Never afraid to talk about his personal Christian faith, Scott Morrison used his valedictory address to Parliament this week to call for the nation to return to its Judaeo-Christian roots.

That is obviously a good and necessary thing if Australia is to find a way out of its current cultural and political mess, something even The Australian’s Paul Kelly acknowledged.

‘We stand on the values that built our successful, free society,’ Morrison told the House.

‘All of these stem from the core principle of respect for individual human dignity, as does representative democracy and even a market-based capitalist economy. This is a uniquely Judaeo-Christian principle.’

But what is perplexing is that Morrison had 17 years, including three as Prime Minister, to champion these values.

Why wait until now? Paul Kelly opines that had Morrison fought for his values, he might have been a more successful Prime Minister. Hard to disagree with that.

Instead, time and time again, it is my belief that Morrison let Christians and conservatives down, disappointing those who thought his faith might translate into public and political advocacy.

After all, the left argue their values with religious fervour every day – whether they be Greens, Teals, Labor, or the leftist cohort of strangely named ‘moderates’ within the Liberal Party.

This like-minded cross-party quad hold to the climate cult as though it were a faith. They believe children’s gender takes on a mystical (rather than biological) dimension, and that the sacrifice of unborn babies for the sexual liberation movement is a right that must not be questioned.

Challenge any of the assumptions behind these modern Shibboleths in the Parliament or in public debate, and great wrath will descend upon the challenger.

That possibly explains why there is so little debate on these culture-defining issues. It could even explain Morrison’s silence and, at times, acquiescence during his political career.

The biggest social change on Morrison’s watch was the redefinition of marriage which abolished, in law, the gender diversity requirement for society’s most important institution.

De-gendering marriage has had massive consequences for children. Some are purposely born without the love of both a mother and father. Children are increasingly being put in situations where adults encourage them to question their biological gender. And everyone else has lost the ability to speak freely about these issues, all-but destroying religious freedom.

Apart from making a public statement in support of keeping the definition of marriage intact, Morrison sat out of the three-month plebiscite campaign in 2017 leaving the fight to others.

As the most senior pro-marriage and openly Christian member of the then Turnbull government, Morrison squibbed it.

Meanwhile, Morrison’s cabinet colleagues, Christopher Pyne and Malcolm Turnbull, fought hard for the ‘Yes’ side of the marriage debate.

This is not the first time a question was asked of the public on an important social issue. In 2023, there was no guarantee that the Voice to Parliament referendum could be won for the ‘No’ case. In fact, the ‘Yes’ case was the clear favourite for the same reason the ‘Yes’ campaign in the marriage plebiscite was expected to win.

But that didn’t stop Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price standing up and putting everything on the line for what was right, even when Peter Dutton was unsure which way to step, or if he should step at all.

Courage begat courage and public advocacy from the Liberals on the Voice convinced Australians that the Canberra Bubble was wrong.

There were other challenges to the Morrison era where he did better.

As Shadow Immigration Minister and then as Immigration Minister, Morrison showed courage in helping to stop the boats.

Although as Paul Kelly writes in Triumph and Demise, the Coalition’s opposition to Julia Gillard’s Malaysia solution cost lives.

Which makes me ask, if Morrison found courage on that occasion, why couldn’t he find the resolve to fight for the rights of children to know the love, wherever possible, of both their mother and father?

Protections for freedom of speech and religion could not be legislated when he was Prime Minister with five of Morrison’s own Liberals voting against his attempt to fix what was broken by the change to marriage law.

Now, same-sex marriage activists are pushing for commercial surrogacy to make it easier for married gay men to rent women’s wombs and effectively purchase babies.

If only Morrison had fought for Judaeo-Christian values…!

His speech this week mentions the Judaeo-Christian idea of human dignity.

Yet, as I recall, he put his prime ministerial signature on a letter supporting Australia’s abortion-to-birth laws, the ultimate affront to human dignity.

When former Nationals MP George Christensen was fighting to get a bill passed to require medical assistance to be rendered to babies born alive after botched abortions (yes folks, this really happens in Australia), Morrison allegedly wrote back, fobbing him off to then Health Minister.

Dissatisfied, Christensen published the response from Morrison on Twitter.

In the letter Morrison states that his government supports ‘reproductive and sexual services’, euphemisms for killing unborn babies.

‘We continue to work with states and territories on the availability of safe and legal abortion Australia-wide.’

Morrison then went on to brag about how proud he was that Australia’s overseas aid helps export abortion to women in poor countries.

When I re-posted the letter on my Facebook page, I received an angry phone call at 9 pm one evening from one of Morrison’s Cabinet colleagues.

I said that if the Prime Minister does not believe what is in his letter he should correct the record.

‘That is not going to happen,’ they said.

When Citipointe Christian College followed the recommendations of the Ruddock Commission into religious freedom and published its policy on marriage and gender so that girls could be protected from the encroachment in their sports and private spaces from males identifying as females at school, Morrison said on radio: ‘I don’t support that.’

In the lead-up to the 2022 election Morrison, had two strong female candidates, Katherine Deves and Senator Claire Chandler, both were fighting to save girls’ and women’s sports from males identifying as females demanding access to their sports.

Morrison, when questioned about the issue, said his government had no plans for a bill to save women’s sports.

When Morrison gave his maiden speech he brilliantly said:

‘Australia is not a secular country – it is a free country. This is a nation where you have the freedom to follow any belief system you choose.’

Sadly, this is no longer true.

Freedom must be fought for, it requires vigilance.

Seventeen years on and Australia is less free, more secular, and as a result, less tolerant.

If Australia is to rediscover its Judaeo-Christian values and undergo what is a necessary course correction, it will require courageous parliamentarians who will fight for the values with the same fervour we see from the Green/Teal/Labor/moderate Liberal quad.

It’s politicians like Morrison that are the driving force behind Family First.

Lyle Shelton is National Director of the Family First Party.

Get 10 issues for just $10

Subscribe to The Spectator Australia today for the next 10 magazine issues, plus full online access, for just $10.

SUBSCRIBE 10 issues for $10 REGISTER 3 articles a month

Already a subscriber? Log in