Former Mayor Calls for All Churches to Pay Taxes, and Donate It to Victims of Child Abuse

By Des Houghton
The Courier-Mail
June 15, 2014

http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/former-mayor-calls-for-all-churches-to-pay-taxes-and-donate-it-to-victims-of-child-abuse/story-fnihsrf2-1226954421709

FORMER Brisbane Lord Mayor Jim Soorley yesterday called for all churches in Australia to pay rates and taxes with some money going to the victims of child abuse by the clergy.

Mr Soorley, a former Catholic priest, sparked uproar by accusing some churches of profiteering and abusing their rate-exempt status by banking large tracts of land.

“Why should they be exempt?” Soorley said.

“Rates are collected to pay for vital infrastructure in our cities. The churches and their followers use public infrastructure and they should pay their share.’’

He said the churches had squandered much goodwill with shameful criminal behaviour.

He singled out the Salvation Army, the Catholic Church and the Anglican Church for special criticism for harbouring pedophiles.

“We have seen many crimes inside these institutions. Their behaviour towards kids has been disgraceful, historically.

“Why should we still be paying for them?’’

He wants rates collected to be diverted towards victims of crime for the first 10 years.

He stressed he was not “bagging” the churches or hardworking, decent clergy.

“They do a lot of good things,” he said.

Mr Soorley, the Lord Mayor of Brisbane from 1991 to 2003, also warned the burden on ordinary ratepayers was increasing with the expansion of Hindu, Sikh Muslim and Pentecostal faiths in Australia.

He also cautioned against “dubious” religious groups avoiding rates by buying houses and pretending they were places of worship.

Mr Soorley called for a national stocktake of church property.

He said the royal commission into child abuse revealed the Catholic Church’s Sydney Archdiocese alone controls $1.238 billion in funds – most of it tax free. It has turned a profit of $43 million a year through investments since 2001.

Queensland’s Catholic Archbishop, Mark Coleridge said Mr Soorley was “out of touch with reality”.

He said 25 per cent of Australians professed some allegiance to the church which was the second-largest employer in the nation.

He added: “The churches’ contribution to social infrastructure and social capital is massive.

“Churches save the government large amounts of money by running education, health care and social welfare services.”

He said forcing churches to pay rates would compromise the church’s extensive social welfare programs.

John Quiggin, University of Queensland economic professor, said Mr Soorley’s call had merit.

“A large proportion of people never go to church so there is no obvious reason they should be subsidising churchgoers,’’ he said.

Lord Mayor Graham Quirk declined to comment but Local Government Minister David Crisafulli said Queensland councils already had the power to levy rates on churches and whether they do so was a matter for them.