Qld Government wants to jail Pastors
The Queensland Government of Australia has passed a law requiring pastors to violate and report any confession and report any instances of confessed child sex abuse or face up to three years in prison. The legislation arose as a result of recommendations from the Australian Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, which recommended in 2017 that clergy and confession no longer be exempt from mandatory reporting. Similar laws have already been passed in the states of Victoria and South Australia as well as in Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory. Australian media reports that the legislation received bi-partisan political support but that one elected Queensland politician, Stephen Andrew an MP with the One Nation party, spoke out against the new law. “The bill poses a real danger for public trust and cohesion in our community,” Mr Andrew said. “Many priests and bishops have publicly stated that they will go to jail before obeying these laws,” he conti...