vernacular language of German, making it accessible to every person, and its fundamental truth radically transformed society as it rolled out across Europe and the Western world. Luther rediscovered from the Bible that a person could only be saved from their sin by putting their trust in the person of Jesus and what He did on the cross, not by their own works or through a church or institution. > The Light Horse Charge at Beersheba The 109th anniversary of the Battle of Beersheba is on the same day. This World War 1 battle changed the course of the Palestinian campaign. The Turks were holding a line from Gaza on the Mediterranean coast to Beersheba, 45 km inland. The British and their Allies had failed twice to take Gaza, and General Allenby decided that they would have to storm Beersheba, which involved trekking the troops for three nights through the desert, where there was little water. The battle raged all day, with the British and the New Zealanders taking much of the lead. However, by mid-afternoon, they had still not secured the city with its vital wells, famous since the time of Abraham. Dying of thirst in the desert was a looming possibility for the troops and their horses. Decisive action was needed, and General Harry Chauvel called on two regiments of Australian Light Horsemen (about 800 men) to spearhead a surprise mounted charge an hour before sunset. Light Horsemen normally rode to the battle site, then dismounted and fought on foot. On this occasion, they would not stop. 800 Light Horsemen lined up to face 4,000 entrenched Turkish troops with artillery, machine guns and German bomber aircraft. Their speed and audacity won the day as the Turkish shrapnel burst behind them. They jumped the trenches and galloped into town, capturing most of the precious wells intact. 31 Australians died, 36 were injured, and 70 horses were killed, but the toll was expected to be much higher. Their success is known in military circles as ‘the last great cavalry charge in history’. Their courage not only broke the military cordon but also the spirit of the Turks, who from then on feared the ‘madmen’ in the slouch hats with emu feathers. > The Balfour Declaration The same day, almost at the same hour as the physical battle was raging on the ground, the British War Cabinet was meeting in London to formalise how the captured lands would be administered once the war ended. On 2 November, Lord Balfour wrote a letter to Lord Rothschild stating their decision... Read more: dailydeclaration.org.au/2026…

Submissions for Digital Duty of Care Bill Close Midnight Friday by Samuel Hartwich and Warwick Marsh [EDITORIALS] The Albanese Government wants to pass its Online Safety Amendment (Digital Duty of Care) Bill 2026 by the end of this year. The Government says the Bill is about keeping Australians safe online. But it raises serious concerns about who will decide what Australians can say and hear online. If passed, the Bill will almost certainly lead to censorship of Bible-based convictions about marriage, abortion, gender, Islam and more. A Senate committee is accepting public submissions on the Bill, but submissions close tomorrow, Midnight Friday, 30 October. Please make a submission asking Parliament to reject the Bill. Recently TV host Rowan Dean gave a scathing takedown of Labor’s ‘disgraceful’ Digital Duty of Care Bill, calling it gross government control and interference. Some improvements have been made since the Bill was first released in September. But the central concern remains: Who decides what is harmful? Read more: dailydeclaration.org.au/2026…