The Greens are pushing to drop the Lord’s Prayer from Australian political tradition

According to the MP, the tradition is ‘alienating’ for politicians.

"Fundamentally, our parliament is a workplace. There are few other workplaces in our state or indeed our nation that begin their working day with a mandatory prayer," Mr Simms said before parliament, according to the outlet.

"It really is out of step with community expectations in 21st century South Australia."

However, the move has been met with fierce criticism from the Christian community in South Australia.

Australian Christian Lobby national director Wendy Francis said, as per Sydney Morning Herald: “It seems the Greens want to ban any hint of Christianity from parliament.

“Do they want to apply the same ban to other religious...activities such as indigenous smoking ceremonies?”

However, MP Simms, an atheist, maintained that he is not trying to ban God.

Last month, NSW Greens MP Abigail Boyd motioned to have parliament prayers removed as it ‘excludes and devalues those who do not belong to that religion'.

"I think most people in the real world think that it is quite extraordinary."

State councils, including Shoalhaven and Wagga Wagga, have opted to switch to a moment of quiet reflection, according to the MP.

In 2019, Boyd previously launched an unsuccessful motion to have the prayer removed and was opposed by both Labor and the government.

The second-largest classification was the 38.9 per cent who identified as ‘No Religion’.