AUSTRALIA'S official relationship with God requires re-examination. In his official Easter message, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull refused to call Australia a Christian nation but rather exulted in the virtues of multiculturalism and diversity. His British counterpart, David Cameron, on the other hand, last year proudly recognised the United Kingdom as a country where Christian faith has significant influence on British culture and British public policy.
God and Christianity are still officially recognised in Australia through, for example, the preamble to the Australian Constitution, the reciting of the Lord's Prayer in both chambers of federal parliament and the granting of public holidays for both Christmas and Easter. 
However, the status of Christianity in Australian and other Western societies is undergoing a radical transformation. According to the 2011 Census, only 61 per cent of Australians self-identified themselves as Christians, whereas 22 per cent of Australians recorded that they have no religion.
Moreover, 10 per cent of Australian respondents to a 2009 Centre of Public Christianity survey indicated that they did not believe Jesus was an actual historical person. In 2015, this figure grew to an astounding 40 per cent in England, according to a Church of England survey.
The wane of Christianity is being driven by a myriad forces including the growing acceptance of non-religious values such as materialism and progressivism, the decline in public discussion and education of Christianity, a breakdown of institutional trust with the church, a collapse in church attendance and significant inflow of non-Christian migrants.
That has profound implications for us in terms of how we define the nation, our values and culture. Downstream implications will flow as these fundamental pillars provide the basis for our political discourse, societal behaviour and public policy settings. Australia is now plagued by the public policy dilemma of "theological free riding", which involves a large non-believing segment of the population receiving equivalent benefits that were specifically designed for those who do believe in Christianity.
The time has come for Australia to openly declare whether we still officially believe in a god and, if so, which one? This question is of significant public importance given that some Christian policy analysts speculate that the percentage of Australians who will self-identify as Christians in the 2016 Census may fall below 50 per cent.
If Australia declares itself to still be a Christian nation, then beyond the existing arrangements recognising Christianity, the political class should openly discuss Christianity as part of our political discourse. They should also enact an associated policy agenda that seeks, at the very least, to publicise knowledge of Christianity and the historical account of Jesus to promote social cohesion. Removing Jesus and Christianity from classrooms as part of a social re-engineering project, including preventing children singing religious hymns at Christmas time, such as was decided by the State Government, would be unacceptable.
Alternatively, if Australia declares not to officially believe in God or Christianity, we should end the hypocrisy of officially recognising and celebrating theological ideas and historical events that we do not believe in.
That translates into public holidays associated with Christmas and Easter needing to be abolished and requiring everyone to work as normal. It would also require the abolition of Sunday penalty rates, which were designed to compensate individuals working on the Christian Sabbath.
If Australia wishes to have its own set of pagan holidays such as the celebration of the festival of Eostre or the Roman Saturnalia, we should commence a public debate as to the rationale of these holidays and their duration.
The national interest is best served if Australia has a unifying sense of purpose and has the confidence to state its beliefs on the world stage. A nation that is fair dinkum is one that is transparent and consistent.JOHN ADAMS IS A FORMER COALITION ADVISER