Pastors cop Bishop fines
The Christian pastors who staged a pray-in at Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop's office are now asking for an official invitation to talk to her about child asylum seekers in detention.
Nine men and two women conducted a prayer vigil at the deputy Liberal leader's electorate office in Subiaco last month to highlight the issue. The 11 priests were fined $50 each after pleading guilty to trespass, but did not have their convictions recorded. After holding a peaceful vigil on the steps of court, Peter Dean Barney, Christopher Ian Bedding, Julia Kay Devereux, Michael John Devereux, Alexander Holmes-Brown, Jarrod Saul McKenna, Paul Stephen Montague, Kyle Mark Sinclair, Philip Robert Stevenson, Laura May Vertigan and Scott Bradley Vawser all admitted the charges.
Their lawyer argued there was no violence or aggression in their actions, and they were "diplomatic and respectful" at all times.
