The Coalition’s Dangerous Flirtation with Extremism

Election 2025 – How the Coalition’s Embrace of Extremism Risks Australia’s Secular Society

By Sue Barrett

Australia stands at a crossroads. A creeping ideology, cloaked in the guise of “Christian values,” threatens to erode the pluralistic, live-and-let-live ethos that has long defined our nation. The Coalition’s recent pledge to the Australian Christian Lobby (ACL), as exposed by the tireless work of journalist Lucy Hamilton, signals a chilling alignment with Christian Nationalism – a movement that has already poisoned American politics and society. This is not a benign call for faith; it is a calculated gambit to import a divisive, coercive ideology that prioritises control over freedom, exclusion over inclusion, and dogma over reason.

We cannot let Australia become America’s dystopian mirror.

The Coalition’s Pledge: A Deal with Extremism

On 16 April 2025, Lucy Hamilton revealed in her excellent Pearls & Irritations article – The Coalition Commits to Christian Nationlism – that Coalition candidates, including figures like Amelia Hamer and Katie Allen, have endorsed a Christian principles statement on the ACL’s misleadingly named australiavotes.org.au. This is no ordinary appeal to religious voters. The ACL, labelled a hate group by critics, is not advocating for the gentle Christianity of Australian tradition – one rooted in compassion and tolerance. Instead, it pushes an American-style, authoritarian vision that seeks to impose rigid moral codes on all citizens. Rumours swirl that the ACL is collaborating with the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a U.S.-based extremist group that has advocated for state-sanctioned sterilisation of transgender people, the criminalisation of homosexuality, and the dismantling of reproductive rights. Both organisations were present at the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship (ARC) conference in London, attended by Coalition figures like Peter Dutton, who sit on its advisory board.

The Coalition’s statement is a manifesto of Christian Nationalism, claiming that Australia’s democracy, institutions, and character are uniquely rooted in Judeo-Christian values. This is a lie. Our nation’s foundations are built on Indigenous heritage, secular governance, and multicultural cooperation – not a singular religious identity. By asserting that “personal responsibility, individual liberty, freedom of belief and speech, and the paramount importance of the family” are exclusively Christian, the Coalition aligns with a transnational Right that seeks to “save” Western civilisation from secularism and diversity. This is not about protecting faith; it’s about weaponising it to divide and dominate.

The Psychology and Pathology of Christian Nationalism

What drives this movement? At its core, Christian Nationalism is fuelled by fear and a pathological need for control. Its adherents – often middle-class, conservative, and predominantly white – perceive a world slipping away from their idealised vision of order. Secularism, multiculturalism, and progressive values like gender equality and LGBTQIA+ rights threaten their sense of cultural dominance. Psychologically, this manifests as a siege mentality, where the “other” – be it Muslims, trans people, or secular humanists – becomes an existential enemy. The Coalition’s transphobic commitment to a binary view of sex, dismissing the complexity of human biology and psychology, exemplifies this reductive worldview.

The motivation is power. Christian Nationalists don’t seek coexistence; they demand supremacy. In the U.S., decades of strategic organising – through dedicated media empires, legal warfare, and pulpit mobilisation – have transformed the Republican Party into a vehicle for their agenda. The result? A nation where women’s bodily autonomy is under siege, public education is defunded to prop up religious charter schools, and “religious freedom” is a code for imposing Christian values on everyone. The Coalition’s embrace of “parental choice” and “religious freedom” mirrors this American playbook, signalling a desire to fracture communities and prioritise private, religious interests over the public good.

The American Warning: A Nation Fractured

Look at the United States, and you see Australia’s potential future if we allow this ideology to take root. The Christian Right, once a fringe movement, now dictates policy. States like Texas and Florida ban books that celebrate diversity, criminalise abortion, and attack transgender healthcare. Public schools are starved of funds while taxpayer money flows to religious institutions that teach climate denialism and exclusionary values. The Supreme Court, stacked with Christian Nationalist allies, dismantles decades of progressive gains. Communities are torn apart as school board meetings become battlegrounds for culture wars, with parents radicalised by fearmongering about “woke” education.

This is not freedom. It’s coercion dressed in spiritual garb. Most Americans don’t want this – polls consistently show majority support for abortion rights, LGBTQIA+ protections, and secular governance. Yet, strategic gerrymandering, voter suppression, and relentless propaganda ensure that Christian Nationalists hold disproportionate power. The Handmaid’s Tale is no longer fiction; it’s a policy blueprint.

Do we want this in Australia? Do we want our libraries censored, our schools defunded, our healthcare dictated by religious edicts? Do we want a nation where LGBTQIA+ kids live in fear, where women lose control over their bodies, where Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, atheists or any other group are treated as second-class citizens? The Coalition’s flirtation with the ACL suggests they’re willing to risk it for electoral gain.

The Web of Extremism: Atlas, ARC, and Beyond

The ACL is not acting alone. It’s part of a global network of right-wing organisations, including the Atlas Network, which funnels fossil-fuel money into culture wars and climate denialism.

You can watch the latest excellent episode of The Sunday Shot which featured Lucy Hamilton and others discussing the Atlas Network and the sinister way it propagates messages that support its own commercial and political interests while masquerading as grassroots organisations.

The ACL is not acting alone. It’s part of a global network of right-wing organisations, including the Atlas Network, which funnels fossil-fuel money into culture wars and climate denialism. The ARC, with its Coalition allies, pushes a religio-ethnonationalist vision where “chosen faiths” define nations, sidelining others. Church and State, led by David Pellowe, trains Christian activists to mobilise through “Pulpits Aflame,” with Coalition figures like Tony Abbott and Matt Canavan lending legitimacy.

The ACL also promotes the Family First party, led by former ACL executive director Lyle Shelton, as the top choice for Christian voters. The Liberals’ decision to preference Family First second in key seats reveals their calculated bid to harness this radicalised Christian vote, trading secular values for electoral gain. The Australian Digital Holdings deal to rebrand as the Trumpist NewsMax, backed by Atlas-linked figures like Maurice Newman, promises to amplify this agenda through media.

These groups aren’t grassroots; they’re astroturf, bankrolled by elites who profit from division. Their goal is to replicate America’s Christian Right strategy: radicalise congregations, weaponise “religious freedom,” and erode secular institutions. The ACL’s Human Rights Law Alliance, tied to Church and State, already mimics the ADF’s lawfare tactics. If unchecked, this network could reshape Australia’s democracy.

A Call to Action: Stop the Slide Now

Thanks to Lucy Hamilton’s fearless reporting, we have a chance to expose and resist this extremism before it entrenches itself. Australia is not America – not yet. Our secular, multicultural identity is worth defending. We must reject the Coalition’s dangerous gamble and demand transparency about their ties to the ACL, ADF, and Atlas Network. Voters deserve to know if candidates are pledging allegiance to a foreign ideology over Australian values.

Citizens can act now. Call out politicians who endorse the ACL’s agenda. Support secular education and inclusive healthcare. Amplify voices like Hamilton’s, who shine a light on these shadowy networks. Above all, vote for leaders who unite, not divide. The U.S. shows us what happens when extremism festers: a fractured society, a hollowed-out democracy, and a nation at war with itself.

We cannot become America. Let’s stop this dreadful slide before it’s too late.

Onward we press

Resources

16 April 2025, Lucy Hamilton, Pearls & Irritations Article: – The Coalition Commits to Christian Nationlism

13 April 2025, The Sunday Shot: Gettin Scared

 

This article was originally published on Sue Barrett

 

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