John Howard (Bennelong, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I have not read last week’s issue of the Catholic Weekly. I apologise to the Catholics in the House for not having done so. I accept I apologise particularly to some of those opposite and behind me, but I am not surprised—may I be frank and, I hope, courteously frank to His Grace—that Bishop Manning should have made those comments. Over the years I think Bishop Manning on a number of issues has been quite critical of the government’s policies. I respect his right to do that, but I would point out that even a Catholic bishop does not speak for all Catholics in this country. I know many devout mass-going Catholics who are very strong supporters of this legislation. I know that they have absolutely no difficulty in reconciling support for this legislation with their Catholic faith. We have been talking a little bit about politics and the Christian heritage in the last few days, and I think it is very important to make the obvious statement that there is no such thing as a Catholic position on industrial relations. I do not claim any particular support of Christian doctrine in relation to it.

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