Melbourne: Two people dressed as nuns of Mother Teresa have been caught defacing a “Tax the Church” poster on a street in Melbourne, Australia
The pair seemingly attempted to rip down two campaign posters for the Australian Sex Party (ASP) on a street corner near Smith Street in Collingwood.
Photos of the incident were sent to the party’s Victorian branch May end, however it is not known when the images were taken, stuff.co.nz reported.
The party’s lead candidate for the Victorian Senate, Meredith Doig, said it was not a political stunt as far as she was aware.
The pair are dressed in the distinctive garb worn by Sisters belonging to Missionaries of Charity, set up by Mother Teresa.
Shane Healy, director of media and communications for the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne, said while interfering with election posters could not be condoned, “no one should be at all surprised that Sisters of the Missionaries of Charity, established by Mother Teresa of Calcutta to feed and support the poorest of the poor, would be taking offence at the policies of the Sex Party”.
The Missionaries of Charity would not answer Fairfax Media’s repeated calls on Friday afternoon.
Doig said she was sad to learn the posters had been defaced.
“It’s pretty aggressive action,” she said.
The ripped posters were calling for “the church” to be taxed and marijuana to be legalized.
Doig said religious institutions should not be exempt from paying tax and claimed churches were “getting away with running commercial organizations” without paying tax.
Sex Party leader Fiona Patten said the attack was “cowardly and unprovoked.”
“If the ‘nuns’ would like to visit me and confess, that will be an end to it,” she added.
It is not the first time Sex Party signs have been attacked.
Patten said party posters were removed from a church that was used as a polling booth during the last state election in New South Wales.
The ASP was founded in 2008 in response to concerns over the increasing influence of religion in Australian politics.
The party was born out of an adult-industry lobby group, the Eros Association. Its leader, Fiona Patten, describes the party as a “civil libertarian alternative.” Patten is a veteran campaigner on issues such as censorship, equality, and discrimination.
The ASP’s policy platform has been described as libertarian. It is opposed to mandatory internet censorship, and supports the introduction of a national media classification scheme, including a rating for non-violent sexual content.
The ASP also supports a royal commission into the sexual abuse of children in Australian religious institutions, and favors legalized abortion, gay rights, voluntary euthanasia, the legalization of cannabis for recreational use along with the decriminalization of all other drugs for recreational use.
However, although this said decriminalization, or more specifically the removal of criminal sanction, is of interest to the party, they do recommend that this is dealt with by referring one found with illicit drugs to a corresponding treatment centre. Additionally, the party is also in favor of sexual rights for disabled individuals. Based on the science, ASP supports vaccination to protect public health and reduce the spread of preventable diseases.