21st November, 2008
GLYNIS QUINLAN

Christians from a wide range of denominations filled the ANU's University House to hear from Federal Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull and a solid line-up of speakers at the Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) National Conference on November 7th and 8th.

During his keynote address, Mr Turnbull expressed his strong personal support for families, marriage and children, saying that there is no question that our nation, or any nation, is stronger if more people are legally married and if more children are brought up by a father and a mother.

TALKING UP FAMILIES: Federal Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull and Jim Wallace, managing director of the Australian Christian Lobby, at the organisation's annual conference in early November. PICTURE: Tanya Hargraves of Fine Line Design & Publishing. “Whether you look at it from a social, cultural, a spiritual point of view, or if you look at it from a hard-headed economic point of view, you need to have strong families." - Federal Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull, in a speech to the Australian Christian Lobby.

“Whether you look at it from a social, cultural, a spiritual point of view, or if you look at it from a hard-headed economic point of view, you need to have strong families,” he said.

“We (the Liberal Party) have a passionate commitment for the family, for the promotion of the family, for the protection of children and therefore the protection of children within the family.”

The conference welcomed his commitments and Christians will be looking forward to seeing that passion for families reflected in Coalition policy, developed over time under Mr Turnbull's leadership.

Devastating social costs of family breakdown

Mr Turnbull's comments in support of families were particularly welcome in the light of research presented by the UK's Dr Samantha Callan at the conference, which highlighted the devastating social costs of family breakdown.

Dr Callan, a co-author of the Breakthrough Britain report, spoke about support for marriage and the family as being the key to social stability and reversing poverty.

Among other facts presented, she said that research showed that nearly half of cohabiting parents have split before a child is five. By contrast only one in 12 married couples have split before a child is five.

In going forward, Dr Callan said that we need to synthesise the best of the old with the best of the new aspects of relationships. This means retaining commitment as a principle and adding equity and greater intimacy in relationship, in its modern context.

Marriage and Family: The Australian Context

Translating Dr Callan's message into an Australian context, ACL senior research officer Beth Micklethwaite told the conference that our nation seems to hold mixed views on marriage.

On the one hand, we value it very highly, as political debates and research data show, and yet on the other we fail to translate this value into practice, with rising rates of cohabitation, ex nuptial births and a political climate that is unwilling to discriminate between relationships. There is also a marriage gap here.

In his address ACL managing director Jim Wallace brought the challenge home, describing the natural family as “the elephant in the room” - it is the solution to so much of what we know is wrong in society, but because people are fearful of being seen as critical of other family types, we fail to promote it or hold it up as an ideal.

“It really is time for the church to rise up again, this time in defence of family and children, the future generations, who are victims of dysfunctional family. There are no adult rights that sit higher than that,” he said.

Challenges ahead

Other key topics covered at the conference included the issue of a bill or rights and both sides of the climate change debate.

Former NSW Premier Bob Carr put a strong case for 'What's Wrong with a Charter of Rights?' and urged Christians to lodge submissions on this issue once the Federal Government's consultation process eventually gets under way.

Rev Richard Cizik from the National Association of Evangelicals in the USA argued for the importance of Christians taking action on climate change as a priority, while environmental scientist Professor Bob Carter, from James Cook University, debated the science of the issue.

Moving on to the challenge of caring for the world's poor, 'Mama Maggie' Gobran gave a moving personal account of caring for the disadvantaged in Egypt.

Glynis Quinlan is the public relations manager for the Australian Christian Lobby and a journalist with Debate magazine.

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