Julian Porteous

Julian Charles Porteous (born 5 June 1949) was the Catholic Archbishop of Hobart, Tasmania until his resignation in June 2024, which was accepted by the Holy See 12 July 2024, rendering the Archdiocese of Hobart sede vacante. He is currently the Apostolic Administrator nunc pro tunc, i.e. until a new bishop is appointed. He was previously Auxiliary Bishop of Sydney, Australia, Episcopal Vicar for Renewal and Evangelisation, and Titular Bishop of Urusi (2003–2013).

Porteous was installed as Archbishop of Hobart on 17 September 2013.

In 2015 Porteous distributed a booklet to 12,000 families with children in Catholic schools across Tasmania entitled "Don’t Mess With Marriage" - the Catholic position on marriage. The booklet argued of gay men and women that "pretending that their relationships are ‘marriages’ is not fair or just to them." There were calls by activists for others to refer the Archbishop to the Australian Anti-Discrimination Commissioner. Following 6 months of deliberations, the complaint was withdrawn without a finding.

It has been reported that, "The real problem with the Porteous case was that it was unresolved".

In 2022 Porteous was accused of promoting climate change skepticism in a church publication titled "Exposing the 'modern green religion'", platforming the views of mining-industry affiliated geologist Professor Ian Plimer. He attracted further accusations of discrimination in 2024 after publishing a public letter titled "We are Salt to the Earth", in which he denounced the "woke" movement and "radicalised transgender lobby".