MEDIA RELEASE
Family First National Director Lyle Shelton says a response from the Governor-General’s office has failed to address the central concern raised in his recent correspondence: that Equality Australia is a political activist organisation and that continued patronage of it compromises the apolitical nature of the office of Governor-General.
Mr Shelton wrote to Governor-General Sam Mostyn and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on 8 May requesting that the Governor-General relinquish her patronage of Equality Australia in order to protect public confidence in the neutrality of Australia's highest constitutional office.
In a letter dated 25 May, the Governor-General’s Official Secretary, Gerard Martin PSM, stated that patronage is an honorary position and “does not include any involvement in an organisation’s operations, endorsement of positions or responsibility for their activity.”
Mr Shelton said that response sidestepped the issue.
“The question was never whether the Governor-General is involved in Equality Australia’s day-to-day operations,” Mr Shelton said.
“The concern is that Equality Australia is a political advocacy organisation that campaigns on highly contested social and legal issues, including gender ideology, so-called conversion therapy laws, same-sex parenting, surrogacy and gender-transition treatments for children.
“When the Governor-General serves as patron of such an organisation, it inevitably creates the perception that the Crown is aligned with one side of a deeply contested political debate.”
Mr Shelton said the Governor-General's office had not addressed the fact that Equality Australia actively lobbies governments, intervenes in court proceedings and campaigns for anti-free speech legislative change.
“Equality Australia is not a neutral charity providing services to the disadvantaged. It is a well-resourced political activist organisation whose purpose is to influence public policy and the law.
“It seeks to restrict the freedoms of religious schools who hold to biological visions of gender and marriage.
“That is its right in a democracy. But it is not appropriate for the Governor-General, whose constitutional role requires strict political neutrality, to be associated with it.”
Mr Shelton noted that Equality Australia publicly welcomed a recent court decision in long-running litigation involving him and has repeatedly advocated for legal and policy positions opposed by many Australians.
“The Governor-General must be seen to represent all Australians, not just those who subscribe to a particular ideological agenda.
“The office should unite Australians, not risk being perceived as taking sides in contentious cultural and political disputes.”
Mr Shelton said the response from Government House amounted to a generic explanation of patronage arrangements rather than a substantive answer to the concerns raised.
The Prime Minister is yet to reply.