The Order

This submission is presented on behalf of the Apostolic Order Of Simon Peter; Blade-Bearer, also known as the AOSPB or simply the Apostolic Order.

Definition and character of the Order

The Apostolic Order Of Simon Peter; Blade-Bearer is a Christian religious order formed by sincere believers who hold that Scripture binds them to be equipped with a modest blade as a matter of religious duty and conscience. The Order takes its name and foundational example from the Apostle Simon Peter, who carried a machaira (a short sword or large knife) in the Lord’s own company (John 18:10–11) and was corrected only as to the occasion and manner of its use, not as to the fact of carriage itself.

The Order is a serious religious body with real merit and beliefs. Its members affirm the historic Christian faith centred on Jesus Christ as Lord and King. Membership is open to all who sincerely share the conviction that preparedness with a sheathed, discreet utility blade is a religious duty arising from Scripture, neighbour-love, and the obligations of household and community protection. The Order does not claim exclusive possession of Christian truth; it simply provides a disciplined community for those whose conscience is so persuaded.

Welcome to followers of Christ

All are welcome to be followers of Christ, for all will always be welcomed by the King Himself. With that truth held firmly, all of our brothers and sisters in Australia are welcomed to the AOSPB who wish to reclaim what has been diluted and, in the eyes of many, defamed from our ancestral religious rights and requirements. The Order exists to support one another through the struggles of holding this conviction in the present age, and to petition the civil authority for even-handed application of existing religious-purpose exemptions.

Address to legal and government readers

To all legal or government readers: please do not discriminate against, shame, or attempt to govern our religious creed of the carried blade for the same reason you should not shame the Christian with a pocket Bible on the metro system or the Sikh with a kirpan or the Hindu with a turban. The request is grounded in a pure ethical and moral position. We recognise, however, that moral ethics have been contested in this country; we therefore present the following short citations from important legal instruments of the Commonwealth of Australia.

COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA CONSTITUTION ACT – SECT 116

Commonwealth not to legislate in respect of religion

The Commonwealth shall not make any law for establishing any religion, or for imposing any religious observance, or for prohibiting the free exercise of any religion, and no religious test shall be required as a qualification for any office or public trust under the Commonwealth.

The operative guarantee for present purposes is the prohibition on any Commonwealth law “for prohibiting the free exercise of any religion.” While s 116 binds the Commonwealth and does not of its own force invalidate State weapons legislation, it articulates the foundational constitutional principle that the free exercise of religion is a protected value in the Australian legal order. State human-rights statutes and the principle of legality give that value further practical effect.

Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986 – definition of discrimination (s 3)

“discrimination”, except in Part IIB, means:

(a) any distinction, exclusion or preference made on the basis of race, colour, sex, religion, political opinion, national extraction or social origin that has the effect of nullifying or impairing equality of opportunity or treatment in employment or occupation;

and continues with further limbs and exclusions. The definition expressly includes religion as a protected ground. While the Act’s discrimination jurisdiction is primarily directed to employment, the principle it embodies — that distinctions based on religion which impair equality of treatment are suspect — reinforces the equality argument developed in Part VI of this brief.