Our Common Law
Our Common Law has been based on the Christian faith, exemplified by the statue of Jesus occupying the central place above the Royal Courts of Justice in London pictured above the circle with Moses and Alfred the Great towards the side (see pictures below), and by many statements by scholars such as one Chief Justice who declared: "Christianity is parcel of the Common Law of England and therefore to be protected by it."
Crowning of Queen Elizabeth II
The Presentation of the Bible to Her Majesty the Queen at her Coronation June 1953 by the moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland
'The most valuable thing that this world affords.
Here is wisdom;
This is the royal law;
These are the oracles of God'.
The full story of the Coronation Service including links to videos and the full text of the Coronation Service is found on the Christian Heritage Website:
Service to Commemorate Opening of Parliamentary Year 2020
Rt Rev’d Professor Stephen Pickard Ecumenical Service to mark the beginning on a new session of Parliament 2020, St Andrews Presbyterian Church, Canberra 4 February 2020
Alfred Deakin
Learn more about Alfred Deakin here:
UNDERSTANDING OUR CHRISTIAN HERITAGE Volume 2
alfreddeakin.com
Read some of Deakin’s writing here:
Deakin's Boke of Praer and Praes at Typescript of 'The boke of praer and praes' (Part I of III) (nla.gov.au)
View the Wikipedia article on Deakin here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Deakin
The QUEEN and the Christian Connection. Queen Elizabeth II, the Queen who 'looks both ways'.
God's servant.
The history of the Insertion of the words "...humbly relying on the blessing of Almighty God" in our Commonwealth Constitution as well as the desire to open each sitting of parliament in prayer.
Unto God and Caesar by Richard Ely
Queensland Parliament House Bible Verse
The two ground floor stained glass windows feature text from The Bible, Psalm 127-1, stating:
"Except the Lord build the house, they labour but in vain that build it.
Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain."
This text was chosen by Mrs Elizabeth Emily O’Connell (nee le Geyt), who was the wife of Sir Maurice Charles O’Connell, the second President of the Legislative Council.
Origins of the Australian System of Law
By Rev Dr David Mitchell
An Independent Nation; The Place of United Nations Law in Australian Law; The Heads of State; The Queen's representative
Dr David Mitchell, an Australian Lawyer and a leading authority on Constitutional and Human Rights issues, a graduate of the International Institute of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France. Amongst many attainments he was Attorney-General of the African nation of Lesotho, an ordained Presbyterian Minister and was an elected delegate to the Constitutional Convention held in 1988.
Mitchell on Law - Podcasts
Summit Ministries talk by David Mitchell in January 2007 in Canberra. Speaking on Origins of Australian Law.
Dr David Mitchell was an Australian Lawyer and a leading authority on Constitutional and Human Rights issues, being a graduate of the International Institute of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France. Amongst many attainments he was Attorney-General of the African nation of Lesotho, is an ordained Presbyterian Minister residing in Hobart, Tasmania and was an elected delegate to the Constitutional Convention held in 1988.
David Mitchell Track 01 - 22:34 mins
David Mitchell Track 02 - 9:30 mins
Victorian Parliament
The Vestibule is the main entrance Hall to the Victorian Parliament and was completed in 1879. This parliament was also used from 1901 to 1927 for the Commonwealth Parliament. In the centre of the Vestibule there is a mosaic of the Royal Crest with the words from the Book of Proverbs 11:14 "Where no council is the people fall, but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety."
Alfred Deakin a Pioneering Politician
Alfred Deakin, Australia’s second Prime Minister, was also the fifth and the seventh. He was in office three times in the first ten years of Federation.
Often referred to as ‘the constructor’, his work in building soundly on the nation’s constitutional foundations is evident a century later.
Perhaps the finest speaker in the Australian parliament’s first century, Deakin was also Australia's first Attorney General.
Federation Pavilion, Centennial Park, Sydney
Pavilion erected in 1988 which contains the 1901 monument of the Federation of the six states. The picture of the man near tie, right chest & hip. contains the words from 1Corinthians 13: 13 - Faith, Hope & Charity.
Two articles by Prof Nicholas Aroney
1. Faith in Public Office: The Meaning, Persistence and Importance of Oaths and Freedom of Religion
2. Section 116 of the Australian Constitution
Hymn of the Federation
From the files of the Corowa Free Press, August 1st, 1893 HYMN OF THE FEDERATION at The Corowa Conference July 31st, 1893
Where the waters of the Murray and the
border cities meet,
I hear the sound of voices and the tramp
of many feet
And as one the sound of voices, and as one
the pulses beat
True to the Union!
Our artificial borders they have caused us
many hates
That shall fade before the union which
the world expected waits,
Give way the barriers! Open all ye everlasting gates!
Open to Union!
Not for us the bloody banner of an old
king crafted land
Our foundation shall be justice—their’s is
but the futile sand.
Our flag, the Christ blessed cross of stars
from Gulf to Southern strand.
One in our Union!
Not ours to make a people slaves while we
from bonds are free;
Not ours to make our rivers run redbosomed to the sea;
But ours to build the basement as the skymost tower shall be—
Strength is the Union!
Within our land no sword shall come to
well the widow’s tears;
For our yeomen are our legions, and their
spoils the golden ears-
We know not aught of lust of blood, nor
war that slays and sears.
Peace is the Union!
Where the steel-bound promontory bars
the entrance to the South—
Where the silver mirage trembles in the
zenith of the drouth—
Sounds the voice of all Australia, as the
voice of but one mouth,
“Speed the Union!”
With the old world wrecks to guide us
which the sands of hist’ry strew
Let us build a mighty nation that shall not
be for the few.
Let us build on till perfect—let us build
and build anew.
Perfect the Union!
Throw down all our cruel barriers; for
without them we’re strong
To defend from our wrong others—to defend
ourselves from wrong;
And our nation, built on honor, sings a
clarion rapturous song.
“Honor the Union!”
“Honor the Union!” Randolph Bedford. Melbourne, July 30, 1893
Senator Scott Ryan
set the record for the biggest Bible at the swearing in of the Abbott Ministry. It’s actually a family Bible from the 1880s, carried at the request of his 94-year-old grandmother.
View online
Robert Garran
Was the son of a Congregational minister helped draft Australia's Federal Constitution and was appointed the Secretary to the Attorney General's dept on the 1 January 1901, becoming Australia's first federal public servant, wrote this poem:
"Help us build a nation,
A people proud and free -
Proud of our high vocation,
Humble, O Lord, to Thee.
Aflame with high endeavour,
Though many paths be trod,
Keep us united ever,
One people, serving God."
By Robert Randolph Garran.
