Lobbying Efforts
The ACL promotes its socially conservative objectives through lobbying and public outreach. The organisation is actively involved in influencing public policy in Australia on a range of social issues.
Prior to the Australian 2007 federal election, the ACL hosted a "Make it Count" event with Prime Minister John Howard and Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd speaking, each in turn, about their positions on a range of issues affecting Christians, and again on 21 June 2010, with Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Opposition Leader Tony Abbott. Christian leaders of 20 denominations attended the events. Days later, when Julia Gillard became the Australian Prime Minister, she was asked the same set of questions.
Gillard has met with church leaders on at least one occasion since, in meetings organised by the ACL,. But in 2012 she pulled out of her planned appearance at the ACL national conference after Jim Wallace made remarks that homosexuality was more hazardous to health than smoking. Gillard called the comments "heartless", "wrong" and "totally unacceptable". Former attorney-general Robert McClelland addressed the ACL's national conference following Gillard's decision not to attend, defending the work of the ACL and describing Jim Wallace as a "fair-minded man". The Anglican Archbishop of Sydney, Peter Jensen in backing Jim Wallace's comments has said Mr Wallace had, "given us an opportunity to talk about something significant, namely the question of health risk".
Prior to state government elections, the ACL also hosts "Make it Count" events giving the major party leaders an opportunity to provide information on their vision for the state and how they propose to engage with the Christian constituency. Church leaders and others in the audience can also ask questions. State-based "Make it Count" events have been held in NSW, Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia, Tasmania, Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory. These events are usually webcast to a wider audience. For both federal and state elections, the ACL also holds "Meet Your Candidate" forums, primarily in marginal seats, to give voters the opportunity to meet and question the people who are seeking their vote.
Read more about this topic: Australian Christian Lobby
Famous quotes containing the word efforts:
“The literal alternatives to [abortion] are suicide, motherhood, and, some would add, madness. Consequently, there is some confusion, discomfort, and cynicism greeting efforts to “find” or “emphasize” or “identify” alternatives to abortion.”
—Connie J. Downey (b. 1934)