The ACT Legislative Assembly had passed Australia's first human rights legislation.
Said to be aim at protecting individual, civil and political rights, the legislation was opposed by the Church and Prime Minister, concerned that its board and ill-defined scope could do more damage than good.
"What the Bill of Rights stands for of course is admirable, who wouldn't want to support individual rights, but that's not the issue," says Anglican Bishop of the Canberra diocese George Browning.
"The issue is if the community at large isn't robust and strong and cooperative then it doesn't matter what rights we have, they can't be nurtured because each individual is nurtured within a community."
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