Senator Alex Antic Puts Australian Christian Freedom Index into the Parliamentary Record Senator Alex Antic introduced the Australian Christian Freedom Index to Federal Senate yesterday (Tuesday, 30 June), placing the first systematic audit of Christian religious liberty in Australia into the parliamentary record. The survey findings paint a sobering picture. “92% said that they think it’s riskier to affirm Christian beliefs than it was 5 years ago,” Senator Antic reported to Parliament. “42% said they experienced hostility, threats, or harassment for expressing what they consider to be a Christian worldview.” Additional data revealed that 25% of respondents were denied opportunities at work, volunteering, or leadership due to their beliefs — issues that Senator Antic noted likely relate to positions on marriage and family. The report documents specific cases of institutional pressure, including university students dismissed for conservative opinions in supposedly “freethinking academic institutions” and teachers in Christian schools expressing frustration at being “policed in an environment where their faith is meant to provide the ethos in their workplace.” Senator Antic drew a striking parallel, sharing accounts from those with firsthand experience of totalitarianism: “Personally, I’ve had many many people who have escaped communist countries that tell me that Australia feels eerily like what they fled many years ago. Sometimes they whisper to state their honest opinion to avoid being overheard or the need to police themselves lest they face disciplinary measures from HR departments.” He emphasised that “Many Australians of conservative persuasions have felt for a very long time that an ideology hostile to Christianity has taken hold in our institutions.” “It shouldn’t be this way in Australia”, he concluded. The ACFI team, comprising the Canberra Declaration, Australian Christian Lobby, Australian Family Coalition, Citizen GO, Family Voice Australia, and the Human Rights Law Alliance, express our immense gratitude to Senator Antic for bringing the issue before the nation’s lawmakers. Senator Antic encouraged all Australians to review the full report. “I would encourage anyone listening to go and read the Australian Christian Freedom Index document from May of this year which touches on a whole lot of important subjects,” he said. Read more: dailydeclaration.org.au/2026… Download or order your ACFI report: australianchristianfreedomin…

Victorian Labor’s “Free” Abortion Pledge Is a Manipulative Bid to Stay in Power by @Rod_Lampard [COMMENTARY] A desperate Victorian Labor Party is peddling taxpayer-funded abortions as free “healthcare”. As Ben Carroll, the state’s premier, shared in a 15 October X post, “Abortion is healthcare. Your bank account and your postcode shouldn’t be a barrier. We’ll fix that.” In a broader announcement, the taxpayer-funded termination of an unborn child’s life was being sold as good for the mother’s bank account. Just over a month before Victorians decide Labor’s electoral fate, the party is facing a One Nation onslaught. Pollsters DemosAU has One Nation at 20% of the vote, with Labor losing 48-52% (two-party preferred) when matched against the Liberals. Criticising the announcement, James Macpherson said that it was the most shameless political promise he can ever remember. The Daily Declaration contributor and News24 (formerly Sky News Australia) host quipped, “The only thing Ben Carroll hasn’t promised is to pick expectant mums up in his own car.” Macpherson said that he recalls when Tony Abbott got slammed for saying abortion should be safe, legal and rare. To this he added, “Now we have a state premier promising free travel to an abortion clinic, free accommodation when visiting an abortion clinic, and free abortion.” Macpherson then drew attention to Victorian Labor’s health minister, Ingrid Stitt, selling the cost to taxpayers as a cost-of-living measure. The video embedded above shows a bumbling Stitt telling an apparent press conference, “It gives cost-of-living relief, which is important.” “It can be up to $1,000 for a surgical abortion. There are costs associated with medical abortion as well in terms of medication, scans and the life.” Stitt said, “If we’re re-elected after the election, Labor will make sure that all of those out-of-pocket expenses are covered, whether you’re having an abortion in the public [system] or with participating private providers, up to 16 weeks.” Read more: dailydeclaration.org.au/2026…

Stephanie Rice Unfairly Slammed for Posting “God Asked Me to Resign” by @Rod_Lampard [TESTIMONIES] Swimming royalty Stephanie Rice is being hammered over a caption stating she resigned from her job after hearing from God. On Instagram, the former Australian Olympian made a clear argument about how God directed the decision. Critics weren’t interested and chose to flood her post with mockery instead. One user ironically accused Rice of being “tone deaf.” That person then added, “To just quit a high-paying job because ‘God told me so’ is so arrogant. You quit your job because you could.” Another wrote, “This is so silly. Read the Bible because it sounds like you have been deceived.” Facebook’s Christian-hating trolls were worse. Someone commented, “It’s not God talking to you. It’s called Schizophrenia.” In another example, someone left an essay-length comment, lecturing Rice about privilege and being a public figure. The person told Rice to choose her words more wisely because they could encourage people to be reckless. At least two people wrote “oh, dear,” while others took Rice to task for allegedly making God her business partner. The pile-on included: “clearly lost the plot”, “you’re making it up. You need mental help”, “cooked”, “such crap”, and “Freak”. Legacy media were just as glib. They appeared to ditch due diligence by skipping Rice’s 6 October video explaining how God had directed her to resign. The Daily Mail, Nine, and News.com.au ignored that reel. They ran the criticisms and the Instagram carousel image Rice had posted on 13 October. Titled “A Career Change,” her offending post, in part, read, “I was offered to become CEO, my dream position… but God asked me to resign. I obeyed.” Of the three, The Daily Mail was the most dishonestly jarring. Their headline read: “Fears for Stephanie Rice as her followers think she has been brainwashed after moving to Dubai and finding God: ‘Poor girl’.” Ignored by The Daily Mail, Rice said in her two-part 6 October Instagram video explanation, “So how do I know that it was God who asked me to resign from my job and not the voice in my head?” “1. He spoke through a story I’d already lived. 2. He confirmed it again while journaling. 3. He gave me a vision which I have held onto in this waiting season.” Read more: dailydeclaration.org.au/2026…

France Is Burning: The Barbarians Are INSIDE the Gate by @BillMuehlenberg [COMMENTARY] European cities are on fire, not just in France, but in Italy, Belgium, Greece and elsewhere. As I mentioned yesterday: this is all about the diabolical alliance of Islam and Marxism. This is not some student protest in France and beyond. This is JIHAD! It is a civilisational struggle. Simply consider what is happening in France. How long before the Louvre, the Palace of Versailles, Chartres Cathedral, and Notre-Dame Cathedral are also burned down to the ground by ‘students,’ ‘doctors’ and ‘lawyers’? Oh yeah, they already tried to burn down Notre-Dame. And we know exactly who is really behind the burning of France and the destruction of Europe — as Jesus said in John 10:10, “The thief [Satan] comes only to steal and kill and destroy.” This is ultimately a spiritual war, but it is being played out on all levels: political, cultural, social, ideological and so on. Here I offer a number of crucial quotes on all this, simply arranged alphabetically by author. Read more: dailydeclaration.org.au/2026…

Riots in France: They Couldn’t Build It, But They Can Burn It by @JamesMacpherson [COMMENTARY] What would happen if you took mass migration, multiculturalism, soft-on-crime policies and an education system that teaches people to resent their own country’s history… and throw the lot into an ideological blender. What would happen? It’s an important question… because Australia’s political class is busy assembling precisely that recipe, apparently convinced that if you mix enough incompatible ingredients together, you get social cohesion. Or perhaps they think reality is something that happens to other people. Either way, it’s worth looking at where this experiment might end up. And the answer, after this weekend, is pretty clear to see. Read more: dailydeclaration.org.au/2026…

Rediscovering James McAuley, One of Our Finest Poets by Michael Cook, @catholic_weekly [HISTORY] A party for rockstar Australian poets would be an intimate gathering. Banjo Paterson would certainly be there. And Bruce Dawe, Dorothea Mackellar, Les Murray, and Henry Lawson. Maybe Kenneth Slessor and Judith Wright. Possibly John O’Brien. But the poet who is most widely read wouldn’t be there. He is James McAuley, the author of some of the favourite hymns in Catholic hymnals. Everyone knows “Seek O Seek the Lord”, “In Faith and Hope and Love”, and “Help of Christians, Guard This Land”, even if they have never heard of McAuley. Every Sunday, across the country, people will be singing his hymns. Not even Banjo Paterson can match that. It is 50 years last week since McAuley died on 15 October 1976. He was a Catholic convert, and he was a poet, but it would be wrong to call him a “Catholic poet”. He was far too complex and paradoxical to be pigeon-holed like that. McAuley was born in Lakemba in 1917. He went to Fort Street Boys High School and succeeded brilliantly at the University of Sydney. His background was Anglican, but by the time he graduated, he was, if anything, an atheist. He married Norma in 1942 and served in various military roles during World War II, mostly as a pen-pusher in Melbourne, although late in the war he saw some action in Papua New Guinea. ... After the war, McAuley spent long periods in New Guinea for his work. Amazingly, it was there that he became interested in the Catholic Church. He was fascinated by the traditional culture of the people and by Archbishop Alain de Boismenu, a saintly priest who was declared a Venerable in 2014. He was received into the Church in 1952; his wife followed him a few months later. McAuley was a passionate, energetic, serious man who threw himself into his commitments. Filled with the fervour of a recent convert, he penned long letters explaining Catholic dogma to a bemused fellow litterateur, Dorothy Green. He became a staunch anti-communist activist and eventually an ally of Bob Santamaria. He founded Quadrant, a magazine of literary, cultural and political commentary which is still an important voice. Read more: dailydeclaration.org.au/2026…

Regulator Report: During Biden Years, 9 Largest US Banks Debanked Clients Over Political, Religious Views by Joshua Arnold [NEWS] From 2020 to 2025, the nine largest US banks deliberately discriminated against clients with political or religious views that might be deemed controversial, according to a 47-page report released Wednesday by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). The report confirms that conservative and pro-marriage organisations lost banking access due to the recommendations of the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). “This is just shocking information,” exclaimed Rep. Mike Haridopolos (R-Fla.) on Washington Watch. “These are things that happen in communist regimes or fascist regimes, where the government is playing politics in an aggressive way. … This is why we had to go in to look at the Deep State and why we need to have this transparency in government.” The OCC investigated the practices of the nine banks that ranked largest by asset size when it began its review in September 2025. These are: JPMorgan Chase Bank, Bank of America, Citibank, Wells Fargo Bank, U.S. Bank, Capital One, PNC Bank, TD Bank, and BMO Bank. The final report comes after it reviewed some 100,000 complaints, hundreds of bank decisions, and 420,000 pages of documents. The report found that “the banks largely lacked clear and measurable standards and objective, risk-based criteria for assessing the reputation risks of customer relationships.” The banks acknowledged “the highly subjective nature of a reputation risk assessment” but did not let this fact stop them from suddenly shuttering the accounts of longstanding clients. Just how subjective these decisions were was evident from the “various sources [used] to inform these decisions, including the results of negative news searches and non-traditional sources, such as the opinions of advocacy organisations.” For example, PNC in 2021 “declined to issue a line of credit to a media company due to reputation risk concerns.” The “reputation risk” apparently stemmed from the fact that one company owner was “a conservative political commentator,” while another owner had a foundation that “has funded several Christian conservative groups, including several identified as hate groups by the Southern Poverty Law Center [SPLC].” “This underscores why the Southern Poverty Law Center, which has been indicted, should be nowhere near government,” declared Family Research Council President Tony Perkins. “No one should use them as a reference. They’re a political attack group.” In testimony before Congress last year, Perkins spotlighted the SPLC’s debanking efforts, noting how “banks, payment processors, and technology companies increasingly relied on SPLC classifications to decide which organisations could maintain accounts, process transactions, or operate online.” “SPLC officials openly acknowledged this strategy before Congress in January 2020. SPLC official Lecia Brooks stated: ‘We have lobbied internet companies, one by one. … A key part of this strategy has been to target these organisations’ funding’,” said Perkins. “FRC experienced this from Truist Financial, Fidelity Investments, GuideStar, Mobile Cause, and other technology-related companies.” Given the far-left bias of SPLC, it should come as no surprise that “the banks’ implementation of ambiguous reputation risk policies disadvantaged Americans holding certain political, religious, and social views,” as the OCC report found. For example, in February 2021, WePay, Inc., a subsidiary of JPMorgan, closed the account of a T-shirt merchant because “they’ve started selling T-shirts that promote hate and are pro-Trump.” WePay developed and maintained a list of terms that it considered violations of its guidelines; the “exemplar list” reviewed by the OCC “included terms such as MAGA, Make America Great, and America First”, as well as names of “certain ‘hate groups’ identified by organisations like the Southern Poverty Law Center.” Read more: dailydeclaration.org.au/2026…

France Is Falling — And Europe Too by @BillMuehlenberg [COMMENTARY] All the ingredients are there in Europe for the perfect storm: rejection of its Christian past; the embrace of secularism; the radical left takeover of institutions of power and influence; the refusal to keep borders secure; the failed multi culti dream; the importation of millions upon millions of migrants, many of whom do not want to assimilate but instead want to take over; and so on. What we are seeing happening right now all over Europe really appears to be the collapse of Europe. Unless there is divine intervention, Europe as we used to know it appears to be over. And as mentioned above, all this has been overwhelmingly deliberate. Useless leaders, elites, politicians, media figures, academics and others have all cheered this on for decades now. Those who have been more forthright have stated their aims, and have celebrated each statue destroyed, each institution desecrated, each policeman killed, each city set on fire, each riot, each act of looting, each act of defiance against the West. The radical left in bed with Islam makes for the ideal way to destroy a nation, a culture, and a continent. That is what we are now witnessing. When you allow untold millions of third-worlders to invade a nation — even giving them free housing, free phones, free medical help, free education — with no questions asked and no expectations, then you will get exactly what we are now seeing in Paris and elsewhere. Read more: dailydeclaration.org.au/2026…

WA Euthanasia Deaths Surge 243%, Prompting Calls for Inquiry by @RightToLifeUK [NEWS] Calls have been made for an inquiry into Western Australia’s ‘assisted dying’ laws after the state has seen a 243% increase in cases of euthanasia over a four-year period. The state has been called the “euthanasia death capital of Australia” after the new annual report, published today, revealed that 2.9% of deaths are now caused by euthanasia or assisted suicide, the highest proportion for any state in Australia and one of the highest assisted death rates in the world, which, at its fifth full reporting year, is second only to Canada when it was five years into the assisted suicide law operating there. In the report, the outgoing Chair of the Western Australian Voluntary Assisted Dying Board, Dr Scott Blackwell, acknowledged that activity across the assisted death service was “more than 10 times higher than predicted at implementation”. Read more: dailydeclaration.org.au/2026…

Greta Gerwig, Netflix Release First Narnia Trailer: The Magician’s Nephew [Critical Reflections] by Cody Mitchell [MOVIE REVIEWS] After much anticipation and controversy, Netflix has released the first trailer for its new adaptation of "Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew", directed by Greta Gerwig and with a reported budget of $280 million USD. At the time of writing, the trailer had attracted more than 40 million views and done little to allay Narnia fans’ concerns about Gerwig’s significant departures from the beloved source material. Indeed, the trailer appears to have incurred the wrath of Narnia fans. As of Friday 16 October, it had a view-to-like ratio of just 0.20% on YouTube (representing the percentage of those who watched the film and also chose to like it) and had received nearly 50,000 dislikes to just 81,000 likes, suggesting that viewers are disproportionately both refraining from liking the video and actively disliking it. Here are my initial impressions and reflections. Read more: dailydeclaration.org.au/2026…

How Long Before the Islamist Party Arrives? by @JamesMacpherson [COMMENTARY] How long before a Western nation has a mainstream Islamist party winning seats, influencing governments and eventually vying to run one? Going by events in the United Kingdom, not long at all. The UK Greens had already appointed a radical Muslim as co-deputy leader. And the once environmental party has for some time aggressively courted Muslim voters by embracing the politics of Gaza and Palestine. But recently, the UK Greens took a remarkable step. They voted 1,022 to 813 in favour of defining Zionism as racism. They also voted to formally support the creation of a single Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital. In other words, the party that attracts around 10 percent of the British vote has now officially adopted a position that rejects the existence of Israel altogether. It should be noted that four of the party’s five MPs opposed the motion. It should also be noted that it didn’t matter. Greens Party members voted in defiance of their own MPs, and in defiance of their own leader. The party’s gay Jewish leader, Zack Polanski, remained neutral on the motion and, in the end, wasn’t at his own conference for the vote. He had already left to campaign in the by-election he faced last Thursday as he tried to win the seat left vacant by the retirement of Sir Keir Starmer. This creates an extraordinary political spectacle. A homosexual Jewish leader of the Greens is campaigning for a party which has just declared the ideology underpinning the existence of the Jewish state to be racism. It is the sort of historical irony that would be rejected by a screenwriter for being too unsubtle. It’s tempting to reach for the word “kapo” — the grim historical term for Jews forced by the Nazis to assist in running concentration camps — as a metaphor for a Jewish politician advancing policies hostile to Jewish national self-determination. But let’s just go with the more familiar term, useful idiot. Polanski is a useful idiot who is about to discover that being useful was the important part. Not the idiot. If he fails to win the Holborn and St Pancras by-election (they say he’s a 50-50 chance of snatching it from Labour), then questions will be asked of his leadership. Could he be replaced by his co-deputy Mothin Ali? That would give the UK a Greens Party led by a full-blown Islamist running on an openly anti-Israel platform. Mothin Ali would quickly turn the Greens into the Islamic Party of Great Britain. And they would gradually throw out every non-Muslim and every LBGTQ useful idiot who had supported them to this point. The Red-Green alliance only lasts as long as the Islamists want it to. Just look at the history of Iran. And so it’s very possible the useful idiots in the UK Greens will soon discover they have been used to create an Islamist Party within Great Britain by stealth. Once the Greens pursue openly Muslim policies, Muslim voters will desert the Labour Party in their hundreds of thousands. All of Labour’s pandering to the Palestinian mob will have been for nought. The Greens are demonstrating what happens when demographic and political incentives begin pulling in the same direction. Muslim political organisations long ago identified the Greens as a vehicle for expressing their priorities. And the Greens played along because they realised that having positions once considered politically radioactive could become electorally advantageous when wrapped in the language of anti-racism and Palestinian liberation. That is how political movements change. Not with a dramatic announcement saying: Congratulations, we are now an Islamist party. It happens incrementally. A slogan here. A candidate there. A voting bloc. A policy motion. A leadership position. A party conference deciding that the disappearance of Israel is actually a human-rights policy. And then one morning soon, everyone will wake up and ask how the hell this happened. Read the full piece at dailydeclaration.org.au/2026…

Dads Get Amongst It by Nathaniel Marsh, @Dads_For_Kids Loving, engaged fathers contribute a unique blend of fun, protective, and practical problem-solving qualities to their children’s development. This constructive father influence shapes growth and resilience for children. The science backs it up, and this positive dad dynamic is on full display every year at our fantastic Dads4Kids Fun Camp, taking place next weekend 23-24 October 2026 on the South Coast of NSW. Every spring, the Dads4Kids Fun Camp brings dads, grandads and their kids together for a memorable weekend at the stunning Coolendel Campground, nestled along the Shoalhaven River, around 3 hours south of Sydney. The fun begins from 4 p.m. Friday, as families arrive, pitch their tents, get to know fellow campers and enjoy dinner together (BYO food and beverages). Weather and conditions permitting, the evening is a great time of gathering around the campfire, sharing stories and toasting marshmallows with the kids. After breakfast on Saturday, it’s time for some fun-filled activities, creating fantastic memories together. The Dads4Kids team work hard to prepare a great mix of games, with fun for everyone, no matter the age of participants. The official camp wraps up after lunch, around 1–2 p.m., although families are welcome to stay an extra night and head home on Sunday. The Dads4Kids Fun Camp is a free Dads4Kids event, though payment to Coolendel Camp on arrival is required for use of the facilities (more details here). All dads and their kids are welcome! Registration is required to help with our planning for games and activities. There is no age limit for dads and their kids (grandads are welcome too); however, dads and grandads are responsible for their own children, so it is important that you feel comfortable with the age of the children in your care. My 5 daughters (ages from 10 – 19) and I look forward to the camp every year! If you’re not able to join us on the New South Wales South Coast, gather some mates and host your own dads and kids fun camp. There’s nothing quite like a night out in the Australian bush, but if you’re not able to travel, consider camping in the backyard. Whatever you do, do something and get amongst it with your kids. In a blog post titled “The Unsung Superpower of Fathers: What Dads Really Bring to the Table“, Lauren Hall, President and CEO of US-based non-profit organisation First Things First, writes: It’s no secret dads play a special role in the lives of their children. Whether they’re fully present, somewhat present or not present at all, the impact fathers and even father figures have on children’s lives is profound. Yet a report by the US Department of Health and Human Services notes, “Too many fathers become convinced that they are simply an extra set of hands to help around the house, rather than irreplaceable to their children.” I couldn’t agree more, and it’s a valuable reminder as to why it’s so important for dads to get amongst it with their kids. Lauren outlines 7 well-researched ways fathers influence their children’s development, mental health and overall outlook on life: Fathers Shape Emotional Intelligence and Relationship Skills Dad’s Involvement Boosts Academic and Behavioural Outcomes Unique Play Styles Foster Development Fathers Influence Long-Term Mental and Relational Health Dads Teach Practical Life Skills The Absence of Fathers Has Tangible Effects Fathers as Attachment Figures You can read more here, but in summary, "Fathers and father figures bring a unique set of skills and attributes that are indispensable to a child’s development. From shaping emotional intelligence to teaching practical life skills, a father’s influence is profound and far-reaching." Dads, do your best to get amongst it! As Carl says in the Dads4Kids Fun Camp Video, get out and about with your kids. The memories you make together will last a lifetime. If you’re near the NSW South Coast, join us next Friday and Saturday, 23-24 October 2026, at the Dads4Kids Fun Camp. The forecast is looking good, but even if we do get a little inclement weather, it’s all part of the adventure. It’s going to be a fantastic weekend for both kids and dads — find all the details and register here. Yours for getting amongst it, Nathaniel Marsh Read more: dailydeclaration.org.au/2026…

Legacy Media Are Gunning for Trump’s New Pro-Life Press Secretary: Here’s Why by @Rod_Lampard [COMMENTARY] @DonaldTrump’s new Press Secretary has left the administration’s political opponents scrambling for dirt. @KatieZacharia speaks Chinese, is an abortion survivor, mum of four, and a highly credentialed commentator. Her CV includes a law degree, two years working as an associate for Zhong Lun Law Firm in Beijing, and time spent working as a media advisor. This includes serving on the board of advisors with Seth Gruber’s pro-life White Rose Resistance advocacy group. Along with the remarkably long list of achievements and qualifications, Zacharia is a Christian. It’s no surprise then that legacy media gave the new press secretary zero grace on her first day. The hits came hard and fast. Most focused on her performance and flowed from the media’s decade-long “hate Trump, because love trumps hate” dissonance. USA Today repeatedly referred to her as anti-abortion and stated that her White House tenure has gotten off to a rocky start. The news outlet then shared Zacharia’s story of adoption as context for her position on abortion, only to then accuse the press secretary of spreading misinformation. She once linked the abortion-on-demand pill, mifepristone, to the chemical used to gas Jews and Christians in Nazi concentration camps. Tying in “distorted facts” criticisms from the Auschwitz Memorial with pro-abortion group “Reproductive Freedom for All”, USA Today appeared to paint Zacharia as a conspiracy theorist. The Mirror called her performance cringeworthy. 9 News, CNN-News18 and The Guardian described it as awkward. Oneindia News claimed that she was caught off guard. The Independent and others labelled it a train wreck. Some YouTube channels were just as scathing. One YouTube channel accused her of bumbling, and Stephanie Miller attempted to argue that Trump was already fed up with Zacharia. This is despite Trump telling the New York Post that he thought she was very good. Read more: dailydeclaration.org.au/2026…

Labor’s Algorithm Laws Sound Good on Paper – Until You Read the Fine Print by Nicole Yap, @readNewsWeekly [ANALYSIS] Since Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s under-16s social media ban went viral worldwide, his Government has proposed legislation to take it a step further — to allow users to “switch off the algorithm”. On the surface, it’s a noble idea. “This is not about giving government control, it is about giving people control,” Albanese said of his new “My Feed, My Way” initiative under “digital duty of care” draft laws released on 8 September for consultation. Platforms will be required to send users a notification that offers them a choice to opt in or opt out of seeing personalised, algorithmically driven content on their default feed. If users opt out, their feed will look much like it did before 2016 – they will see posts only from profiles and pages that they follow in reverse chronological order. The proposed bill to amend the Online Safety Act 2021 will also require online service providers – including social media, online gaming and AI chatbots — to protect under-18s from harmful content promoting eating disorders, “hostile” ideas on women and gender equality, pornography, glorification of crime, abuse and bullying, and other material considered to be harmful. Platforms that don’t comply will face a fine of up to $109 million. Albanese continues to tout Australia’s pioneer status in online safety, but beneath the attractive language of “giving people choice” lies a catch. The broader proposed laws will give discretionary powers to the Minister for Communications and the eSafety Commissioner to control what con­tent Australians can see online. The eSafety Commissioner will have the power to enforce the digital duty of care and specify compliance requirements for platforms, and the Minister needs only to be “satisfied” that certain content may cause “serious harm”. The Minister can expand the categories of “material or conduct harmful to children” and “seriously harmful material and conduct” (which applies to all users). There is no doubt that there is seriously harmful online content that children – and all users – should be shielded from. But the scope of content that constitutes “harm” is not clearly defined because the Minister is able to determine foreseeable harms and add to the list over time. For example, do “hostile attitudes towards women or gender equality” include traditional views on sex, gender and family that are based on religious belief? The Coalition opposes the exposure draft in its current form, claiming it threatens free speech and gives “unfettered powers” to the Minister. Opposition Leader Angus Taylor said the draft hands Labor “a blank cheque for political censorship”. Opposition shadow communications minister Sarah Henderson said while there are serious harms that Australians should be protected from, any known harm should be specific and “a matter for the Parliament, not a matter for the Minister”. Read more: dailydeclaration.org.au/2026…

A Million Women Movement Marks Second Anniversary: “Look What the Lord Has Done! Ishtar Has Fallen!” by @Rod_Lampard [TESTIMONIES] Two years ago, the A Million Women (AMW) prayer movement was born. On 12 October 2024, in Washington, DC, 250,000 Americans, along with some Australians, turned up to pray for ten hours of fasting, repentance, and prayer. Over forty-two nationalities and an estimated 10 million others joined the event online. Founded by revivalist Lou Engle and led by Laura Allred, the organisation aims to raise up women like Esther, who, through prayer, fasting, and leadership, shift the destiny of nations to prepare for the return of the Lord. AMW’s goal is to create what organisers call “A global movement of Esthers.” Its stated DNA is sevenfold: “The voices of righteous women reinforce righteous culture (Es. 4:14).” “We live with future generations in mind (Ps. 102: 18).” “Nations belong to the Lord (Ps. 2).” “We set the table for unity (Ps. 133, Ps. 68:1, John 17).” “Mass united prayer and fasting dismantles principalities (Dan. 9).” “Solemn assemblies shift national outcomes (Joel 2, Es. 4)” “Israel is central (Joel 3, Rom. 9-11).” In a recent email to AMW supporters, Allred marked the anniversary by listing at least nine tangible answers to prayer. Read more: dailydeclaration.org.au/2026…

Euthanasia Accounts for 4% of Belgian Deaths as Rate Doubles in Five Years by @RightToLifeUK [NEWS] The proportion of deaths in Belgium caused by euthanasia has more than doubled over a five-year period, reaching 4% of all deaths in 2025, according to a report from the Federal Commission for the Control and Evaluation of Euthanasia released earlier this month. According to a report released every two years as required under Belgian euthanasia law, there were 2,445 euthanasia deaths in 2020, accounting for 1.9% of all deaths in the region. However, the proportion of deaths in Belgium caused by euthanasia more than doubled by 2025, resulting in 4,487 deaths by euthanasia, accounting for 4% of all deaths in Belgium. The report, which covers the two years of 2024 and 2025, also revealed there was a 12.43% increase in deaths by euthanasia from 2024, when 3,991 people ended their lives by euthanasia. Since 2003, the first full year in which euthanasia was legal in Belgium, when 235 people ended their lives by euthanasia, there has been a 1,809.36% increase in the number of people ending their lives this way. Since euthanasia was made legal in Belgium in 2002, over 42,000 people have ended their lives this way. Read more: dailydeclaration.org.au/2026…

Christa Pike and the Left’s Incoherent Argument Against ‘Human Cruelty’ by Suzanne Bowdey [COMMENTARY] For days, the United States has been riveted by the case of death row inmate Christa Pike, who was sentenced to die by lethal injection on 30 September — the first woman in 200 years to be executed in the state of Tennessee. Only Christa didn’t die. For two hours, the team at the prison tried and failed to find a vein, ultimately sending a double dose of the poison into her body, not her bloodstream. The result was catastrophic, but not fatal, and she was rushed to the hospital for “life-saving care,” a shocking twist that’s ignited a global debate about the death penalty. But there’s a much bigger outrage taking place in America than this one botched punishment — and it’s taking countless lives a year. Read more: dailydeclaration.org.au/2026…

80,000 Fill Texas Stadium in Call to Contend for the Christian Faith by @Rod_Lampard [NEWS] Christianity is not a faith for spectators; it’s all in. That’s not part of a manipulative ultimatum. It’s the crux of the parable of the lazy servant. It’s also the fruit of Christ’s transformative power working in our lives through the cross. We come to God just as we are, and as the perfecter and finisher of our faith, God, by His free and costly grace, doesn’t leave us that way. (Hebrews 12:2) To quote J.C. Ryle, while we play no part in our justification, we do play a role in our sanctification. Christians are called to action. See Matthew 28:19. That is why 80,000 people filling the AT&T Stadium in Texas in response to an Atlanta church’s call to prayer and repentance is no small matter. The 2819 Church event, called ACCESS, is an upsized annual gathering built on smaller power-hour-of-prayer ACCESS programs the church hosts every month. ACCESS, the church states, exists to bring Christians together to pray, look to the cross, contend for the faith and prepare for Christ’s return. 2819 founder and lead Pastor Philip Anthony Mitchell told Fox News that people responded because it’s a critical time in American history. He said the pendulum of faith “can either swing towards what is complete spiritual decadence or towards revival.” He continued, “I do believe the generation we’re living in right now is searching for truth; I think there is a hunger for spirituality, and I think that what we’re seeing right now is God stirring up faith in this generation. “My team and I are doing the best to shepherd what we think is a move of God.” When answering a question about what he means by Contend, the title of his first book, Mitchell said, “Jesus Christ is arguably the most influential person in the history of the world.” He said that Jesus’s teachings and the teachings of the Word of God, wherever they flourish, have an opportunity to produce human flourishing in every stage of life. That book title takes its commanding tone from Jude 1:3-4, where Jude appeals to Christians to contend for the faith: “For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.” Read more: dailydeclaration.org.au/2026…

In Christ We Truly Come Together: Reconciliation and the Australian Church by Robyn Murray [TESTIMONIES] Many of us, living in large cities and mixing with our preferred cultural subsets, don’t truly know any Aboriginal people. We may even secretly feel a little insecure about relating to them. As we look within ourselves, we may find inherited prejudices and judgements against Aboriginal people influenced by our parents’ views, stories we’ve read, and stereotyping — without having any actual personal experience. The history taught to my generation largely omitted the difficult truth of the past, so most Australians then were unaware of the extent of the injustice towards Aboriginal tribes in the early days of European settlement. More importantly, omission has provided fuel to the rejection and discrimination felt by Aboriginal people. Murder, abuse and dispossession caused great suffering and death at the hands of the early settlers — only recently has this story begun to be properly told. We now have statistics and research available to those willing to learn, regarding the many gaps between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians. Research outlines the discrepancies in life expectancy, health and social factors that reveal the disadvantage experienced in many Aboriginal communities plagued by domestic violence, addiction, poverty and overcrowding. There is a lack of many things most Australians would consider basic human rights — education, work opportunities and safety. We know that these things are a complex consequence of many intertwined factors, but at least more people are doing the research into them. Most Australians are now becoming more aware of both our nation’s history and the disadvantages experienced by Aboriginal people, thanks in part to the media. More recently, we are experiencing a huge increase in exposure to Aboriginal culture via the arts and the media, and our general awareness is growing. ‘Welcome to Country’ is becoming quite common, and the number of movies and series produced by Aboriginal artists allows us much more of a view of Australian Indigenous culture. My new book, "Finding Gold", covers some history of Australia, both generally and in relation to missions — and some of the government policies that have been put in place over the years. It discusses some of the earliest attempts at missions, and the mindsets of the missionaries who were incredibly sacrificial and had the best of intentions. We look at the fruit, both good and bad, of those early efforts. Read more: dailydeclaration.org.au/2026…