Council
24 July, 2025
Battle lines drawn as council scraps prayer
MOYNE Shire Council will scrap prayer at the beginning of council meetings after a contentious vote which one councillor warned was drawing clear ideological battle lines.
Councillor Jordan Lockett submitted a motion ahead of this week’s Ordinary Meeting of Council to remove the prayer from the agenda at the beginning of meetings.
The motion calls for the chief executive officer to prepare a draft of a secular Statement of Values to replace the prayer, designed to confirm council’s commitment to democratic governance, inclusion, integrity and service to all members of Moyne Shire – regardless of their specific beliefs.
Councillor Lisa Ryan spoke in favour of the motion, saying only one-third of councils started their meeting with a prayer.
“This motion supports modern governance and it respects the diversity of beliefs in our community,” she said.
“No one prayer is inclusive of all beliefs.
“This vote is not to say religion is not important – it is to say diversity, equity and inclusion are what underpins a thriving community and council must lead by example.”
Cr Susan Taylor chose to stand during her opposition to the motion, stating she was standing to defend the prayer.
“In fact, I stand here to defend the philosophical and metaphysical underpinnings of western civilisation and the classical liberal systems of freedom, reason and individual dignity which took centuries to build,” she said.
“Battle lines are drawn for this is indeed a battle, whether consciously recognised or not, and now we’re in the trenches.
“One side are the civilisational values I’ve described and the will to conserve them – on the other side is the desire to demolish those values.
“This is actually what today’s motion is all about – the prayer is both the symbol and the safeguard of the classical liberal western democratic system because it establishes that there is a natural order based on a transcendent authority higher than man.”
Cr Taylor a statement of values lacked the meaning which prayer provided.
“It reminds us to be humble and it is through faith in an intelligent creator, God, that the idea that the individual has worth flows,” she said.
“In contrast, a value statement is just a statement of words – but words are powerful and ‘woke’ words are dangerous – they don’t mean what they have traditionally meant.
“For instance, to people who prescribe to the social justice worldview, ‘inclusion’ means centring the voices of minoritised identity groups so that institutions, law, education and government must be reshaped to prioritise them.
“‘Woke’ words are the weapons of choice in an asymmetrical political war not fought with weapons but with ideas, guilt and slow institutional capture.
“I reiterate, we are in a war for the soul of the west.”
Councillor Lloyd Ross said he was not a religious man, but would be voting against the motion.
“I’m not a religious person at all but I do respect protocol and process,” he said.
“The Christian prayer is part of that – it’s a foundation, a beacon, a starting point for modern Australian and it’s probably in our lives every day.
“Laws, birth, marriage, death, Easter, Christmas – it’s not just about Christianity, it’s about who Australia is.”
Cr Jim Doukas questioned if change was being made for the sake of change in speaking against the motion.
“You’ve come up with something new and we know nothing about it,” he said.
“He told us he’s going to send the CEO away to do something, so why don’t we get a few pointers on what council really wants in this new statement before we go down the prayer path?
“This should have been workshopped to death.
“The right thing to do would be to defer it until we get some clarity about what’s proposed if the prayer is removed.”
Cr Doukas said he believed a secular government would “go broke”.
“Our basic democratic principles are founded on the bible,” he said.
“It’s interesting all these non-practicing Christians, atheists and anti-Christian devil worshippers, I bet you they all celebrate Christmas.
“I’m sure councillor Lockett and his children celebrate Christmas and Easter – they take the benefits of those holidays but are they going to give those up because they’re Christian?
“This whole process of getting rid of the prayer is hypocritical and typical of the left who want to destroy the family unit and fill the kid’s heads with stupid ideas about white supremacy, climate change and other things.
“Where does it get us? Nowhere.”
Councillor Myra Murrihy said removal of prayer was not a rejection of belief but a gesture of inclusion and a recognition no one belief system should define governance in a diverse and democratic community.
“Faith is a beautiful and deeply personal thing,” she said.
“I have great respect for all religions and every individual’s freedom to choose where they place their faith, if at all.
“Were we in a church I would stand during prayer out of respect, in a mosque I would cover my head and I would remove my shoes before entering a Buddhist temple.
“But we are not in those sacred spaces – we are in a council chamber, here to serve our entire community.”
Cr Murrihy also read out a message of support from the community, issuing a warning due to the difficult nature of the why the resident opposed the Lord’s Prayer being included in the agenda.
“As a Moyne resident and victim of child sexual assault by a priest, why should I be re-traumatised having to hear the Lord’s Prayer read out every time I wish to address my elected representatives?” Cr Murrihy said the statement read.
“For that reason, I support this motion.”
In summary Cr Lockett said he had found a prayer to be an “odd” way to start a meeting over his three terms on council.
“We’re not a church, we’re a local government,” he said.
“We are directly linked with the people at a grassroots level.
“The church has its place in our history since colonisation – this is not about being anti-religious at all. I know faith and spirituality are a very personal thing for everyone, and I respect that.”
Cr Lockett said he did not agree with everyone’s comments but recognised council chambers were a place of dignity and respect.
He disagreed with Cr Taylor’s claims battle lines were being drawn.
“This is not about being anti-religion, it’s about being inclusive, a voice for respecting all faiths but also being very clear about the state being separate from the church,” Cr Lockett said
The motion was passed 4-3 with councillors Taylor, Ross and Doukas voting against.