News - Latest News

China's funding of Aussie debt causes concern
Courier Mail, Steve Lewis - March 26, 2009
Business Section: China bankrolling Kevin Rudd's stimulus plan by buying government bonds
See also the article: Paul Syvret: China props up world

27 March 2009 - Socialism - and the financial crisis
The current financial crisis, with its bailouts and nationalisation of banks has led many to talk of the influence of Socialism.
David Noebel, leader of Summit Ministries, has written an insightful article called:
‘The Socialization of America’ - it addresses the current financial crisis and the history of socialism...
We hosted the week-long Worldview School with Summit Ministries in January 2008 and plan to hold another Summit in January 2010.
An interview with David speaking about the article is also available on Christian Worldview Network. Click here to listen to the interview.

David has monitored communism and socialism for many years, and edits the Schwartz Report on communism (originally started by the late Sydney doctor, Dr. Fred Schwarz).
In the article, David refers to events such as the start of the Fabian Socialists.
He writes “Today's financial events illustrate that America is not exempt from being led toward socialism. Predictions differ, depending on one's perspective, as to whether this will be a socialistic paradise or a socialistic hell. Time will tell. In the meantime, we'd do well to listen to warnings of the past….”

24 March 2009 - Queensland election result
The Labor government was returned in Queensland at the election held on Saturday 21 March 2009. The average two party preferred swing across all electorates (excluding the four retained by independents) was 4.15%.

Premier Anna Bligh is a member of Emily's List which promotes abortion. Prior to the election Labor said they had "no plans" to decriminalise abortion.
Of the six new ALP candidates endorsed by Emily’s List only one was elected. Of the seven sitting members endorsed by Emily’s List six retained their seats.
For a list of Emily's List candidates and members - click here.

The average swing against seats with Emily's List candidates was 5.25%.
Bonny Barry, a Labor MP who had proposed a private member’s bill to legalise abortion in the last parliament, lost her seat of Aspley with a swing of 7.5% against her. Prolife groups and churches had campaigned heavily against Ms Barry because of her promotion of legalised abortion.

24 March 2009 - Alcohol warnings and concerns
Concern about binge drinking continues to be highlighted in the media. The alcopops tax was defeated in the Senate - in many respects this was a 'bandaid' approach - young people swapped to mixing their own drinks.

On the issue of alcohol, there has been a call for the banning of alcohol sales in Halls Creek in WA. Reports say that about 1 in 4 babies are born with fetal alcohol syndrome. Teenagers who have fetal alcohol syndrome are now having babies who also have the syndrome, including brain damage.
Media reports:
Billionaire's charity supports call for alcohol ban
The Australian , July 29, 2008

Alcohol damages new generation of babies
UPI, 23 March 2009

Recently the National Health and Medical Research Council revised its alcohol guidelines - reducing the limit to two standard drinks a day for both men and women. They also recommended "no alcohol at all for children, people under 18, pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers."
Media report:
New Australian alcohol guidelines limit drinks to two a day
The Australian, March 06, 2009

NHMRC Guidelines: Click here to download the Guidelines - summary and full report.

18 March 2009 - Campaign - overseas aid and abortion
Following the decision by the Rudd government to overturn the ban on using overseas aid funds for abortions, we must ask the Coalition Liberal and National Parties to commit to overturn the decision, and re-instate the ban when they are re-elected to government.
The election is only 18 months away!
Click here for our new Campaign Page.

17 March 2009 - 'The Imam's Daughter' speaks about abuse - UK
An amazing article was printed in The Times in the UK this week.
The article tells the story of 'The Imam's Daughter' by speaking with the author of a new book written by a girl who was a Muslim and converted to Christianity. The book was released on 5 March 2009.
The book - and the article - highlight how she lived in the UK , was raped by her father who was an imam, how she faced a forced marriage at 16 and fled her family, and then became a Christian. She then feared for her life when they tried to kill her.

The author, "Hannah", is now married... She wants to highlight the plight of Muslim women in Britain.
The book: The Imam's Daughter, by "Hannah Shah".
Click here for details of the book on Amazon.
The article:
My imam father came after me with an axe
Times Online | 15 March 2009 - Dominic Lawson
"We are all too familiar with the persecution of Christians in countries such as Pakistan and Afghanistan. Yet sitting in front of me is a British woman whose life has been threatened in this country solely because she is a Christian. Indeed, so real is the threat that the book she has written about her experiences has had to appear under an assumed name.
The book is called The Imam's Daughter because "Hannah Shah" is just that:
the daughter of an imam in one of the tight-knit Deobandi Muslim Pakistani communities in the north of England . Her father emigrated to this country from rural Pakistan some time in the 1960s and is, apparently, a highly respected local figure...."

11 March 2009 - Rudd government allows overseas aid for abortion
A long-standing principle of the Australian government was to ban the use of overseas aid money for abortion or abortion-related advice. The policy was adopted by the Howard government, at a time when Senator Brian Harradine had the balance of power in the Senate. The regulation was written into the AusAID Family Planning Guidelines .

The Rudd government has now decided to overturn the ban and allow overseas aid money to be used for abortions. The decision was officially made by the Foreign Minister Stephen Smith. Aid groups are said to be supporting the move - but the groups in this article are ABORTION providers in Australia and overseas. Labor MP Bob McMullen says it will help lower maternal death rates and help with the Millennium Goals.

We say they should not be confused - we should be helping advance maternal health and provide maternal health services to stop obstetric fistulas etc. The Australian government has given at least $2 million to the Hospital by the River run by Dr Catherine Hamlin in Ethiopia which deals with fistulas. I'm in the middle of reading the second book about their amazing work - Catherine's Gift

However funding abortions is another matter entirely.
We opposed the overturning of this ban and are disappointed, but not surprised that the Rudd government has taken this step. The matter was presented to the Labor Party room - Kevin Rudd told the media he did not personally support the overturning of the ban but that his party had decided to take this step. He also said he didn't have enough votes in the party to maintain the policy.

Queensland Nationals Senator Ron Boswell and Liberal MP Tony Abbott declared that Mr Rudd had betrayed Christian voters, since he had promoted his Christian values to Christians prior to the election. However Labor's response to a question, prior to the election, about overseas aid being used for abortions was very vague - we're not surprised to see the policy change!
Reports:
Wrath over Rudd aid for abortion
The Age, March 11, 2009.

Govt ends foreign aid ban on abortions
The Age - March 10, 2009.

11 March 2009 - National Human Rights Consultation
The Rudd government announced a 'National Consultation on Human Rights' on 10 December 2008.
That really means a discussion and debate about a federal 'Bill of Rights'.
The Consultation webpage – click here

Submissions are invited
Submissions close 16 June 2009.
See our Campaign page (with its ACTION section) for details on the Consultation, lots of articles and information on making a submission!

Community Roundtables
Public meetings are also being held around Australia - in many cities and towns - starting 10 March in Broken Hill and going through to June.
Click here to check the list of meetings - find out when it is in your town/city and PLAN TO ATTEND!

11 March 2009 - Abortion in NSW
NSW Greens MP Lee Rhiannon used International Women's Day to call on the NSW government to decriminalise (or legalise) abortion in NSW .

Abortion is currently in the Crimes Act in NSW - similar to the previous situation in Victoria before last year's vote to legalise it - but is allowed under legal defence following a ruling by Justice Levine in 1971 which allowed abortion for medical or mental health reasons, including economic and social circumstances.

A spokesman for Attorney-General John Hatzistergos told the SMH: "The current law provides an appropriate balance." Ms Rhiannon said if the government doesn't introduce a bill she will put forward a private member's bill.

6 March 2009 - Queensland election
The Queensland election will be held on 21 March 2009.

We have prepared a webpage for the Queensland election .

If you live in Queensland or know people who do - please check it out to find out about party policies and your candidates BEFORE you vote!

It includes:

* the Christian Values Checklist

* additional information about the Christian Values Checklist including the Checklist Comments document.

* PLUS links to ALL the major political parties and their policy pages.

* It also has links to the Electoral Commission website so you can find out the names of your candidates and electorate – it is vital that voters find out the INDIVIDUAL beliefs of candidates. Click here for our webpage.

4 March 2009 - Darwin and faith...
With the 200th birthday of Charles Darwin this year, there has been a lot of media reporting about Darwin and the theory of evolution. The Anglicans in Melbourne held a service to celebrate Darwin and are to hold a festival and conference - and the Church of England in the UK 'apologised' to Darwin and set up a special website for the purpose!

We maintain that the theory of evolution as proposed by Darwin does not hold - it doesn't explain how life began or how natural selection actually caused the evolution of NEW species.

Now Barney Zwartz, the religion editor for The Age has written a feature article on Darwin and faith, called Darwin's Disciples - in order to show that the two can co-exist peacefully. He features the Anglican service and proposed festival as well as a new book by Anglican bishop Tom Frame.

He dismisses creationists as not accepting science... he refers to "extremists and ideologues in both camps" and says they reject "some claims of science". However, what is the 'science' they reject? Most of the speakers for Creation Ministries are qualified scientists, some with PhDs.
Here is Gary Bates from CMI responding to the first Age article about the service at St Paul's to honour Darwin.

Churches celebrating the ‘Year of Darwin’
Compromising churchians in self-destruct mode
by Gary Bates - CMI, 19 February 2009
“….. Although it is their genuine (but misguided) intent to show that somehow the church is not out of step with modern science, they have completely misunderstood the difference between what most people understand as science and the theory of evolution. CMI has no problem with “science”. In fact, we probably employ more scientists than any other Christian organization, and I can vouch that every one of them believes that gravity (discovered by a creationist!) is a real phenomenon, and that water boils at 100° Celsius (212° F). Such facts are in the realm of operational science , which deals with events that we can observe happening. Evolution and creation are both beliefs about the past that cannot be observed in the present….”

2 March 2009 - Doctrine and belief key battlegrounds in the church
It used to be that to be a committed Christian one believed in the inerrancy of Scripture, the virgin birth, the resurrection of Christ, and so on.
Increasingly we find that many Christian denominations are analysing, and rejecting, much of what has traditionally been seen as essential parts of the faith. Various writers in the 'emergent' church, for instance, are questioning key doctrines such as substitutionary atonement.

The Catholic Church has its own struggle - in particular at present in St Mary's in Brisbane where the priest was stood down recently for rejecting much of Catholic doctrine. Christopher Pearson has an interesting article on the situation in Brisbane...
A church collapsing without foundations
OPINION: Christopher Pearson | February 28, 2009
Article from: The Australian
"TOWARDS the end of pope John Paul II's long reign, the term "cafeteria Catholic" was coined. It was a critical response to the free-ranging way middle-aged people in the First World had taken to picking those parts of the church's teaching and distinctive culture that they found congenial and unapologetically ignoring the rest, much as you might approach a smorgasbord. . ."

February 2009