Australian Christians (AC) have made history.
Maryka Groenewald, AC’s first candidate to be elected to any Australian parliament, delivered her maiden speech on Thursday.
Her speech marks a watershed moment for the Jesus People party, which was first conceived of in 1992 by disability advocates Brian and Marge Lawrie.
Officially registered in 2011 as a political entity with the AEC, Groenewald’s election in 2025 to the Western Australian legislative council plants AC firmly into Australia’s political milieu.
Success has been a long time coming, and that success hasn’t arrived without opposition.
The AEC received 3 objections to AC’s registration within the “speak now or forever have your peace” timeframe given to protest AEC registration decisions.
Only 1 of those objections was formal, the AEC said.
The protest letter argued that the name “Australian Christians was too generic and “could be easily confused with other parties, such as the [now sadly defunct] Christian Democrats (CDP).”
Signalling to the author’s apparent agenda, the protest letter added,
“Were Australian Christians proposing a name like the ‘Christian Socialist Party’, there would be no objection because that would be a sufficient distinction.”
AEC responded by registering AC.
They rule the quibble over the name as nonsense, stating,
“The proposed name is clearly, visually and aurally distinguishable from the name or abbreviation of any other registered party,” the AEC asserted.
“The name ‘Australian Christians’ is therefore permitted under s.129 of the Electoral Act.”
Maryka Groenewald’s maiden speech is the culmination of AC’s determination.
Thanking family, friends, and colleagues, Groenewald marked the pioneer moment by paying tribute to her family’s pioneering immigration story.
Her family’s exodus from South Africa coincided with a special mention of those still suffering through the country’s politically driven, race-based violence.
Groenewald then exclaimed that “the story of Jesus, his resurrection and the transforming truth of the gospel remains the biggest game changer in her life.”
Heading off potential complaints about Church and State, Groenewald laid out her boundaries, stating,
“I am not here to push my faith on anyone.”
“And contrary to what people think it means, separation of church and state was always about preventing an exertion of the power of the state over the church, and vice versa.”
Defining the relationship between Church and State was never “actually about limiting Christian expression in the public space,” she clarified.
With Soli Deo Gloria in mind, AC’s goal is to defend Christian rights through preserving Christocentric classical liberal freedoms and responsibilities.
Their seven current primary concerns, as asserted by Groenewald, include:
- “Moves to strip Christian schools of their freedom to employ staff who want to live out their faith.”
- Preserving parental choice in education.
- Protecting Christian teachers from being forced to comply with ideologies that are unsupported by and incompatible with Christian convictions.
- Stopping aggressive activist LGBTQ+ legislation from making prayer a thought crime.
- Ending the LGBTrans war on children, and the war on the unborn in the womb.
- Recognising the value of chaplains and the contributions of chaplaincy.
- Reasserting God over government, in an era where government asserts itself as God.
Groenewald then added that the skills she brings to parliament are informed by both faith and action.
Such as successful ministry work with Aboriginal kids, prisons, and the fight to end human trafficking.
Emphasising Australia’s Christian heritage, Groenewald’s maiden speech concluded with an appeal to rediscover that foundation.
“Australia’s foundations are solid, even if we have forgotten them.
“Our legal system, our freedoms, our sense of fairness—they did not just fall from the sky,” she explained.
“They were built on a Christian heritage that honours dignity, mercy, compassion and personal responsibility.”
This is the Christian worldview, it “affirms that every life is valuable, that truth matters and that justice must be tempered with grace.”
These are not outdated values, she said.
“They are the reason we have enjoyed peace, freedom, and stability. Take them away, and everything begins to wobble.
“I hope to give voice to these values again.”
Leaning on Proverbs 3:5-7, Groenewald’s speech ends with the bold declaration, “My steps are ordered, my path is straight. I look forward to walking it with the amazing people of WA and each of you over the next four years.”
And everybody said, Amen!
