Hamilton City Council prayer

Alex Harris made this Official Information request to Hamilton City Council

The request was successful.

From: Alex Harris

Dear Hamilton City Council,

As you may have read recently, the Whanganui District Council abolished its opening prayer after a complaint was made to the Human Rights Commission. I'm interested in learning how widespread this practice is, so I'd like to request the following information under the LGOIMA:

* Does the Council open its meetings with a prayer?
* If the answer to the above is "yes", then I'd like a copy of that prayer (or examples, if more than one is used), when the practice was first established, whether the council has considered abolishing it in the wake of the Whanganui decision, and any advice the council may hold on the prayer's compatibility with both the Human Rights Act 1993 and Bill of Rights Act 1990.

I would prefer to receive an electronic response. Queries about this request will be automatically forwarded to me by the fyi.org.nz website.

Yours faithfully,

Alex Harris

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From: FYI Requests

Afternoon Mr Harris

I write as the Privacy Officer for the Hamilton City Council.

Hamilton City opens all Ordinary Council Meetings with a prayer. There is
no set format as representatives from a variety of religions are asked to
attend on a rotational basis. This practice was established in 1945.

The Council has not recently reviewed this practice.

regards

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