Council
2 October, 2025
Moyne adopts new secular opening statement
MOYNE Shire Council has officially adopted a secular statement of values to replace the opening prayer at council meetings.
The move followed the July decision to remove the prayer from the beginning of council meetings, and to instead prepare a statement of values which are secular and affirm council’s commitment to democratic governance.
At last week’s Ordinary Meeting of Council, councillors voted on the wording of the new secular statement of values to be read at the beginning of council meetings.
The statements will read:
“As councillors, we recognise the responsibilities we carry and are guided by the values of service, respect, and integrity.
“Good decision-making requires transparency, accountability and behaviours that uphold the trust placed in us as elected representatives of the community we serve.”
As mover of the motion councillor Jordan Lockett said the wording was succinct and meaningful.
“We’ve had a couple of good discussion on this a couple of times,” he said.
“I think we want to play as a team but, to appreciate the statement, I think it’s short, sharp and a greater reminder of why we’re here.”
Councillor Myra Murrihy spoke in favour of the statement, saying it captured the shared ideals of councillors – even if they have differences of opinion.
“I think for seven very different people coming together to settle on something, it’s a really nice statement,” she said.
“It’s what we set out to achieve.
“I would have liked to have bolstered it a little, I’m sure there would be bits people want to take out, but overall I think we’ve done a really good job in getting seven very different ideas and opinions of how we would like something to be or how we would like it to read.
“I think that it is a good thing for our community to know that we are reiterating this to ourselves and to the community every month when we sit at our council meetings.”
Councillor Lloyd Ross noted the wording could change but felt the statement reflected the aims of councillors as community representatives.
“As councillors we’ve got to work together and that’s what we’ve come up with,” he said.
“I’m happy to support it.”
The motion was carried 6-1, with Cr Jim Doukas voting against.
The item followed a tense exchange during the public participation section of the meeting, when participant Jacqueline Gale spoke against the removal of prayer on the basis “Christianity is the religion that built a country”.
“I came to support Jim (Doukas) as a sister in Christ,” she said.
“I think it was Susan (Taylor, councillor) who said we are in a battle – we’re in a war – and she’s correct.
“There is a spiritual battle that goes on for everyone’s souls and the battle, whether you realise it or not, the battle is real.
“In the spirit realm it is more real than what’s in the physical.”
Councillor Lisa Ryan questioned why Mrs Gale chose to speak as she was not a Moyne Shire resident.
Mrs Gale said she lived in Koroit for ten years, but had found out about the decision to remove prayer on social media.
Cr Ryan asked how Mrs Gale reconciled tens of thousands of years of First Nations culture and spirituality existing prior to the arrival of Judaeo-Christian religions with colonisation.
“There’s actually Aboriginals themselves who have become Christians and they will quite openly tell you that the religion of Aboriginals, that their ceremonies and that, are actually worshipping demons,” Mrs Gale said.
Cr Ryan asked for evidence of such claim, stating such a significant claim needed to be backed up.
“I’m not in the law of court, am I?” Mrs Gale said.
“I’m saying there are Aboriginals that became Christians and they themselves will tell you, on a spiritual level, that when they do the smoking ceremonies they’re invoking spirits that are not of God.”
Cr Doukas asked if Mrs Gale if she believed people “that deliberately go out to cancel out Christianity being those doing the work of the Devil”.
“One hundred percent, because if you believe God’s word you’re either a child of God, which means you’re born again into God’s family, or you are a child of the Devil.
“It’s one or the other – if you’re a child of the Devil you can easily be deceived and easily be a tool of the Devil because you’re ignorant.
“Some people do know which is why you’ve got Occultists, you’ve got Satanists, some of them are obvious ones.”
Cr Murrihy said she didn’t like being likened to working for the devil.
“We are not taking a religion from you,” she said.
“We are becoming a more inclusive place for everybody in our community.”