News from September to December
2005
14 December 2005 - Response to the Sydney
riots...
The riot that started on Sunday 11 December as a demonstration to claim the
Cronulla beach in Sydney by young Australians has featured in newspaper
headlines across the nation. Headlines that accused the youth of racism at
Cronulla on Sunday ignored the past tensions - including the bashing of two
lifeguards the week before by a Middle Eastern gang and the intimidation and
abuse dished out to locals by visiting Muslim youth.
Muslim youth retaliated
the following night... Strong police presence the next night has halted the
violence...
Peter has written a response to the situation,
focusing on the impact of Islam on our nation and the need for immigrants to
assimilate into our way of life.
Click here for the page and the FULL article.
Andrew Bolt's response to the riots is available on the same link...
24 November 2005 - Presbyterian
Church proposes amendments for the Racial and Religious Tolerance Act
BUT the Government is proposing MINOR
amendments... some of which make the law
TOUGHER!
At a meeting of 'faith leaders' at the end of September, Premier
Steve Bracks promised to consider amendments to the R & RTA - and to consult
the community on possible amendments.
The Presbyterian Church, and moderator Professor Alan Harman,
prepared amendments that would have (if accepted) removed the civil provisions
of the Act and limited the Act to threatening physical harm.
A number of meetings are currently being held by the government
with 'faith leaders'. At the meeting attended by the PCV on 22 November, the
government officers suggested amending the law "requiring VCAT to determine on
the papers offered in a complaint whether there is a case to answer before a
case could proceed to VCAT" (as proposed by Justice
Morris.)
However the government also proposed
making the law MUCH MORE ONEROUS in enforcing VCAT rulings -
rather than removing the unacceptable provisions of the Act.
David Palmer of the PCV Church and Nation
Committee, has prepared a report of the meeting they had with the government and
has posted that on their website.
On that page are the Letter they sent to the government outlining
the rationale of their proposed amendments - and a copy of the proposed
amendments.
Click here for the Report and
documents...
Salt Shakers remains committed to a full repeal of the
religious sections of the Act.
21 November 2005 - Archbishop Peter Jensen gives
Boyer lectures
Archbishop Peter Jensen is giving the current series of six
lectures. He has titled his series 'The Future of Jesus'.
The Boyer Lectures website says "The Boyer Lectures have
been delivered by prominent Australians, selected by the ABC Board, for over 40
years. They have stimulated thought, discussion and debate in Australia on a
wide range of subjects. The lectures showcase great minds examining key issues
and values."
The lectures are broadcast on
Radio National at 5pm Sundays and repeated on Tuesdays at
1pm. The first lecture was on Sunday 13 November.
Transcript of all the lectures
(as they occur): Click here
Details
on purchasing audio, CDs etc: Click here
Overview of lecture series: click
here
Radio National call sign locations...
click here.
Adelaide
729AM | Brisbane 792AM | Canberra
846AM Darwin 657AM | Gold Coast 90.1FM |
Hobart 585AM Melbourne 621AM |
Newcastle 1512AM | Perth 810AM |
Sydney 576AM and via satellite to over 220
regional centres.
Coming up...
Lecture 3:
Jesus, was he Miraculous?
Sunday 27
November 2005
"Can we believe in miracles? This problem is at the heart
of the crisis of faith in the modern world. The Gospels record Jesus as doing
many miracles, culminating in the resurrection. What is left of Jesus after we
discount the miraculous? Are they frauds? Are they myths? Are they
misunderstandings? Is Christianity based on lies?...."
21 November 2005 - Rev the Hon Dr Gordon Moyes
autobiography
'Leaving a Legacy'
the autobiography of Rev the Hon Dr Gordon Moyes was launched to the church on
Sunday, 20 November at WesleyMission,
Sydney, by the
Principal of the NSW Baptist Theological and Bible
College, the
Rev Dr Ross
Clifford. The 372-page book covers
Dr
Moyes' early life in
Melbourne, his call
to be an evangelist and minister and his move to
Sydney
in 1978 when he began his leadership of
Wesley
Mission. During the next 27 years,
Dr
Moyes transformed
Wesley
Mission into
Australia's
largest church-based charity.
The book covers a wide-rage
of aspects of Dr
Moyes' life - from pastor and counsellor to
media presenter and entrepreneur, from church leader to parliamentarian - and
rare insights into some of the untold stories which helped shape one of
Australia's
greatest ministers and missions. He gives candid comments on the state of the
Uniting Church, of which he is a minister.
Available at Koorong
- click here.
Or Bible Society - click here.
17 November 2005 - Rev the Hon Dr
Gordon Moyes completes term at Wesley Mission
Rev the Hon Dr Gordon Moyes will leave Wesley Mission on December
31 after 27 years as the head of Wesley Mission. He will continue to serve as an
MLC in the Upper House of the NSW Parliament until 2011.
Australian Prime Minister John Howard described the Rev the Hon Dr Gordon
Moyes as “the epitome of effective Christian leadership” at a farewell dinner
held in honour of the Wesley Mission Superintendent in Sydney last night.
On Sunday, 4 December the Sydney Town Hall is expected to be
packed with 2000 people joining together in Christian worship to farewell and
thank Dr and Mrs Beverley Moyes AM for their leadership and ministry at Wesley
Mission during the past 27 years. The event begins at 2 pm.
Salt Shakers congratulates Gordon Moyes for his dedicated
service to Christian mission and evangelism.
Click here
to read the Wesley Mission Press Release describing the farewell dinner.
Click here to read the
Prime Minister's speech at the farewell dinner.
3 November 2005 - John Howard and Kim Beazley
speak about religious vilification laws
Prime Minister John Howard and Opposition Leader Kim Beazley have
both criticised Victoria's religious vilification
laws.
At a speech to the Australian Christian Lobby on Sat 29 Oct, Kim
Beazley spoke of the Catch The Fire Ministries case and said many people had
told him of their "concerns that some of the current laws around Australia get
the balance wrong".
However he said "Labor has had a consistent view over many years
that racial and religious vilification should not be allowed in the Australian
community. And we also know that the right to free speech has to be
protected."
He proposed an "incitement to violence" law where there would be
criminal charges laid by a public prosecutor.
We have serious concerns about ANY such
law. Salt Shakers does NOT support ANY form of religious vilification or
incitement laws.
Incitement to any form of violence is already a crime - it does not
need to be spelt out for reasons of race or religion - all incitement to
violence, for any reason, is prohibited.
Prime Minister John Howard said he was not in favour of vilification laws
during an interview on the Sunday program (30 Oct). "I
do not think religious and racial vilification laws work, and we as a party have
opposed them in the past, and I'd be surprised if our attitude changed.
.."
Click here for Mr Beazley's
speech.
Also posted on the ACL website. Click here
.
Click here
for Mr Howard's interview.
26 October 2005 - Homosexual
relationships in the military
Apparently the government and the Australian Defence Force (ADF)
are close to allowing same-sex 'couples' the same 'rights' as they give
heterosexual couples by extending rights to '"people in other 'interdependent'
relationships'.
This move is a result of lobbying by homosexual groups using
misinformation.
They are quoted in newspaper reports as stating that "gay rights groups have
been lobbying for the rights since the ban on gay and lesbian ADF personnel was
lifted 13 years ago". Click here for article "Gay couples set for defence rights
win".
An example of their misinformation is contained in a statement by 'The
Defence Gay & Lesbian Information Service (DEFGLIS), "the decision will help
about two to three per cent of the ADF's personnel."
This is nonsense. This change will only help 'couples' - Less than 0.5% of
couples in Australia are 'same-sex' couples, according to the last Census.
If we were to assume all ADF personnel were couples, of course they are not,
HOW IS IT that there are suddenly 4-6 times as many same-sex couples in the
military than in society generally! (2 - 3% rather than 0.5%)
Even if as many as half of all ADF personnel are 'couples' then the best
actual percentage one could assume would be 0.5% of that HALF - This would give
us 0.25% (one quarter of one percent) of all ADF personnel - between one eighth
and one twelfth the figure homosexual groups 'float' in the article!
This gross distortion should have our government and ADF chiefs questioning
all the other so called 'facts' given by pro homosexual
lobbyists.
11 October 2005 - Re the vilification case brought by PFLAG against Sarah
Champness / Catholic Diocese of Brisbane.
The conciliation hearing was held this morning and lasted for three hours. We
are very happy with the outcome. Negotiations between the Catholic Church and
PFLAG are continuing. Praise God for this outcome.
Please pray that those facts shared by Peter and Sarah with
all other parties during the conciliation process will open their minds and
hearts to the truth about homosexuality.
7 October 2005 - Tasmania and prostitution
Good News! The Tasmanian government has announced
that it will not proceed with controversial laws that would have legalised
brothels. Attorney General Judy Jackson had promoted the laws, which had been
planned for the past seven years and been re-drafted 27 times. Extensive
lobbying by a number of groups, including the Australian Christian Lobby and the
Christian Democratic Party has resulted in the move. Thanks also to those of our
readers who wrote to, and visited, their MPs. A number of former prostitutes had
visited Tasmania to urge the government not to legalise brothels.
The Attorney General Judy Jackson said "We still believe regulation of the
industry would have been the best way to protect Tasmanian sex workers. However,
we cannot ignore the strength of feeling against going down that path,
particularly in the Upper House. The Government therefore has decided to look at
the other ways of tightening up restrictions on the industry."
Prostitution
is legal in Tasmania, but "operating with more than two staff in single premises
will be against the law".
Click here
for report in The Mercury .
29 September 2005 - Stem Cell Review
The Lockhart Committee is currently reviewing laws
passed by the federal government in 2002 which banned all cloning but allowed
the use of embryos (that had been created prior to 5 April 2002 and were
'excess' in IVF programs) for stem cell research. We opposed that since
extracting the stem cells kills a live embryo.
In addition adult stem cells provided SUCCESSFUL cures/treatments (over 65 so
far) whereas embryonic ones do not. However embryonic stem cells could be used
to test drugs. Click here for
the stemcellresearch website that documents the 60+ treatments available so far
using ADULT stem cells.
The Victorian Treasurer John Brumby is calling for therapeutic cloning to be
allowed and even federal Industry Minister Ian McFarlane warns we could get left
behind if we don't allow the creation of embryos for destructive stem cell
research.
Click here
for The Age article quoting these two men.
People in wheelchairs are already campaigning and using emotional arguments
to urge the Committee - and the politicians - to extend the laws further.
19 September 2005 - Big Brother Uncut breached
Code of Practice
The Australian Communications and Media
Authority (formerly the Australian Broadcasting Authority) has just announced
their decision stating that 'Big Brother Uncut' breached the Commercial Television
Industry Code of Practice for TV on two occasions.
Breaches were found in two of the three episodes of the program investigated
by ACMA. The ACMA said "The breaches were of clause 2.4 of the code, which
requires that material be classified in accordance with the Television
Classification Guidelines in the code."
BB Uncut had a MA (15+) rating - the
breaches were for gratuitous nudity (a man massaging a woman with parts of his
anatomy exposed) and excessive bad language.
The penalty???
"ACMA is aware that Network Ten has
taken steps to review the program’s production process in response to criticism
about some of the behaviour of male participants in the 2005 series. Network Ten
has offered to advise ACMA of the outcomes of that review including any new
procedures that may be implemented as a result.
‘While welcoming the steps
already taken by the licensee, ACMA will further discuss appropriate measures
with Network Ten. Action requested of Network Ten by ACMA will be geared towards
ensuring future breaches of the MA classification provisions do not occur,’ said
Lyn Maddock.
If Network Ten fails to provide appropriate undertakings, ACMA
will consider imposing a licence condition on the Network Ten
licensees."
What does that mean?
"Don't do it again!"
A major problem is that a person cannot complain to ACMA UNTIL they have
written to the TV station and received a response (which could be 30 days
later!) By that time the program has run for another six weeks before being
investigated.
Click here
for the ACMA Media Release on the decision.
Click here
for the ACMA website.
Click here for contact
details and information on complaining to TV stations and ACMA. Author: Jenny Stokes | Modified: 8 March 2006 |
