News from April - May
2007
We were unable to add
content to our website during May 2007 - some news items from that time are
listed in the June 2007 'News' section.
24 April 2007 – Victorian govt plans a 'Relationships
Register'
The Victorian government has confirmed that
it plans to introduce a Relationships
Register for homosexual and heterosexual couples, similar to the
Tasmanian register. Attorney General Rob Hulls has been pushing the idea for
some time, but Premier Steve Bracks had been hesitant. Now he appears to have
agreed to it. The Municipal Association of
Victoria has apparently asked the government to have a state-wide
register because a number of Councils have been establishing their own separate
'registers' (Melbourne City Council, Port Phillip, Yarra).
The inclusion of heterosexual relationships in the
register would undermine marriage by giving a 'lite' alternative.
The Age report notes that
the Australian Christian Lobby is supporting the proposal providing certain
conditions are met.
"The Australian Christian Lobby, which pressured the
Howard Government to strike down the Australian Capital Territory's Civil
Partnership Bill because it "mimicked marriage", last night offered cautious
acceptance for the plan. "We are not opposed to the removal of unreasonable
discrimination for same-sex couples," state director Railton Hill said. But it
was important the legislation did not extend the right of adoption to
homosexual couples, he said."
ACL noted their support for such a register in a media
release a few weeks ago.
Click here to read it.
This is not a new position for the ACL - When the ACT
government proposed a civil union bill in 2006, the ACL opposed that legislation
but organised a petition that called on the ACT government to
"instead introduce legislation that would allow for the registration of same sex
and caring relationships, which does not mimic or diminish marriage, such as is
in force in the state of Tasmania".
This move to support
relationship registers was supported by the Evangelical Alliance.
Salt Shakers opposes any
form of legal recognition of same-sex relationships and so opposes the proposed
'Relationships Register'.
Click here for our Campaign page relating to
the proposed Victorian Relationships Register.
Media Report:
Equal rights for same-sex
couples in sight with Bracks backing
The
Age, April 24, 2007
23 April 2007 – Kevin Rudd speaks of faith and his
priorities
In our April journal we wrote about Kevin
Rudd's statements about his faith, using his own quotes. He wrote a feature
article in The Monthly in October last year, titled Faith in Politics.
Click here to read Salt Shakers' article.
Today, in an interview with The
Age, Kevin Rudd has outlined his priorities and spoken about faith. He said
his priorities were to introduce 'a new industrial relations system, sign the
Kyoto Protocol and convene a meeting of premiers and chief ministers to "forge a
new consensus" in health, education and water.'
The sections
relating to faith...
'Mr Rudd also spoke
openly about his faith and declared that the world needs "more Tim Costellos",
referring to the Baptist minister and brother of Treasurer Peter
Costello.....
'Mr Rudd acknowledged the importance of
his Christianity, but said he feared that he could be misunderstood by talking
openly about it. He described his faith as underpinned by a commitment to social
justice, and nominated the plight of indigenous communities as a priority for
government. "You can't be a member of the Labor movement and you can't be an
alternative prime minister without being deeply concerned about how this is
fixed," he said.
'But he was more cautious about
discussing his personal faith in detail. Born a Catholic, Mr Rudd now attends
church with his wife, businesswoman Therese Rein, who is Anglican. "I have this
old fashioned view that, you know, this might sound quaint, but families that
pray together stay together," he said.
'The Rudds did
not go to church every Sunday, but worship was a part of his faith. "But to me
it's a very private thing … and I'm not much into the externality of it all."
'On the question of whether he prays, Mr Rudd said
simply: "It would be very unusual for a person of faith not to pray."
'But he was clear about faith
and politics.
"Every question, when it comes to plotted policy, has to be
analysed and justified, privately and publicly in rational policy terms … I'm
not one who, by instinct, seeks to translate questions of personal faith into
day-to-day public policy decision-making."..............'
Full article:
Kyoto
, consensus and belief... Labor's leader shares his
dream
The Age, April 23, 2007
20 April 2007 – PM
John Howard calls for prayer for rain!
Prime Minister John Howard has called for
everyone to pray for rain because the water shortage could mean no irrigation
water for farmers if we don't get rain!
He said "But
it's a question of rain and we must all hope and pray that over the next six to
eight weeks it rains, it rains heavily, it rains in all the right areas, (and)
there's plenty of run-off into the catchments."
Malcolm
Turnbull also suggested prayer saying "I would suggest you just pray for rain;
don't pray for a specific number of millimetres."
The Herald Sun headline
read PRAY
FOR RAIN! And the next four pages of the newspaper carried the
same words as a 'top banner' heading!
PLEASE PRAY FOR
RAIN!
Media Reports:
PM raises food shortage fear
Herald Sun, April 20, 2007
Turnbull suggests prayer
The Age, April 20, 2007
19 April 2007 –
Victoria Legislative Assembly passes cloning bill
The Victorian Legislative Assembly has
voted 58-25 to allow therapeutic cloning. This would allow the creation of
embryos that are then destroyed to extract their stem cells.
We have opposed this legislation because it interferes with
the sanctity of life. Adult stem cells already provide more than 70
treatments/cures. See www.stemcellresearch.org
The
Bill will now go to the Legislative Council.
Click here for our Campaign Page and an update on votes etc.
Media Report:
House supports cloning bill
The Age, April 19, 2007
This article talks of 'crossing the floor' to vote
against the party. However, although the government proposed the legislation, it
was always a conscience vote with supposedly no pressure applied by parties to
'vote with the party'.
We thank all MPs who voted
against the Bill.
19 April 2007 – US Supreme Court upholds 'Partial Birth
abortion ban!
We welcome the news that
the US Supreme Court has upheld the ban on partial birth abortion. President
Bush signed the bill into law in 2003 but two federal appeals courts had ruled
it was invalid.
President Bush welcomed the Supreme
Court decision. Feminist groups were not happy!
U.S. Supreme Court upholds partial-birth abortion ban
Baptist Press, April 18, 2007
Note: This article contains a picture of the gruesome
procedure.
“The U.S. Supreme Court
upheld a federal ban on a gruesome procedure known as partial-birth abortion
April 18, delivering an important victory for legislative efforts to protect
unborn children.
The high court's 5-4 decision reversed
rulings by two federal appeals courts and affirmed the Partial-birth Abortion
Ban Act as the law of the land, marking the first judicially approved
restriction on a specific procedure since the justices legalized abortion in
1973. The 2003 law prohibits an abortion technique that involves the killing of
a nearly totally delivered baby normally in at least the fifth month of
pregnancy………….”
President Bush
Applauds Supreme Court Ruling on Partial-Birth Abortion Ban
Steven Ertelt, LifeNews, April 18,
2007
“President Bush said on Wednesday that he was
pleased with the Supreme Court ruling upholding a ban on partial-birth abortions
that he signed into law in 2003. Bush's signature was a departure from former
President Bill Clinton, who vetoed bans on partial-birth abortion and drew the
ire of the pro-life movement. …….”
18 April 2007 –
Victorian Parliament debates 'cloning' bill
The Victorian Legislative Assembly is
debating the 'Infertility Treatment Amendment Bill' in parliament. The debate
started yesterday and a vote is expected later today. It mirrors the federal
cloning legislation passed in December 2006.
A
conscience vote has been given to each MP.
After the
Legislative Assembly vote, the Bill will go to the Legislative Council.
Click here for our Campaign Page outlining this issue and suggested
action.
A number of churches have spoken out against the
proposed Bill.
The Anglican and Catholic Archbishops
have both spoken publicly and the Presbyterian Church has urged MPs to vote
against the Bill.
Media report:
Baillieu, Bracks at one in emotional cloning
debate
The Age, 18 April 2007.
Church opposition:
Anglican Church joins anti-cloning call
The Age, April 14, 2007
Cloning an assault on human dignity: Archbishop
Hart
The Age, April 12, 2007
18 April 2007 – OFLC gives 'PG' rating to jihad DVD
The Office of Film and Literature
Classification has given a 'PG' rating to a DVD produced by Sheik Feiz Mohammed
of Sydney who runs the Global Islamic Youth Centre and had Jack Roche and Zak
Mallah (both are Australians convicted of terrorism-related charges) as
students.
In the DVD he spoke of jihad and
martyrdom.
Media reports:
The decision:
Hate film given PG rating
Sunday Herald Sun, April 15, 2007
“A PRO-TERROR hate film that urges children to martyr
themselves in a war of Islam versus the West and calls Jews "pigs" has been
given a PG rating by Australia 's
censors….”
Review:
There have
been calls for a review of the decision by the Classification Review Board.
Attorney General Mr Philip Ruddock has said that the censorship laws should be
changed to outlaw incitement of terrorism.
Ruddock says no to DVD
appeal
Brisbane Times, April 16,
2007
Protest over jihad DVDs' PG rating
The Australian, April 16, 2007.
This article notes that
"The
Australian understands that the material, while inflammatory, was considered in
literal terms by the OFLC as no worse than some of the fire and brimstone
sermons delivered by Christian evangelists on Sunday morning television."
No, it is not the same! Preaching by
Christians is not advocating violence or jihad!
Opinion: Hate in the name of
free speech
Gerard Henderson, SMH, April
17, 2007
17 April 2007 – ACMA finds Alan Jones guilty of
'vilification'
The Australian
Communications and Media Authority has found that the licensee of commercial
radio service 2GB Sydney, Harbour Radio Pty Ltd, breached certain provisions of
the Commercial Radio Codes of Practice 2004 between 5 and 9 December 2005. This
was about comments made prior to and about the time of the riots in Cronulla.
There has been extensive media coverage of this...
See
ACMA media release in response. Click here .
Click here for the ACMA decision.
This is a 39 page scanned document.
15 April 2007 – Atheism and Christianity in the
news!
Religion is in the news again.
With the publication of Richard Dawkins book 'The God Delusion' and several new
books on atheism, Christianity and atheism are increasingly being written about
in the media.
A feature article in The
Age today is the latest item reflecting this trend. It mentions a recent
debate between atheist Dr John Perkins and pastor of Careforce Church, Dr Allan Meyer, as well as the
atheists who 'protested' outside the Australia Day prayer meeting organised by
Catch the Fire Ministries.
Read the full article:
Against God
The Age, Thornton
McCamish, April 15, 2007
14 April 2007 – Another scientist sceptical of 'global
warming'!
MANKIND is naive to think it
can influence climate change ,
according to Ian Plimer, Professor of Mining Geology at the University of
Adelaide. He says solar
activity is a greater driver of climate change than man-made carbon dioxide.
We have not always agreed with Ian
Plimer - especially on matters of religion - but what he states above agrees
with what we wrote in our March Salt Shakers Journal.
Click here to access the PDF copy of our article.
Top scientist debunks global warming
April 11, 2007, News.com.
12 April 2007: Christianity and Politics
Interesting article about the role of religion and
politics...
An uneasy marriage of
necessity
The
Age, Prof Tony Coady, April 3, 2007.
Some
extracts...
"AFTER years on the periphery of democratic
politics, religion, to the astonishment of many, is well and truly back in the
centre."
"There are two major and apparently conflicting
truths that must be reconciled in any answer to the question of religion's place
in politics. The first is that most religions preach a world view that
influences a way of living. This "way" tends to permeate a sincere believer's
life, including their politics, either as citizen or politician. The second
truth is that the point of religion is essentially different from that of
politics."
"An anti-religious ideology of secularism
must be distinguished from the commitment to secular space for politics. ..."
"... They will, however, compromise their religion and
weaken the impact of their values if they behave like puppets of their religious
leadership or seek to further their ends by devious or surreptitious means."
7 April 2007 - Anti-Smacking campaign funded by
government
A $2.5 million campaign that
encourages parents not to smack their children will be funded by the federal
government. The campaign is being run by the Australian Childhood Foundation.
The campaign says that "smacking children teaches them that
violence is acceptable later in life."
Anti-smacking kit hit
Herald Sun, April 06, 2007.
Canberra
funds $2.5m anti-smacking campaign
The Australian, April 06, 2007.
"A
$2.5 million tax-payer funded campaign will warn parents not to smack their
children. The guidelines will be released by a child welfare agency supported by
the federal government and will be available in 16 languages. The Australian
Childhood Foundation's website advises parents that smacking children teaches
them that violence is acceptable later in life. .."
Comment: Perhaps
the government should spend the money on educating parents and young people
about the effect that violent video/computer
games have on children's behaviour!
If you want
evidence of this, check out Killology, the
website of Col. Grossman who has found that playing interactive violent
video/computer games has direct implications in increased violence, shootings
etc.
This article explains his involvement with
counselling after a school shooting and has many helpful good links... including
suggestions for 'non-violent' games:
Trained to Kill: Are We
Conditioning Our Children to Commit Murder?
5 April 2007 - States propose cloning and embryo stem cell
research legislation
Following the
passing of the federal 'cloning' bill, in December 2006, to allow the creation
of embryos for embryo stem cell research, several state governments are now
introducing similar legislation to mirror the federal law -Victoria, Western Australia and South
Australia.
Click here for our ‘Campaign page for all the details and
information on how YOU can take action!
5 April 2007 - Homosexual sues under the UK's SORs
Last month the UK government passed
the 'Sexual Orientation Regulations' under the Equality Act. Christian groups
objected strongly to these, saying Christians would be prohibited from hiring
their halls to homosexual groups and Christian adoption agencies would not be
allowed to refuse to give a baby to same-sex couples.
The first legal complaint has just been
made!
An Anglican Bishop, The Rt Rev Anthony Priddis, has been
accused of unlawful discrimination because he
blocked the appointment of a practising homosexual to a youth worker
post within the Church of England.
The
homosexual man, John Reaney, backed by ‘homosexual rights’
activist group Stonewall, is taking the diocese of Hereford to an employment
tribunal for discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation. The homosexual media say he was previously employed as a
youth worker in one diocese. When he was interviewed for a similar position in
another diocese he says he was told the position was his - subject to the
consent of the bishop - but the bishop did not appoint him.
The hearing began in Cardiff on 4 April. The case will consider the principle as
well as procedural issues.
Click here for the Christian Institute's report.
4 April 2007 - NSW election result...
The Labor government was returned at the NSW state election
held on 24 March, 2007 although the ALP vote was reduced by about 3.7%. The
government lost some seats in the Lower House. Mr Morris Iemma remains as the
Premier.
The final election results have not yet been
declared.
After losing the election, the leader of the Liberal
party, Mr Peter Debnam, was challenged for the position of Leader of the
Opposition by Barry O’Farrell. He withdrew from the position before a vote was
taken and Mr O’Farrell was elected unanimously to the parliamentary Liberal
leadership.
See NSW Liberals have to change -
O'Farrell
The
Aust. 4/4/2007.
Rev Fred Nile of the Christian Democratic party was
re-elected, with the party gaining an increased number of votes in the
Legislative Council.
For election results from the NSW State Election Office,
click here.
3 April 2007 -Homosexual
register for Victoria?
The
Bracks government is said to be seriously considering a ‘relationships register’
for same-sex couples. It is said Attorney General and others in the Victorian
Cabinet are pushing Mr Bracks to endorse the scheme.
Whilst it is said to be based on the Tasmanian register,
there is no mention being made – yet – of heterosexual couples being included…
even though the Tasmanian register allows both homosexual and heterosexual
couples to register (and caring relationships).
Click
here for our Campaign page for taking
action to oppose this proposal!
Gay couples may win battle for legal rights
The
Age, 3 April 2007. Author: Jenny Stokes | Modified: 28 August 2007 |
