Christians push influence in Australian election

CANBERRA - Australia's religious right has weighed into the nation's election campaign, urging major candidates to block same-sex marriage and angering gay groups who accuse Christian lobby groups of scare mongering.

Catholic Cardinal George Pell and the non-denominational Australian Christian Lobby urged a continued ban on same-sex marriages, saying the move could not be considered discriminatory against gay and lesbian couples.

But gay rights advocate Rodney Croome said Australians overwhelmingly wanted to end legal discrimination against same-sex couples, and the votes of gay people and their supporters could be crucial at the coming election.

"There is more discrimination against same sex couples in Australian national law than there is in the law of any other Western country other than the United States," Croome told Reuters on Wednesday.

Australia, a predominantly Christian country, will hold parliamentary elections on Nov. 24. Conservative Prime Minister John Howard and his Labor rival Kevin Rudd, both practising Christians, oppose same-sex marriage and gay adoptions.

But Rudd's Labor Party, leading strongly in opinion polls, has promised to push for an end to other discrimination against same-sex couples to ensure they receive equal treatment under laws on welfare, immigration, tax and medical benefits.

Australia, a nation of 21 million people, has more than 5 million Catholics and about 4 million Anglicans, although one in five claim no religious affiliation.

Pentecostal churches are also experiencing a boom in popularity, and in 2004 when the then unknown Family First party, backed by Pentecostal churches, won an upper house Senate seat.

Pell, launching his book on religion and politics on Monday, said it was wrong to liken "alleged discrimination against homosexuals" to racial discrimination.

"Same-sex marriage and adoption change the meaning of marriage, family, parenting and childhood for everyone, not just for homosexual couples," Pell said.

His comments were backed by Jim Wallace, a former army special forces commander, who runs the Australian Christian Lobby. The lobby has launched a Web site featuring answers from political leaders on issues such as gay marriage and abortion.

"I think what we're talking about here is making sure that while we remove unfair discrimination, that we do not allow a very small part of the population to force their model for relationships to be adopted as the community norm," Wallace told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio.

His organisation plans to send supporters about 500,000 pamphlets on the policies of key political parties in the three weeks left before election day.

Howard and Rudd recognised the importance of the religious vote in August when they took part in a live debate, broadcast to about 100,000 people in 800 churches, where they spoke about their views on religion and moral issues.