Witchcraft Down Under

There has been lots of news down under about the Australian government’s removal of anti-witchcraft laws from their statute. Here is a small sampling:

The Australian, Law on witches vanishes:

“Victorian Attorney-General Rob Hulls said the repeal of the state’s Vagrancy Act, which contained the anti-witchcraft laws, was about bringing legislation into the 21st century. “Gone are the days when witchcraft and fortune-telling posed a threat to law and order, so the offences will now go up in a puff of smoke.” He said only one person had ever been charged with witchcraft in Victoria, and the charge was dismissed.”

The Age, A Future Witches Can Stake On:

“Soothsayers should have seen it coming: the State Government yesterday said witchcraft and fortune telling would no longer be illegal. Attorney-General Rob Hulls introduced legislation repealing the Vagrancy Act, saying many offences in it were out of date. “The act is almost 200 years old and steeped in the language and attitudes of Dickensian England,” Mr Hulls said. “The times have long since passed when witchcraft and fortune telling represented a danger to law and order.” Pagans across the state celebrated the news, the Pagan Awareness Network said. “There’ll be several thousand pagans in Melbourne celebrating this news under the full moon,” spokesman Gavin Andrew predicted, safe in the knowledge he could no longer be convicted for his prophecy. “Nobody will now be able to vilify witches and pagans, and then try to claim the Racial and Religious Tolerance Act doesn’t apply to them.” His witch support group last year took a suburban mayor to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal over claims he had persecuted a witch because of her religious beliefs.”

ABC News Online, Vic to Repeal Anti-Witchcraft Law:

“Attorney-General Rob Hulls says laws banning witchcraft have no place in a diverse society. “This is all about ensuring we have modern laws,” he said. “The Vagrancy Act really belongs to a bygone era where people were treated as vagrants and vagabonds and were actually sent out to the colony of Victoria for their sins. ‘I think it’s important we have modern laws.’”

News 24, Witches celebrate in Australia:

“Gavin Andrew, the spokesperson for a coven of witches that calls itself the Pagan Awareness Network, welcomed the legislative change. “There’ll be several thousand pagans in Melbourne celebrating this news under the full moon tonight,” he told Australia’s AAP news agency.”

Tags: Neopaganism