Participants:
Series Code: TIJ
Program Code: TIJ004101S
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00:26 Only a few people know what it's like to be the Prime Minister of 00:29 Australia, just 30 to be exact. Eight of them served herein 00:34 Parliament House on top of Capitol Hill in Canberra, 00:38 the nation's capital. 00:39 Fifteen of them served in the old Parliament House a short 00:44 distance away at the base of Capitol Hill and the first seven 00:48 Prime Ministers served in the Victorian Parliament House in 00:52 Melbourne that was the meeting place for the first Australian 00:55 Parliament formed after Federation in 1901. Each of 01:01 these people have been unique bringing their own special 01:04 qualities to the job. 01:06 Many of them have come from humble beginnings. They've had a 01:10 thirst for education and self improvement, drive, tenacity and 01:15 ambition. And it's fascinating to see how faith has shaped our 01:20 Prime Ministers and more importantly how it has shaped 01:23 and influenced our nation. So today we're going to examine the 01:29 spiritual life of each of our Prime Ministers from Edmond 01:33 Barton to Scott Morrison and explore the ways in which their 01:38 beliefs shaped the history and development of our nation. What 01:42 we discover will surprise and inspire you. 01:47 ♪ ♪ 02:04 To take a closer look at the Prime Ministers and in 02:06 particular their spiritual lives and the way they valued their 02:11 beliefs showed the history of the development of Australia 02:14 we've come to Prime Ministers Avenue in Ballarat, Victoria. 02:18 It's a collection of the busts of the Prime Ministers of 02:23 Australia located in the Ballarat Botanical Gardens. 02:27 The busts are displayed as bronze portraits mounted on 02:30 polished granite pedestals. The busts of every Australian Prime 02:35 Minister are here with few exceptions. The Avenue starts 02:40 with the bust of Sir Edmund Barton who became the country's 02:44 first Prime Minister in 1901. He remains the only Australian 02:49 to have served as both Prime Minister and Justice of the High 02:54 Court. Barton was trained as a public speaker and inspired to 02:58 enter politics by a Christian minister, Dr. Steele, whose 03:03 religious values and beliefs rubbed off on Barton. 03:06 Australia's first Prime Minister saw himself as an upright and 03:11 God-fearing citizen and saw Federation as providential and 03:16 part of God's plan for Australia And right there at the very 03:22 start of Federation in 1901 when Edmund Barton was Australia's 03:26 first Prime Minister Australia's Parliament began its proceedings 03:30 with prayer and that practice has continued to this day. 03:35 Whenever Parliament sits, both the House of Representatives and 03:39 the Senate begin with prayer. Australia's second Prime 03:45 Minister was Alfred Deakin. He served for two years as Edmund 03:49 Barton's Attorney General before assuming the prime ministership 03:53 in 1903. Deakin was a good and brilliant man. One of the 03:59 architects of federation and a most influential figure during 04:03 the first decade of the infant Australian nation. He was a 04:07 lawyer by trade and arguably the best read Prime Minister 04:13 Australia has had. Deakin was an avid reader of the Bible and 04:17 regarded it as by far the greatest book of religious 04:21 revelation. He genuinely strived to do God's will and learn more 04:25 about it. One of his favorite Bible verses was Psalm 36 verse 04:31 nine. It says: 04:36 John Christian Watson was Australia's third Prime Minister 04:42 and is still the youngest Prime Minister Australia has ever had. 04:45 He turned 37 a few weeks before taking office in April 1904 and 04:52 held the position for only a few months. In matters of religion 04:56 he came from a unique and complex background. He had a 05:00 Lutheran father, a Catholic mother and a Presbyterian 05:05 step-father. He wasn't a devout or practicing religious man but 05:09 his Christian heritage ensured that he admired Christianity and 05:14 followed its non-theological precepts. George Reid was the 05:21 first Australian Prime Minister to be born into the world and 05:25 the first to leave. He was born in 1845 and died in 1918. His 05:32 term as Prime Minister was short He resigned after only 10 months 05:36 in the job. His father was a well known and prominent 05:41 Presbyterian church minister and George Reid was well-schooled 05:45 and grounded in the Christian faith. Yet he was never known to 05:49 be religious and was a nominal Christian for much of his life. 05:53 However, he believed in God and mixed in Christian circles and 05:59 held Christian values. Andrew Fisher was a key figure in 06:04 Australian history and served three separate terms as Prime 06:09 Minister. He came from a strong Protestant heritage and remained 06:13 a devout Christian all of his life. He knew the Bible well 06:17 believed in personal prayer and was a regular church-goer. He 06:22 spent 13 years of his early life working in the Scottish coal 06:27 pits. After working long hard hours during the day he then 06:31 attended night classes to improve his education. His Christian 06:35 faith and working-class roots were clearly evident in his 06:40 political life. His government achievements were formidable: 06:44 Maternity allowances, the liberalization of invalid and 06:48 old-age pensions, uniform postal charges, a national currency, 06:54 extensive railway construction. a workers compensation act, a 06:59 land tax act, various industrial relations reforms to increase 07:04 the bargaining power of the workers, the creation of the 07:08 Commonwealth Bank. Fisher even designed the Australian coat of 07:13 arms. Fisher's political philosophy and ideas were based 07:18 on his experiences as a miner, his reading and study and his 07:23 Christian faith, a faith that never wavered and guided him 07:28 throughout his life. Fisher was followed by Joseph Cook who was 07:35 the sixth person to hold the top position of Prime Minister. 07:38 Joseph Cook grew up in a staunch Methodist family and from a 07:44 young age learned to love the Bible. In fact one of his 07:48 greatest pleasures was to read the Bible and sing hymns. 07:52 He was an 07:54 exemplary husband and father to his nine children. All his life 07:59 he believed that God was guiding him. Like his predecessor Andrew 08:05 Fisher, Joseph Cook worked in the coal pits as a boy. He soon 08:10 developed a high degree of self confidence and a strong sense of 08:14 obligation. William "Billy" Hughes served three 08:20 terms as Prime Minister, 08:22 each time for a different political party. He 08:26 holds the record as the longest serving parliamentarian lasting 08:30 58 years when he died at 90 years of age while still serving 08:34 in parliament. During that time he belonged at one time or 08:40 another to every major political grouping by the country party. 08:45 Religion and Christianity played an important part in his life. 08:52 He belonged to the Church of England all of his life and 08:55 loved reading the Bible and knew it back to front. The people 09:00 warmed to him. When he died in 1952 it is estimated that nearly 09:06 half a million mourners crammed the streets along the way to the 09:10 cemetery. Stanley Bruce was Australia's eighth Prime 09:16 Minister and the first to govern from the newly built 09:18 capitol Canberra. He came from a devout Presbyterian family. He 09:23 excelled at school and went on to study law at Cambridge 09:27 University. Later he served with high distinction during World 09:31 War I on the front lines as an officer in the British Army. 09:36 After serving six years as Prime Minister he went on to become an 09:41 eminent world statesman. His religious upbringing ensured he 09:45 thought and behaved as a Christian and his colleagues 09:48 described him as a man who walked humbly with his God. 09:54 Jim Scullin was Australia's ninth Prime Minister and the 09:59 first who was a Catholic. He remained committed to his faith 10:02 and practice throughout his life The people elected him because 10:07 he was moderate and decent and trustworthy. Next to hold the 10:13 office of Prime Minister was Joseph Lyons, the first from 10:18 Tasmania. Joseph Lyons was an amiable and respected practicing 10:22 Catholic. At the height of the great depression he defected 10:26 from Labor to the Conservative parties. The Australian people 10:30 put their trust in Lyons. He was elected three times by 10:34 comfortable margins before dying in office just months before the 10:39 outbreak of World War II. Earle Page was Australia's 11th Prime 10:45 Minister holding the office for only 20 days after the death of 10:49 his predecessor Jim Lyons. Before entering politics he was 10:55 a medical doctor and surgeon. He came from a Methodist heritage 10:58 and his life and career were guided by the Bible principles 11:02 and values that he embraced in his youth. Robert Gordon Menzies 11:09 was Australia's 12th and longest serving Prime Minister. 11:13 He served two terms lasting over 18 years in the office, still 11:18 the record term for an Australian Prime Minister. 11:21 And he certainly was one of the most distinguished and 11:24 influential Australian Prime Ministers. But with all the 11:29 praise and honor he received he never lost sight of his 11:34 Christian heritage and the role they played in his life and 11:37 political career and called himself a simple Presbyterian. 11:42 He knew his Bible, believed the gospel and cherished his 11:47 Christian tradition. Arthur Fadden was the Prime Minister of 11:54 less than six weeks, just 40 days to be exact. He came from 11:58 a family of Irish immigrants and was a member of the 12:02 Presbyterian faith. John Curtin was Australia's 14th Prime 12:08 Minister and the country's leader during most of World War 12:11 II. He's considered by many to be the greatest ever Prime 12:17 Minister. Curtin was the eldest son of Irish Catholic immigrants 12:21 He renounced his childhood faith as a teenager when he fell out 12:25 with the Catholic church, but he was far from an irreligious 12:30 man. There is evidence to suggest that later in life 12:33 Curtin regained a form of 12:35 Christian faith. Francis Michael Forde was 12:39 Australia's 15th Prime Minister and holds the record as the 12:44 shortest-serving Prime Minister in Australia's history, just 12:48 eight days. He came from a Catholic heritage. Ben Chifley 12:54 was Australia's 16th Prime Minister and probably its most 12:58 popular one. It seems that just about everybody, colleagues of 13:04 owners, journalists, and voters seemed to like him. He was a 13:08 hard worker, a peacemaker, an inspiring leader and a good 13:13 Christian. It was Chifley who coined the phrase which is still 13:18 the ALP patch cry, the light on the hill. He drew it of 13:23 course from the sermon on the mount: 13:31 Harold Holt succeeded Menzies second term as Prime Minister. 13:37 He was the 17th Australian to hold the office. Holding the 13:42 highest political office in the land was the culmination of a 13:46 successful career. He did well at school, in the law, and in 13:51 business before entering politics. Although attending a 13:55 Methodist boarding school, he showed no interest in God or 14:00 religion. He was an apathetic agnostic. On Sunday morning, 14:05 December 17, 1967, he went to Sheviet Beach with several 14:11 strangers. Soon after midday he strode alone into the rough 14:15 undertow surf and was never seen again, presumed drowned. 14:20 John McEwen took over the highest political office in the 14:26 land following the disappearance of Harold Holt. He was 14:30 Australia's 18th Prime Minister and served for only 23 days. 14:36 He came from a Presbyterian heritage. On the 10th of January 14:41 1968 John Gorton became the 19th Prime Minister of Australia. He 14:48 wasn't considered a religious man but had a great respect for 14:51 Christianity and a little known spiritual side to his character 14:55 which was developed during his schooling at elite Anglican 15:00 schools. It was there that Gorton's religious consciousness 15:04 was shaped. He was an Oxford graduate and a brave fighter 15:08 pilot during World War II. In fact, he survived three flying 15:13 accidents and his ship being torpedoed. Gorton was also the 15:18 only Prime Minister to vote himself out of office. William 15:24 "Willie" McMahon was the 20th Prime Minister of Australia. 15:28 He was a substantial and important individual who was 15:33 also a government minister for over 21 years. The longest 15:37 continual ministerial service in Australian history. During his 15:43 mid-teens he began investigating God and religion 15:47 and developed a genuine passion for theology and spiritual 15:51 matters. His spiritual journey took him from Catholicism 15:56 to Anglicanism. He spoke and wrote extensively about his 16:00 faith that strongly influenced his life and political career. 16:05 Edward Gough Whitlam was the 21st Prime Minister of Australia 16:12 serving from 1972 to 1975. He was a titanic figure in the 16:19 history of modern Australia. He was the leader of the Labor 16:23 Party from 1967 to 1977 and led his party to power for the first 16:30 time in 23 years at the 1972 election. His government 16:36 achieved a great deal for social justice: One vote, one value, 16:41 Medicare, the Trade Practices Act, Needs-based education 16:46 funding and better sewerage for Australian cities to name but 16:51 five of his legacies. Whitlam grew up in a devout Baptist 16:57 family. His parents were pious churchgoers and raised their 17:01 children in a God-fearing, disciplined home. They read the 17:05 Bible and Gough knew his Bible well and respected it all his 17:10 life. However later in life he left his childhood faith but 17:15 imbibed Christianity and followed his nontheological 17:19 precepts. Gough Whitlam was Australia's longest lived Prime 17:24 Minister reaching the age of 98 sadly just two years short of 17:30 receiving a hundredth birthday letter from Queen Elizabeth II 17:34 the woman who sacked him and his government in 1975. John 17:41 Malcolm Fraser served as the 22nd Prime Minister of Australia 17:46 in office from 1975 to 1983 as leader of the Liberal Party. 17:52 During this time he built the best record of human rights of 17:58 any Prime Minister in Australia's history. He came 18:02 from a devout Presbyterian family and attended Anglican 18:07 schools and later studied at Oxford University. He knew the 18:11 rudiments of Christianity and no doubt this influenced his life 18:16 and political decisions and colored his world view. Robert 18:22 Hawke was Australia's 23rd Prime Minister and the country's 18:25 longest serving Labor Prime Minister. He was one of the most 18:30 popular and charismatic of Australia's Prime Ministers. 18:34 He led his party to outright victory in four federal 18:38 elections and lost none. Hawke's government transformed Australia 18:44 The country joined the global economy, it embraced 18:49 multiculturalism, Medicare was entrenched and progressive taxes 18:52 were introduced. His father was a Congregationalist Church 18:57 minister and Hawke grew up in a thoroughly Christian home. Yet 19:02 he lost his personal faith in his early 20s and described 19:06 himself as an agnostic from then on. However, he wrote in his 19:11 memoirs that his parents' basic Christian principles of 19:16 brotherhood and compassion drove his public life. Their Christian 19:21 beliefs and precepts guided his political career. Paul Keating 19:28 mounted a successful challenge to Bob Hawke's leadership and 19:32 became Australia's 24th Prime Minister in 1991. He came from a 19:38 devout Irish Catholic heritage and was educated exclusively in 19:42 the Catholic system. He remained faithful to the tenants of the 19:46 Catholic church and in a sense that defined Keating and 19:51 strongly influenced his political career and decisions. 19:57 John Howard became the 25th Australian Prime Minister on 20:01 the 11th of March 1996 and continued to hold the office 20:05 until the 3rd of December 2007 making him the second-longest 20:10 serving Prime Minister of Australia after Robert Menzies. 20:14 He won four federal elections during that period. He was 20:19 courteous and measured as well as thoughtful in his conduct. 20:23 He lived a worthy industrious life and was a practicing 20:27 Christian who attended church regularly. He's the only Liberal 20:31 Party minister to have been educated in a state school. 20:35 On the 3rd of December 2007 Kevin Rudd became the 26th Prime 20:42 Minister of Australia. He served two terms from December 2007 to 20:47 June 2010 and again from June to September 2013. He held the 20:55 office as leader of the Australian Labor Party. One of 20:58 his government's significant acts was to deliver an apology 21:02 to indigenous Australians for the stolen generations. Rudd 21:08 is a committed Christian and attends church regularly. He is 21:12 passionate about religion and speaks and writes extensively 21:15 about his faith. He has roots from Catholicism to Anglicanism. 21:21 Rudd is considered by me to be the most overtly Christian Prime 21:26 Minister since Joe Lyons. On the 24th of June 2010 Kevin Rudd 21:34 lost the support of his party and resigned. Julia Gillard was 21:38 elected unopposed as his replacement and became 21:42 Australia's 27th Prime Minister. She was the first and, to date, 21:46 only woman to hold the positions of Deputy Prime Minister, 21:51 Prime Minister and leader of a major party in Australia. As far 21:57 as religion goes Gillard has clearly stated that she's not a 22:02 religious person. She's an unbeliever. Having said that, 22:06 Gillard has never called herself an 22:08 atheist or described a state of 22:11 mind the amounts to atheism. Her parents were Baptist and in her 22:17 youth she attended the local Baptist church where she 22:20 received the benefit of a very vigorous grounding in basic 22:24 Christianity. She's since rejected all of that but has 22:29 retained a healthy respect of religious people and religious 22:33 issues. Tony Abbott served as the 28th Prime Minister of 22:39 Australia from 2013 to 2015 and is the first Catholic to do so 22:45 from the Liberal Party. After graduating from Oxford 22:49 University he briefly trained in a Roman Catholic seminary 22:53 preparing for the priesthood. His religious convictions guided 23:00 his life and political career. On the 14th of September 2015 23:06 Abbott was defeated in a vote for the Liberal Party leadership 23:10 by Malcolm Turnbull who became Australia's 29th Prime Minister 23:14 the next day. Turnbull came from a Presbyterian heritage but 23:21 became an agnostic in the beginning of his adult life 23:24 and later converted to Roman Catholicism, the religion of his 23:29 wife's family. In August 2018 Malcolm Turnbull successfully 23:35 defeated a challenge for his position as Prime Minister and 23:39 leader of the Liberal Party. The tension continued and a 23:43 second ballot was held on the 24th of August which saw Scott 23:47 Morrison win and become the 30th Prime Minister of Australia. 23:53 Scott Morrison was raised in Uniting Church but now regularly 23:58 worships in a Pentecostal church He has ensured that his 24:02 religious faith is well known, a faith that gives guiding 24:07 principles and a faith that is central to his identity. The 24:13 records show that the faith of the Prime Ministers often 24:18 affected their decision making even beyond matters that are 24:21 clearly moral or spiritual such as family law, the death penalty 24:27 euthanasia, state aid to religious schools and so on. 24:30 It extended to adjoining issues of political politics, the 24:37 distribution of wealth, war and peace and the recognition and 24:40 enforcement of human rights. Christianity has played a major 24:47 and positive role in shaping and making Australia the splendid 24:51 country we live in and enjoy today, a country that's 24:55 democratic, prosperous and relatively free of violence. We 25:01 have been uniquely blessed in human history and for this 25:05 state of affairs our Prime Ministers surely deserve some 25:10 credit and perhaps their Christian faith even more so. 25:14 And here's some good news. Over the last 200 years 25:18 Christianity has done Australia a lot of good and it can do the 25:23 same for you too. So if you're facing challenges in life and 25:29 looking for inner peace and happiness, then I'd like to 25:32 to recommend a free gift we have for all our Incredible Journey 25:37 viewers today. It's a book that has changed nations and has 25:42 brought hope and peace to millions of people around the 25:45 world. In fact, it's the world's best seller, the Bible. It's a 25:51 book that shares the Christian message and if there's one 25:54 Bible word all Australians and New Zealanders would recognize 25:59 it's eternity. It's a message of God's love for us in Jesus 26:04 Christ, a love that will last forever. The Bible has brought 26:10 me hope, peace and happiness and I want you to have a copy, too. 26:16 So make sure you take this wonderful opportunity to receive 26:19 the free Bible we have for you today. 26:22 Phone or text us at 0436-333-555 in Australia or 020-422-2042 in 26:33 New Zealand or visit our website TiJ.tv to request today's free 26:40 offer and we'll send it to you totally free of charge and with 26:44 no obligation. Write to us at: 26:59 Don't delay. Call or text us now. 27:05 If you've enjoyed today's journey to Canberra and Ballarat 27:09 in the footsteps of our Prime Ministers and our reflections 27:12 on the important role Christianity has played in the 27:16 history and development of our nation, be sure to join us again 27:20 next week when we will share another of life's journey's 27:23 together. Until then may the God who has blessed Australia keep 27:28 you safe and give you peace. Let's pray the prayer that the 27:33 Speaker offers to open each session of the Australian 27:38 Parliament. 28:21 ♪ ♪ |
Revised 2021-06-09