[an error occurred while processing this directive]
Action Australia
You Can Make A Difference
Just
a few of the issues, from around Australia,
needing Prayer or Action
April 2007
AUSTRALIA:
SA
/ WA & VIC
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.
If you live in these three states,
PLEASE use this email to take action
soon! Link
VIC
Victoria
- Embryo stem cell research bill
goes to Legislative Council
The
Victorian lower house, the Legislative
Assembly, has voted to approve the
bill that would allow the creation
of embryos by ‘therapeutic cloning’
for embryonic stem cell research.
The vote was 58-25 to allow 'therapeutic
cloning'. Link
HUMAN
CLONING The following will help you
understand the battle:
Bill
Muehlenberg offers some practical
action on the clone and kill bill.
- Link
ABC AM Program:
Victoria moves to allow cell cloning
- Link
Bill
Muehlenberg offers more ways
you can be involved Link
SAME
SEX RELATIONSHIP REGISTER
Media
Release:Proposed
Victorian relationships register would
undermine marriage
(Festival of Light Australia 24th
April)Link
Saltshakers
Paper on Same Sex Relationship Register
... This will create a form of ‘marriage
lite’.
This will directly undermine marriage
BECAUSE it allows heterosexual couples
to register their ‘relationships as
well as same-sex couples. Open
PDF file
Attorney
General Rob Hulls is promoting the
register. Link
TEACHERS
HELPING YOUNG TEENS GET MORNING
AFTER PILL
A
Herald Sun article & Poll outlines
the increasing occurrence of young
teens needing this pill - Link
WA
LEGALISING
PROSTITUTION
The
Australian Christian Lobby (ACL)
has launched a new Make a Stand
campaign against the legalisation
of prostitution in WA.-
Link
Petition
for WA Residents
only & Info from Saltshakers
INTERNATIONAL:
UK
UK:
Homosexual sues church for
right to be employed as youth
worker
An
Anglican Bishop 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 ...
This is an important case
which shows how ‘gay rights’
activists want to use the
law to force churches to accept
practising homosexuals on
the staff. External
Site
UK
Prophetic
Word for England from Chuck Pierce
“There
is a sound in England from
My people that must come forth now.
I will use national situations and
forces to cause your voice to rise
up to ME. I am going to redo the
economic structures and government
systems of this land. I have determined
this year to bring you to the end
of the open window that I have rested
over you. This nation will not survive
without the voice of MY people rising
in this land ...
Victoria
- Embryo stem cell research
bill goes to Legislative Council...
The Victorian lower house,
the Legislative Assembly,
has voted to approve the bill
that would allow the creation
of embryos by ‘therapeutic
cloning’ for embryonic stem
cell research. The vote
was 58-25 to allow 'therapeutic
cloning'.
(Media
Link)
The Bill will now go to the
Legislative Council. This
will happen within the next
week or so. Your help is urgently
requested.
We ask ALL Victorians to write
to their FIVE Members
in the Legislative Council.
We are also asking everyone
to write to the THREE GREENS
Members.
In the federal Parliament
the Greens have often been
split on this issue, and some
of them are concerned about
the exploitation of women
that could occur with these
procedures in order to obtain
the eggs.
The Victorian Parliamentary
Committee that examines legislation
to see if it confirms with
human rights laws has found
that there are human rights
concerns with this proposed
legislation. This is another
very good reason for MPs to
vote AGAINST the Bill.
Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations
Committee - Alert Digest
No 4 of 2007
Tuesday, 17 April 2007
Regarding the obtaining
of eggs, "The Committee
considered that there are
human rights concerns regarding
issues of consent and relationships
of dependency."
The Report says: "However,
the Committee does considers
that the Bill fairly raises
a Charter implication under
section 10(c). Section 10(c)
of the Charter provides
that – ‘A person must not
be subjected to medical
or scientific experimentation
or treatment without his
or her full, free and informed
consent’. "
We
thank all MPs who voted against
the Bill in the Legislative
Assembly. We have opposed
this legislation because a
human embryo is a living human
being from the moment of conception.
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.
If you live in these three
states, PLEASE use
this email to take action
soon!
Overview
The federal legislation continues
to ban reproductive cloning
(ie leading to the birth of
a baby from such processes)
but allows the creation of
embryos by SCNT (somatic cell
nuclear transfer).
The
Bill was called "Prohibition
of Human Cloning for Reproduction
and the Regulation of Human
Embryo Research Amendment
Bill 2006".
The
theory is that it takes genetic
material from a donor and
implants that into a donor
egg from which the genetic
material has been removed
(leaving the outer 'shell'
of the egg). After several
days of the embryo developing
it is killed when the stem
cells are removed.
Since
the process involves the creation
and then the destruction of
life we believe as Christians
that the process is unethical
and should not be allowed.
Adult stem cells have already
been used to find over 70
cures and treatments whereas
embryo stem cells have been
used in NO treatments.
The Victorian government has
introduced a bill into the
parliament to allow the creation
of embryos by ‘therapeutic
cloning’ for embryonic stem
cell research.
Health Minister Bronwyn Pike
introduced the "INFERTILITY
TREATMENT AMENDMENT BILL 2007"
on 13 March 2007.
It has had its second reading
and will sit in the parliament
for several weeks before being
debated and voted on.
The bill contains similar
provisions to the federal
bill passed last year. The
Bill is due to be debated
and voted on when parliament
returns after Easter - they
return on 17 April 2007. Catholic
archbishop Denis Hart spoke
out strongly and urged the
government not to pass the
law. The Bill is on the web
HERE
ACTION:
Victorians,
please write politely to Mr
Bracks, State Attorney General
Rob Hulls, Opposition Leader
Ted Baillieu and National
Party leader Peter Ryan.
Then write to ALL your own
MPs – Each voter has ONE Member
in the Legislative Assembly
and FIVE in the Legislative
Council. Send your letter
to (your MP) Parliament House,
Melbourne Vic 3001 OR you
can email your letter.
There
has been a media report in
The Advertiser that the South
Australian government is planning
a similar bill. This was followed
by a second article in The
Advertiser saying that the
report was premature and that
no bill had been drafted.
However, it is time to tell
our MPs that we don't support
such legislation.
ACTION:
South Australians, please
write to your MPs...
The WA government has also
also introduced a bill very
similar to Victoria's. The
Parliament does not sit again
until the 8 May 2007 - when
the Bill will be debated.
The Bill is called the Human
Reproductive Technology Amendment
Bill 2007.
TEACHERS
are taking students as young
as 13 to get the "morning
after" pill without parents
being told.
The
revelation comes as a government
agency called for condom machines
to be installed in schools,
starting from year 9 then
to progressively younger year
levels. And a leading reproduction
specialist has said that condom
machines should be placed
in primary schools because
children are losing their
virginity as young as 12.
A Sunday Herald Sun investigation
found teenage girls are being
taken to family planning "action
centres" by teachers and counsellors.
Dr Kathy McNamee, from Family
Planning Victoria, said her
group's city action centre
was visited by school staff
with young teens in tow to
pick up "morning after" pills.
She
said parents would generally
not be told what was happening
because of privacy concerns.
Parents
Victoria president Gail McHardy
said she was also aware of
school "pill runs" in Melbourne
and regional Victoria that
had left parents fuming when
their daughters eventually
told them.
"(In
one case) the mother was very
frustrated and disappointed
because the girl was only
very early secondary age,"
said Ms McHardy. She said
it seemed ludicrous that schools
needed parental consent for
excursions to the zoo but
not to clinics to get the
morning after pill.
The
Education Department said
the practice was unauthorised.
A
spokeswoman said: "It's completely
unacceptable." CEO of public
body VicHealth Rob Moodie
said a radical approach was
needed as an antidote to current
"prudish" approaches to teen
sex that risked lives.
"We've got major rises in
chlamydia, a syphilis epidemic
and rising HIV in gay men,"
he said.
Mr Moodie said he did not
see why schools refused to
install condom machines when
infection rates were getting
worse.
"If
we can get availability into
16, 17, 18-year-olds, that's
a great place to start," he
said.
Australian
Christian Lobby head Jim Wallace
said it was a tragedy the
parental role of providing
ethical guidance to their
children was being taken away.
Attorney
General Rob Hulls is promoting
the register. 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 same-sex and heterosexual
couples to register.
As
you may know, Australian Christian
Lobby (ACL) has launched a
new Make
a Stand campaign
against the legalisation
of prostitution in WA.
The Make a Stand website provides
an easy facility where a user
can enter their postcode,
bring up their MLAs & MLCs
names and send an email to
them asking them to vote against
the legalisation of prostitution.
As the Women
Are Worth More
campaign makes clear, legalising
prostitution doesn't dignify
the women involved in the
sex industry; it just dignifies
the industry, its pimps and
madams and the men who buy
sex.
Legalised prostitution leads
to a massive expansion of
the sex industry including
sex slavery and trafficking
in women.
Those living in WA will be
able to email their own state
politicians.
People
living outside WA can send
a message to WA Premier Alan
Carpenter, copied to their
own state premier.
Please
could you promote this campaign
through your own networks,
asking your supporters to
make a stand against the legalisation
of prostitution in WA.
Many
thanks
Beth
Micklethwaite
Senior Research Officer
Australian Christian Lobby
Suite 9,
National Press Club
16 National Circuit
BARTON
ACT 2600
Moral
Values are now OUT
- They are unwanted in WA
(catching up with most other
states?) according to Jim
McGinty.
BUT
government regulation and
encouragement of 'sex for
entertainment' is IN.
Despite
the appalling record of sexual
abuse, drug use, under-age
girls and sex slavery continually
exposed in Victoria since
brothel 'legalisation', the
WA government have decided
to legalise, and thus 'normalise'
the 'sex industry'.
Victoria
has also seen an 800% increase
in ILLEGAL brothels (50 -
400) and the establishment
of at least 100 'legal' ones.
Link
here for a PETITION
(pdf format) for WA
residents ONLY
- please email, print & circulate
as widely as possible.
Attached is a petition for
WA residents ONLY - please
email, print & circulate as
widely as possible.
Gerard
Goiran, CDP State Director
and Senate Candidate stated
today that:
Jim
McGinty’s working group on
Prostitution Law Reform has
now completed its report.
Mr
McGinty has indicated that
a Bill will soon be introduced
into Parliament to implement
the recommendations of the
report.
If the recommendations of
the report are adopted by
Parliament, brothels and escort
agencies will now be certificated
and given an appearance of
respectability that they should
not have.
They will be treated like
any other business and subject
to planning considerations
only.
The
report says that moral objections
should not be taken into account!
Local governments will not
be allowed to prohibit them,
only to regulate them in accordance
with uniform planning legislation
to apply throughout the entire
State. [As is now the case
in Victoria and NSW]
Peter
Stokes
Co
Founder & Executive Officer
Salt Shakers Inc
Ph: 03 9800 2855
Mb: 0413 084 145
The urgent email comments
below are from the UK Christian
Lawyers Fellowship, as are
the article linked to below:
They
highlight how free speech,
and morality can easily disappear
when governments call evil
good and good evil.
Christians
in the UK are being told they
cannot oppose homosexuality,
while anyone is free to attack
Christianity.
The Sexual Orientation Regulations
will stop all opposition to
homosexuality despite it's
dangers to the individual
and the society.
They
will force homosexual 'normalisation'
on society and same-sex parenting
on children.
WHAT
CAN YOU DO
Pray
for our Christian brothers
and sisters in the UK
Pray
for a commitment to stand
firm and fight for truth and
for freedom of religious conviction.
Pray
that Christians will defy
these laws and openly challenge
the authorities.
PLEASE,
if you have contacts in the
UK, pass this email on to
them and ask them to join
the opposition to these appalling
regulations - once they become
law in the UK the pressure
will mount to have the same
thing here.
Peter
Stokes
Co
Founder & Executive Officer
Salt Shakers Inc
Ph: 03 9800 2855
Mb: 0413 084 145
Legal recognition of homosexual
and lesbian relationships.
We are not alone in our fight
against legal recognition
of homosexual and lesbian
relationships. Italy is having
its own battle too.
The question below, that has
got Archbishop Angelo Bagnasco
of Genoa into trouble, needs
to be asked here of those
who support the legal recognition
of ANY 'other' form of relationship
than marriage. Especially
those within the church need
to consider these issues very
carefully.
With Britain's parliament
accepting 'Sexual Orientation
Regulations' and states in
Australia (NSW, Qld & Tas)
having anti-vilification laws
based on 'sexual orientation',
we need to ask 'what does
"sexual orientation" mean?'
According to some sexuality
'experts', sexual orientation
is fluid, so people have a
choice today - it has little
or nothing to do with genitalia
or even chromosomes they say.
So once we stray from marriage
between a man and a woman
as God designed it we can
surely go anywhere, can't
we?
Peter
Stokes
Co
Founder & Executive Officer
Salt Shakers Inc
Ph: 03 9800 2855
Mb: 0413 084 145
If
We Don’t Say No to Same-Sex
Unions, then Why Not Incest
and Pedophilia? Says Archbishop
By Peter J. Smith
ROME, April 2, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com)
– The new head of the Italian
bishops conference has made
political waves by asking
on what basis may incest and
pedophilia be denied if Italy
legalizes same-sex unions
and other alternatives to
the family.
Archbishop Angelo Bagnasco
of Genoa, who was appointed
last month to lead the Italian
Bishops Conference, is spearheading
efforts of the Catholic Church
in Italy against legislation
giving unmarried unions –
including same-sex ones –
legal status and benefits.
“Why say 'no' to forms of
legally recognised co-habitation
which create alternatives
to the family?
Why say 'no' to incest?” the
Archbishop said at a meeting
of Church workers, according
to the Italian journal, La
Repubblica.
“Why say 'no' to the pedophile
party in Holland?”
Bagnasco stated, referring
to the Dutch Brotherly Love,
Freedom and Diversity party,
which lobbies to reduce the
age of consent from 16 to
12 and legalize child pornography.
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.
If you live in these three states,
PLEASE use this email to take action
soon! 
UK:
Homosexual sues church for
right to be employed as youth
worker
“There
is a sound in England from
My people that must come forth now.
I will use national situations and
forces to cause your voice to rise
up to ME. I am going to redo the
economic structures and government
systems of this land. I have determined
this year to bring you to the end
of the open window that I have rested
over you. This nation will not survive
without the voice of MY people rising
in this land ...
We
are not alone in our fight against
legal recognition of homosexual
and lesbian relationships. Italy
is having its own battle too.
March
14, 2007
As
you may know, Australian Christian
Lobby (ACL) has launched a
new 
