Statement by Anton Block, President of the Executive Council of Aus­trali­an Jewry
The President of the Executive Council of Aus­trali­an Jewry, Anton Block, has rejected as “alarmist” sug­ges­tions that an amendment to the defin­i­tion of marriage in Aus­trali­an civil law will in some way open the door to a future infringe­ment of the religious freedoms of those who believe in the tra­di­tion­al defin­i­tion of marriage.  He was com­ment­ing on a con­tro­ver­sial statement issued by the Rab­bin­ic­al Council of Victoria (RCV) urging Aus­trali­ans to vote “No” to proposed reforms to Australia’s marriage laws that would recognise same sex marriages.
“The RCV statement was issued without proper thought or under­stand­ing of the way Australia’s Con­sti­tu­tion and legal system work”, Mr Block said.  “There is no basis for believing that a change to the civil law defin­i­tion of marriage would be a potential threat to the rights and freedoms of religious insti­tu­tions and leaders to conduct religious marriages or to affirm religious teachings about marriage.  Religious marriages are outside the scope of the Marriage Act, which relates only to civil marriages.   It is alarmist to suggest otherwise, and wrong for the RCV to use its authority in religious matters in this way.”
Mr Block added: “All people are entitled to have their dignity respected, regard­less of their ethnicity, religious affil­i­ations and beliefs, sexual ori­ent­a­tion, gender, or any dis­ab­il­ity.”
The President of the RCV and at least six other rabbis who are members of the RCV have since dis­so­ci­ated them­selves from the RCV statement.