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Breaking the Drought - Praying for Rain

Murray Darling Prayer Pilgrimage 30th Sept & 1st Oct 2008

Warwick Marsh, Australian Heart Ministries and Ps Peter Walker, Australian Indigenous Christian Ministries, are undertaking a prayer pilgrimage along the Murray River from the Hume Weir to the Mildura /Wentworth junction of the Murray Darling. This prayer pilgrimage is being supported by the Australian Prayer Network and the Indigenous Prayer Network, Christian groups/churches and individuals all over Australia

Guilty verdicts in terror trial

15/09/2008 | AAP | A MUSLIM cleric has been found guilty of leading and being a member of a terrorist organisation in Australia's biggest terror trial. Jurors today found Abdul Nacer Benbrika, 48, was a member of a Melbourne terror cell.

Five of Benbrika's followers have been found guilty of being members of a terrorist group.Benbrika displayed no emotion as the jury delivered a guilty verdict on charges of intentionally directing the activities of a terrorist organisation and of being a member of a terrorist organisation.

... After a Supreme Court trial that ran for 115 days, jurors took three weeks and five days to reach a verdict. The 12 men, who were arrested in 2005, were accused of planning terrorist acts in Melbourne, involving the detonation of an explosive or use of weapons. Australia's biggest terror trial heard from more than 50 witnesses and was played thousands of hours of listening device material and telephone intercepts. The jury heard Benbrika, 48, of Dallas, had told his followers it was "permissible to kill women, children and the aged" and that the group needed to kill at least 1000 non-believers to make the Australian Government withdraw soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan.

ALL proposed AMENDMENTS were DEFEATED!

The Abortion Law Reform Bill has passed Victoria’s Legislative Assembly by a final vote of 49 to 32 late last night (Thursday 11 September). There are 88 MPs – the Speaker doesn’t vote, leaving 87. Six MPs did not have a vote recorded on this Bill.
Debate on the Bill had resumed on Tuesday 9, with a ‘Second Reading’ vote (in principle support) of 47 votes in favour to 35 against.

Numerous amendments were proposed following that vote – these amendments, put by pro-life MPs and others concerned about some aspects of the Bill, covered a range of aspects, including proposals to reduce the ‘abortion for any reason’ time from 24 weeks down to 20 weeks, offering independent counselling, partial birth abortions, parental permission for under-17s, etc.

ALL of the amendments were defeated.

The debate continued on Wednesday and Thursday, until early in the morning.

Third reading vote: 49 to 32

For FULL VOTE LIST (word doc)

Total – 81 votes of 88 Members

[Speaker doesn't vote, 6 Members had no vote recorded - Graley, Judith – Labor; Howard, Geoff – Labor; Jasper, Ken – National; Languiller, Telmo – Labor; Marshall, Kirstie – Labor; Sykes, Bill – National]

Centrelink staff suffer abuse and threats at work

15/09/2008 | Steve Lewis, Courier Mail | AUSTRALIA'S most dangerous workplace is emerging as Centrelink, with staff on the welfare frontline subject to serious abuse and death threats. Public servants were being threatened with baseball bats, knives and even a chainsaw, a new report has shown. Some threats were implied but nevertheless frightening, such as the officer who received a cartoon of himself hanging from a noose. Some Centrelink offices have been set on fire while staff making home visits have been attacked with toasters, glass flagons and ashtrays.

Health service asks MPs to back abortion bill

September 9, 2008 | ABC News | Women's health service in western Victoria is asking Victorian MPs to support a bill to decriminalise abortion. The legislation would remove the threat of prosecution for women, and would allow abortions after 24 weeks, if approved by two doctors. The bill will be debated in the Lower House of Parliament today, and MPs will eventually have a conscience vote.

MLAs urged to declare abortion views

September 9, 2008 | ABC News | The ACT Government has put abortion back on the political agenda, two months out from the election. The ACT was the first jurisdiction to decriminalise abortion in 2002.

Government backbencher Mick Gentleman has foreshadowed a motion in the Legislative Assembly which will force Opposition MLAs to declare their views. Chief Minister Jon Stanhope says voters deserve to know where Opposition Leader Zed Seselja stands on the issue."We haven't had an opportunity to learn or understand what his personal values or philosophies are on issues that are very important to the community," he said.

Euthenasia / Abortion / IVF for Singles & Lesbians

12/09 Culture Watch News | Thanks to all of you who were involved in the battle against the euthanasia bill in Victoria. It was defeated this week, and by a pretty good margin (25-13 in the Upper House).

However, the abortion bill has passed in the Victorian Lower House. It now must go to the Upper House for debate and votes. So please keep acting and praying on this one.

Anti Abortion March - In the News:

Abortion debate heats up on steps of parliament - Mariza O'Keefe | September 6, 2008 | Brisbane Times | Thousands of anti-abortion campaigners stopped traffic as they marched down Melbourne's Bourke Street and overflowed onto the steps of parliament to protest against the new abortion laws now before state parliament. Across the road a few hundred pro-choice campaigners chanted slogans calling for abortion to be decriminalised. The protesters are sending their messages as the Victorian Parliament begins debate on legislation to remove abortion from the Crimes Act this week.... The anti-abortion campaigners, that included many parents and their young children, waved banners with slogans saying: "Justice for the unborn", "Abortions hurt women" and "Defend the unborn".

Abortion for ANY reason?

Abortion for ANY reason? What does that REALLY mean?
 

The Victorian government claims that it doesn’t want to extend the current legal situation or current clinical practice regarding abortion.
The Menhennitt ruling of 1969 spoke about abortion being allowed when it was necessary to preserve the life or health of the mother (and it was supposed to be weighed about the proportionate risk of continuing with the pregnancy).

BUT the Abortion Law Reform Bill would allow abortion for ANY reason up to 24 weeks gestation.

After that time, two doctors need to approve it but they can consider current and future SOCIAL reasons as well as life and health issues!

What might “ANY reason’ actually include?

Yesterday, The Australian reported that Julian Savulescu said that if a couple found they were having a boy when they really wanted a girl (or vice versa), then it would be quite legitimate to abort the baby! That is, abortion for sex selection reasons!

Last month, Savulescu, formerly from Melbourne but now the holder of the Uehiro Chair in practical ethics at the University of Oxford, wrote an article calling for the government to adopt the VLRC’s Model C – to legislate to allow abortion for ANY reason for the full nine months of pregnancy. He was joined in writing the article by Lachlan de Crespigny (Principal Fellow, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Melbourne) – one of the people responsible for the 32 week old pre-born being aborted because of suspected dwarfism.

Sex selection abortion in China has been widely condemned by the international community. We must oppose the practice in Victoria also! 

Action

Click here for our Campaign page.

Health service asks MPs to back abortion bill

September 6, 2008 | ABC News | A north-east Victorian women's health service has welcomed moves to decriminalise abortion. ...Susie Reid from Women's Health Goulburn North-East says it would bring the law into the 21st century. "The Government has listened to the majority of Victorians and has followed the Victorian Law Reform Commission recommendations," she said. "So now we're calling on parliamentarians to all show leadership and I think the call now is do it well, do it once and reflect community attitude.".

Giving women total control

15/08 The Australian | Every birth should be a wanted birth. That must be the aim in Victoria. AUSTRALIA in general and Victoria in particular have lagged far behind the rest of the developed world in their attitude to abortion. The United Nations International Conference on Population and Development, meeting in Cairo in 1994, affirmed that "all couples and individuals have the right to decide freely and responsibly the number and spacing of their children, and to have the means to do so". Australia was a signatory to that declaration.

The 2007 Report of the World Health Organisation on Unsafe Abortion showed that of the 210 million women becoming pregnant each year, about 42 million would have an abortion, 20 million of which would be performed illegally, with a one in four risk of severe maternal morbidity or mortality. In 2001, safe abortion was available on request in 31 of 48 developed countries. Because abortion in Australia still comes under the Criminal Code in most states, including Victoria, we do not have good figures on the annual abortion rate, but Tony Abbott recently suggested that it was about 80,000

Naked girl photo may reignite Bill Henson row

08/09 The Australian | IN a move that could reignite the divisive children-in-art debate, a photograph by artist Bill Henson of a naked girl has been reproduced on the internet and in an art auction catalogue. The photograph depicts a naked girl, apparently a teenager but whose age is unknown, lying on sheets, her legs parted. The girl appears to be sleeping. Henson created the work in 1985-86 and it was exhibited in 1989 ...The National Gallery of Victoria and the Albury Regional Art Gallery are believed to own works from the same series. ... the photograph belonged to a Melbourne collector who had decided to sell it because he was updating his art collection.

Sat 6 September 2008: Freedom to be Born March

A march and rally for the unborn - in Melbourne.

Assemble at Treasury Gardens at 10.30 am

After the march, the rally will conclude at Parliament House steps.
The rally will be held just days before the Abortion Law Reform Bill 2008 is due to be debated.

BOOK your diary NOW!

We need thousands of people to rally to show the government, MPs and the media that there are many people who do not want abortion to be decriminalised in Victoria.

The march is co-ordinated by Right to Life Australia.
Ph 9387 7098

rtl@rtlaust.com

Baby the wrong gender? Abort it, says expert

01/09 Caroline Overington, The Australian | PARENTS should not be forced by law to give birth to children of a type or gender they do not want, the Melbourne-born head of Oxford University's ethics department says. Julian Savulescu, who holds the Uehiro Chair of Practical Ethics at the University of Oxford, said legislation before the Victorian parliament that would legalise abortion on request before the 24th week of pregnancy was flawed, because it did not give couples enough freedom over the number or the type of children they have, The Australian reports.

"The legislation seems to suggest that some fetuses can be aborted at any time, while others cannot," Professor Savulescu said. "Abortion is an area where there is hypocrisy between practice and legislation. "Abortion is a legitimate way for people to control the number of children they have. Morally, we should suggest to the women that they give up the children they don't want, put them up for adoption. "But there is a division for what, morally, people should do, and what the law requires them to do.

... Professor Savulescu is among prominent Victorians agitating for the commission's Model C, abortion on request at any stage of a pregnancy. ... It's quite possible in the future that a fetus below the age of 20 weeks or even 15 weeks will survive, so will we then revise legislation? "Say we could keep embryos alive at some point in the future. Would we then demand that all embryos be protected?"

Professor Savulescu has generated a storm of controversy at Oxford, where he has argued that parents should be allowed to use genetic testing to select certain characteristics, such as sporting talent, or intelligence, for their children. (bio below)

Julian Savulescu

01/09 Wikipedia Bio | Julian Savulescu is a Romanian-Australian philosopher and bioethicist. He is currently the Uehiro Professor of Practical Ethics at the University of Oxford and Fellow of St Cross College, Oxford. He is Director of the Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics. He is also Head of the Melbourne-Oxford Stem Cell Collaboration, which is devoted to examining the ethical implications of cloning and embryonic stem cell research. In addition, he was the editor of the prestigious Journal of Medical Ethics, which was until 2005 the highest impact journal in medical and applied ethics (as ranked by Thomson-ISI Journal Citation Indices).

In some of his publications he has argued for the following: (1) That parents have a responsibility to select the best children they could have given all of the relevant genetic information available to them (Bioethics, vol. 15 no. 5/6, pp. 413-425), a principle that he extends to the use of in-vitro fertilization (IVF) and preimplantation genetic diagnoses (PGD) in order to determine the intelligence of embryos and possible children. (2) That stem cell research is justifiable even if it means killing a (human) person (Bioethics, vol. 16, no. 6, pp. 508-528). His argument is based on the principle that killing is justified if some of those at risk of being killed stand to benefit from the killing and whether those benefits are more likely in a world in which the killing occurs. Thus, he concludes that even if embryonic stem cell research involves the killing of a person, it is justified.

The ideas interview: Julian Savulescu

From the Archives 10/10.2005 The Guardian.co.uk | The Boys From Brazil is one of Julian Savulescu's favourite movies. That would not raise an eyebrow, were it not for the fact that his main interest as Uehiro professor of practical ethics at Oxford University is "biological enhancement" - also known as "the new eugenics". Savulescu's views on cloning and the improvement of the body have caused controversy before. So having a soft spot for a film that imagines Josef Mengele cloning an army of Hitlers seems a little risky. Yes, he says, but the film's value is that it foregrounds cloning as an all-important issue: "What was science fiction when the film was produced, is reality today."

That may be true. But however one renames it, can eugenics ever throw off the legacy of the Third Reich? "It depends what you mean by eugenics," he says. "In point of fact, we practise eugenics when we screen for Down's syndrome, and other chromosomal or genetic abnormalities. The reason we don't define that sort of thing as 'eugenics', as the Nazis did, is because it's based on choice. It's about enhancing people's freedom rather than reducing it."

With all the busts the sex industry booms

01/09 News.Com.au | AUSTRALIANS spent $1.13 billion on prostitutes and strippers last year, business analysts say. And despite concerns of rising fuel prices and a slowing economy the sex industry would grow at 8.1 per cent to $1.22 billion this financial year.

Neil Gilmore, owner of Gold Coast brothel Pentagon Grand, said he was confident there would always be demand for the world's oldest profession. “In economic terms, the sex industry does enjoy so-called sticky consumption in that, like tobacco and alcohol, consumption levels remain relatively strong compared with other products during economic downturns,’’ Mr Gilmore said.

IBISWorld says prostitutes in brothels generate the biggest share of revenue, with street walkers accounting for about 15 per cent of revenue. The next largest "product segments" are strippers at 12 per cent and escorts at 8 per cent. And it seems an economic bust may produce a boom for the sex industry.

... Mr Gilmore said compared to a night out trying to woo a woman the brothel's services - starting at $150 for 30 minutes - could be cost effective. ... "If you go to a brothel it is guaranteed. You might have to wait in line but you are going to get laid."

PETITION - to disallow Medicare funding for second trimester and late abortions

To the Honourable the President and Members of the Senate in Parliament assembled:
Whereas,

• item 16525 of the Health Insurance (General Medical Service Table) Regulations 2007 provides for the payment of Medicare funds for the performance of second trimester abortions, that is, abortions as late as 26 weeks of pregnancy;

• Medicare funds have, since 1994 paid $1.7 million for 10,000 second trimester abortions;

• babies as young as 21 weeks gestation have been born alive and subsequently flourished;

• Medicare funds may be used to abort babies through the partial birth abortion method and also for abortion procedures in which the baby is born alive but then deliberately left to die; and therefore we, the undersigned petitioners, pray that the Senate will disallow item 16525 of the Health Insurance (General Medical Service Table) Regulations 2007 and thereby stop the funding of second trimester and late abortions

Click here to download the Petition

Post to Senator Guy Barnett,
33 George Street, Launceston TAS 7250 by 1 September 2008
Please do not use the back of forms – For additional forms contact 03 6334 1755

Canadian Doctors Group Worried Palin Example Could Pressure Some Women to Not Abort Down's Child

10/09/2008 Thaddeus M. Baklinski | (LifeSiteNews.com) - U.S. vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin's loving and highly-publicized acceptance of her Down's syndrome child Trig has some Canadian doctors worried that her example may lead to mothers shunning abortion after diagnosis of Down's syndrome. According to the Globe and Mail, Dr. Andre Lalonde, executive vice-president of the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada (SOGC), is worried that Palin's decision to give birth to Trig, despite knowing about his condition, could influence other women in similar situations, but who lack the financial and emotional support that Palin had access to.

"The worry is that this will have an implication for abortion issues in Canada," he said. Citing his concern for women's "freedom to choose", Lalonde said that popular examples about women like Palin, who choose not to kill their unborn children, could have negative effects on women and their families, reported the Globe. However, Lalonde said that doctors in Canada give balanced information about the consequences of the condition to pregnant women with a Down's child, and that women are not necessarily encouraged to abort. "We offer the woman the choice. We try to be as unbiased as possible," Lalonde said. "We're coming down to a moral decision and we all know moral decisions are personal decisions."

Obama Says Abortion Comment at Megachurch Too Flip

But on Sunday, during an interview with ABC News, Obama acknowledged the response was “probably” too flip. "Yes. I mean, what I intended to say is that, as a Christian, I have a lot of humility about understanding when does the soul enter into…," he explained. "It's a pretty tough question,” he continued. “And so, all I meant to communicate was that I don't presume to be able to answer these kinds of theological questions.” Rick Warren, in an interview after the forum, said he thought Obama needed to be more specific with his answer.

“[T]o me, I would not want to die and get before God one day and go, ‘Oh, sorry, I didn’t take the time to figure out’ because if I was wrong, then it had severe implications for my leadership if I had the ability to do something about it,” Warren had said in a Beliefnet.com interview.

... Obama, in his interview Sunday, had also explained that abortion is a moral issue and he does not think the government “criminalizing” the decision of families is the best way to reduce the practice.

Meanwhile, Obama’s running mate, Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware, said during a separate interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press” Sunday that as a Roman Catholic he accepts the church’s teachings that life begins at conception

Obama's Abortion Bombshell:  Unrestricted Abortion Over Wishes of Individual States a Priority for Presidency

WASHINGTON, D.C., June 10, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Barack Obama, the presumptive pro-abortion nominee of the Democratic Party, has plans to reward the allies that helped him topple Hillary Clinton from her throne by making total unrestricted abortion in the United States his number one priority as president.

In light of Obama's recently achieved status as the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, Focus on the Family's CitizenLink has decided to remind its supporters that almost one year has passed since Obama made his vows to the Planned Parenthood Action Fund that abortion would be the first priority of his administration.

"The first thing I'd do as president is sign the Freedom of Choice Act," Obama said in his July speech to abortion advocates worried about the increase of pro-life legislation at the state level.

The Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) is legislation Obama has co-sponsored along with 18 other senators that would annihilate every single state law limiting or regulating abortion, including the federal ban on partial birth abortion.

The 2007 version of FOCA proposed: "It is the policy of the United States that every woman has the fundamental right to choose to bear a child, to terminate a pregnancy prior to fetal viability, or to terminate a pregnancy after fetal viability when necessary to protect the life or health of the woman."

Obama made his remarks in a question-and-answer session after delivering a speech crystallizing for abortion advocates his deep-seated abortion philosophy and his belief that federal legislation will break pro-life resistance and end the national debate on abortion. (see transcript: http://lauraetch.googlepages.com/barackobamabeforeplannedparenthoodaction)

QUOTE: Freedom from the Excessive Tyranny of Fertility

To the four essential freedoms identified by Franklin D Roosevelt in his address to the nation at the time of World War II, - freedom of speech and expression , freedom from fear and freedom for every person to worship God in his own way - Dugald Baird from Aberdeen added a fifth freedom, freedom from the excessive tyranny of fertility (Baird 1965)

Baird, D. (1965) A fifth freedom? British Medical Journal 2,1141-1148. Balda, M., Aggleton, P. & Slutkin, G. ( 1993)

Sir Dugald Baird (1899-1986) graduated in medicine from Glasgow University in 1922. His early experiences attending births in the Glasgow slums and in the city's Royal Maternity Hospital shaped his interest in the social and economic influences on the health of women, their babies, and across generations. He was awarded Fellowship of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists in 1935. It is also believed that he was a member of the Eugenics society [citation needed].

He moved to Aberdeen in 1937 as Regius Professor of Midwifery at the University of Aberdeen. During the next three decades, his main interests were in the areas of clinical practice, service provision and health policy in reproductive health, perinatal and maternal mortality, social obstetrics, sterilisation, induced abortion, and cervical screening. With his wife Lady Baird, Sir Dugald also established the first free family planning clinic in Aberdeen....Sir Dugald formally retired in 1965, and the Freedom of the City of Aberdeen was conferred on him and Lady Baird for their contribution to medical science and health in the City and beyond

Source: Wikipedia

David Claydon to speak at Salt Shakers Annual Dinner

Rev Dr David Claydon is the speaker at our annual dinner on Saturday 13 September.

David is currently involved in analysing Islam and is involved in the Dealing with Diversity project, looking at the effect of Islam in Australia.
He has been involved in Scripture Union and in evangelism worldwide and will look address the topic "Worldwide Challenges for the Church".

PLEASE BOOK NOW for the dinner - we look forward to seeing you on the night! - Just phone the office on 03 9800 2855.

Date: Saturday 13 September 2008

Start: 7pm: soft drinks and savouries - 7.30: Dinner
Where: The Quest, 137 Mountain Hwy, Wantirna (Mel. 47F9)

Cost: $50 per person, $95 per married couple

Brief Bio

David Claydon - With his wealth of experience he is well qualified to address the topic ‘ Worldwide Challenges for the Church':
David Claydon was born in Jerusalem in the midst of both the Second World War and the local triangle battle between Palestinians, Zionists and the British Protectorate Government.  David’s father worked for the Protectorate government and he and David’s mother were killed in the triangle war. After a few years in an Arabic orphanage, David was rescued by a missionary family and then by an aunt.  His exciting story is told in the biography “Never Alone”.

David was sent to Australia on a troop ship and in due course was educated and with a scholarship to university gained his economics and education degrees. Later he gained a degree in theology and a Doctorate in Ministry. After teaching economics David headed up Scripture Union at first in NSW and then federally and then pioneered SU ministries in the South Pacific. After serving as Rector of St Matthews, West Pennant Hills for 6 years, he was asked to head up the Church Missionary Society (CMS). In this role he became the President of the United Mission to Nepal and Canon of the cathedrals in both Sydney and Cairo. During his childhood years he developed an interest in Islam and and is now considered to be well informed on Islamic issues.

Through both SU and CMS he has developed contacts around the world and is often a consultant on international religious affairs. Following retirement from CMS he was appointed International Director of the Lausanne movement and ran the 2004 Forum in Thailand. He is now Chair of Dealing with Diversity which is the Heads of Churches group which meets with Politicians to help them better understand the Islamic agendas.

David is an author and editor of a number of publications. He is moderator of the Evangelism and Missions curricula for the Australian College of Education and is an international speaker.

(Mrs) Jenny Stokes

Research Director
SALT SHAKERS 
PO Box 6049, Wantirna, Victoria, 3152
Ph (03) 9800 2855
Mobile: 0413 084 146
Email: jenny@saltshakers.org.au
Web: www.saltshakers.org.au

Training tomorrow's leaders

There is a great need in this nation to assist those students and recent graduates who demonstrate a high potential to become influential leaders for Christ across strategic areas of our nation including politics, law, media, science, education, arts and philosophy.
The Compass program, an eight-day course in Christian worldview, aims to address this need.

The inaugural program kicks off this Sunday with 40 students at the University of Queensland. For more information and to register interest for 2009, please go to www.compass.org.au .

Lyle Shelton
National Chief of Staff , Australian Christian Lobby