The Australian Christian Lobby will not go away
The recent national conference of the Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) raises broader political questions. The event was held in Canberra and featured Opposition Leader Bill Shorten as keynote speaker.
The ACL will not go away. Despite serious academic criticism from Professor Rodney Smith of the University of Sydney questioning its claims to political influence, it is now established in the top echelon of lobbying groups.
Media reports noted that appearances at ACL conferences 'have become something of a political rite of passage in recent years'. That is a major achievement. Since Kevin Rudd and John Howard agreed to an ACL-sponsored forum prior to the 2007 election other leaders have followed almost routinely. Julia Gillard did withdraw under provocation from the 2012 conference but she made time for an interview with Jim Wallace of ACL prior to the 2010 election. On that occasion Rudd and Tony Abbott had already featured in the pre-election debate in June 2010 just days before Gillard ousted Rudd.
Like most other pressure groups the ACL, founded in 1995, boosts itself shamelessly in its search for donations and members. It claims to be a 'Voice for Values' and boasts 30,000 members. It reckons it has become 'one of the premier political lobbies in the country' and that it is 'growing in size and influence'. These are big claims, but measured by its growth and positioning ACL has been successful.
First it has effectively taken over the term ‘Christian’ in politics, though it does not claim to be the peak Christian voice. The name says it all. The major churches are fading by comparison, their image blighted by child sex abuse and falling attendances.
It is a sleight of hand, of course, to infer that the 64 per cent of Australians who are Census Christians subscribe to the ACL agenda. Half of them are Christian only in name and the other half includes many progressive Christians who do not accept at all any purported representation by the conservative ACL. But church leaders, like the new Catholic Archbishop of Sydney, Anthony Fisher, also on this year’s program, have enhanced ACL’s image.
Secondly, it has demonstrated professionalism and creativity. It has invested in its future through its Lachlan Macquarie internship program and done innovative things, like broadcasting leaders’ debates before federal elections.
Thirdly, it has continued to attract Australia’s political leaders to its conferences. Politicians respond to opportunities so their presence is always a good test of