Welcome to the 16 May 2026 edition of the NSL Weekend Wrap, your weekly round-up of news and views on Australian #secular issues! #auspol #secularism

Coming up this week...

Friday delivered an unlikely political trifecta. Before 10am, the Full Federal Court dismissed Giggle for Girls' appeal in Tickle v Giggle, confirming two acts of direct discrimination and rejecting the argument that the Sex Discrimination Act's protections don't extend to transgender women. By the end of the day, Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor had announced amending that same Act would be a first-term Coalition priority, and Nationals MP Alison Penfold had announced her own legislation to strip some trans protections. ADF International, the US-based religious legal organisation that backed Giggle's case, has now lost that argument twice.

The Plymouth Brethren Christian Church, under parliamentary investigation for alleged covert electoral interference on behalf of the Coalition in 2025, issued an edict to members to purge their homes of all animals. Some pets have already been put down. What the edict reveals is the absolute authority the sect exercises over members' private lives, and prompts obvious questions about the religious exemptions and charity status that allow it to operate with almost no external scrutiny.

And from Victoria: four parties seeking to contest November's state election — with names calculated to attract left-leaning voters — appear to share infrastructure and operators linked to Avi Yemini and Monica Smit, with the stated aim of directing preferences to One Nation. Democracy as a product to be gamed, no doubt with implications for pro-secular and progressive policy in Australia.

https://www.nsl.org.au/columns/weekend-wrap-for-16-may-2026/