Sessional orders

MS PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (20:49:45): (By leave) Thank you, President, and I thank the house for allowing this. I think today was quite a day for us all in speaking about New Zealand and in speaking about the effects that religion can have on people in the most horrific ways, in what we saw in New Zealand. As to putting the question around removing the Lord’s Prayer today, I am still stalwart in my belief that this is a secular house, and that this house represents all 153 religions that are in Victoria and that this house should do that. The Lord’s Prayer was not introduced when the house was opened. In fact in 1851, we had no Lord’s Prayer. The Lord’s Prayer was introduced in 1919 into the standing orders of this house. But I appreciate Minister Jennings, in raising this in his contribution on this motion, has said that the more appropriate debate would be through the Procedure Committee to find a way that we can reflect the great diversity of our community in this house I think in a more appropriate way. So I am happy to withdraw the amendments that would remove the prayer today to allow the Procedure Committee to consider how we can appropriately reflect the great diversity of our community in this house in a better way. Maybe in 1919 we saw ourselves as a Judaeo-Christian house, but as I look around this house today I see the wonderful diversity that we spoke about earlier today and I want this house to reflect that in the way that we proceed. I am happy to see the Procedure Committee do that work and come back with a solution for us.

Amendment 2 agreed to.

House divided on amendments 3 and 4: