‘Troubling’: Wakeley stabbing Bishop slams Labor’s misinformation bill

The outspoken bishop stabbed at the pulpit for his political views has panned new misinformation laws.

Exclusive: A controversial Sydney church where a priest was allegedly stabbed over his political and religious opinions has blasted the Albanese government’s new misinformation bill.

The Christ the Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley came into the spotlight after their bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was allegedly stabbed by a teenager over controversial political comments he made in sermons and shared online.

In the wake of the attack, the eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant ordered social media giants to take down graphic videos of the attack online — even taking X to court before dropping the case.

But Bishop Emmanuel sided with the tech companies, saying “freedom of speech” was a god given right.

“Christians have the right to express their beliefs, and for us to say, that free speech is dangerous, that free speech cannot be possible in a democratic country, I’m yet to fathom this,” he said at the time.

Mar Mari Emmanuel is an Iraqi-born, Assyrian Australian prelate and the bishop of Christ the Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley, NSW.

The church is now railing against the new bill, claiming “faith teaches us to seek truth and censorship should not be the solution”.

“The misinformation bill threatens to interfere with the critical work that our church does through its online content,” they said.

“Our social media accounts serve as platforms to share the teachings of Christ, provide spiritual guidance, and foster a sense of community among our followers.

The bill is designed to regulate and stamp out misinformation and disinformation on digital platforms.

In their submission, the church also claimed that the stabbing incident was being used to promote political censorship.

“We categorically condemn the use of the Wakeley stabbing incident to further any political censorship agenda,” he said.

“The attempt to manipulate public discourse by using this incident is deeply troubling on the state of politics in Australia.”

Australia's eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant. Picture: NCA NewsWire

They instead called on the government to focus on educating people on how to find reliable information.

“If this bill becomes law, the definitions outlined in the September 2024 version of the bill could lead to the removal of our content and accounts,” he said.

“We feel compelled to share our thoughts … as it directly impacts our ability to spread the message of our Lord Jesus Christ through online channels.”

Their submission comes alongside the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference who claimed that the bill left a question mark over what is considered a “reasonable” religious belief.

“Some people consider elements of religious belief to be misinformation,” they said.

“If aspects of dialogue are silenced in the search for truth in an environment where the very existence of objective truth is contested, how can a person truly be free to seek the truth? Who decides what is objectively true in a pluralist society?”

The ACBC has previously made a submission panning the first iteration of the bill and said the second version still had serious flaws.

“The bill is a significant improvement on the exposure draft but leaves open the question is what is considered ‘reasonable’.”

The bill is being debated in parliament this week.

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