Christian preacher Caleb Corneloup has been officially granted a permit to preach in public by the City of Launceston.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The decision at Monday’s council meeting came after Mr Corneloup challenged the validity of the council’s decision to deny him a permit in the Federal Court of Australia.
The permit conditions required Mr Corneloup, or any other members of the public who wish to speak about a non-commercial matter, to book a space and time through the council.
Members of the public can then speak at the allocated Speaker’s Corner in Prince’s Square during normal retail trading hours or in the Brisbane Street Mall, alternately each Tuesday and Friday between 12 noon and 4pm for one hour.
Mr Corneloup said he felt that taking the case before the Federal Court was a good option because of constitutional issues within the case.
“I think that free speech is an important part of our society and I think that people are becoming very childish and they just don’t want to be offended anymore, but I think that free speech is more important than whether or not people get a little bit offended,” he said.
Mr Corneloup said it was good to set the precedent in law so that councils around the country recognise that they could not deny people permits without valid reasons. He said his passion for speaking the word of god to the public in Launceston comes from the teachings in the bible.
“I think the bible teaches very clearly that Christians are to go out into the world and preach the gospel and it’s the responsibility of every local church to make sure that there are people in the public square preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ,” Mr Corneloup said.
I think that free speech is an important part of our society and I think that people are becoming very childish and they just don’t want to be offended anymore.
- Caleb Corneloup
He encouraged any members of the public who wanted to speak with him to get in contact via his Facebook page.