Schrinner against a petition calls for Brisbane City Council to end pre-meeting prayer
Brisbane’s Lord Mayor has had his say regarding a petition is calling for the Brisbane City Council to end pre-meeting prayer.
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Brisbane’s Lord Mayor has thrown cold water on a proposal to scrap a prayer said before council meetings.
An e-petition signed by nearly 600 people has called for the Brisbane City Council to stop saying a Christian prayer before meetings, instead prioritising the welcome to country that is currently said after the prayer.
But Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner said the prayer would continue.
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“This has come up before. At that time we agreed to keep the prayer with the addition of an acknowledgement of the traditional custodians. Our position has not changed,” he said.
“As the reading of a prayer is a long standing tradition in all levels of government in Australia, this practice will continue to be followed during Council meetings.”
Mr Schrinner pointed to the long history of reading a prayer at meetings, stating it was a “Westminster tradition” and first said in the United Kingdom parliament in 1558.
“In the Australian Federal Parliament a prayer has been read at the beginning of meetings of the House of Representatives and Senate since 1901. The Queensland Parliament commenced reading a prayer to open proceedings of meetings in 1860 and has continued to this day.
“The first minuted mention of council meetings being opened with a prayer was in 1960. On 21 February 2017, an acknowledgement of the traditional owners of the land was included in the opening of council meetings following the prayer.”
More than 500 people have signed a petition calling for the Brisbane City Council to scrap the prayer said at the start of each meeting.
The petition posted to the council petition page on their website has stated the prayer is “not appropriate for a city that celebrates the rich and diverse fabric of its residents”.
Submitted by Bardon-based Courtney Coombs, the petition said the prayer should be removed in place of a welcome to country, currently said after the prayer.
“Privileging and reciting a Christian prayer in Brisbane City Council meetings does not show respect to the Traditional Custodians of the land, does not foster inclusion and participation of the community, and is not appropriate for a city that celebrates the rich and diverse fabric of its residents,” the petition reads.
“Your petitioners therefore request that you remove the Christian prayer from council meetings. We request that council instead open meetings with an acknowledgment of the Traditional Owners of the land.
“Any additional custom should be welcoming and inclusive, and reflective of the diversity of constituents.”
As of Tuesday, 565 people had signed the petition.
A Brisbane City Council spokesperson would not answer if the council planned on ending pre-meeting prayers.
“The e-petition will be carefully considered and a full response will be provided after the petition closes,” the spokesperson said.
The petition closes on Monday, August 31.