AUGUST 2008 Articles, Thoughts & Resources

THERE'S NO DOCTOR SHORTAGE??

So the Rudd Government says as it turns away 7000 Aussie kids that want to become doctors

27/08 Family First Media Release | AUSTRALIA'S health system is in crisis with more than 7000 Australian students unable to get a medical place at university and the silence from the Rudd Government is deafening.
"When will the Rudd Government increase the number of medical places at university and scrap the cap on clinical training places at hospitals?," Family First Leader Senator Steve Fielding asked in Senate question time today.

"Why is the government still relying on imported overseas doctors who are desperately needed by their own countries, and turning away our kids from becoming doctors because of a lack of funding for medical places?," Family First Leader Senator Steve Fielding said at question time today.

Rudd says Aussies worse off since election

27/08 Malcolm Farr - Daily Telegraph | KEVIN Rudd has admitted Australians are worse off since his Government's election last November. But the Prime Minister blamed global factors and, to uproar in Parliament yesterday, also pointed to some of "the economic conditions we inherited".

Opposition Leader Brendan Nelson had put the question to him:"Why are Australians worse off since the election of the Rudd Government?" Mr Rudd did not dispute living expenses and uncertainty had increased over the past nine months. But he said: "The global economic conditions which have come off the back of the global financial crisis ... continue to wash through."

... he and Treasurer Wayne Swan defended the Government's economic record and four Budget measures worth more than $6 billion over four years which the Opposition wants to block.

Dr Nelson told his MPs opinion polling giving the Government a strong lead was "soft" because households were worse off than before the election. "The Government is a hostage with no hand on the tiller," he said. In Parliament yesterday, Opposition MPs asked how the Government could fight inflation while putting up taxes. The Opposition is considering its position on an increased luxury car tax ... .

Government urged to move quickly to end baby bonus for late-term abortions

27/08 Australian Christian Lobby Newsletter | The Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) today welcomed the Federal Government’s statement that the baby bonus is not meant to be used for aborted pregnancies and urged the Government to move quickly to close the loophole in this area.

“The baby bonus was obviously never intended to be used in this way and there are all sorts of concerning implications if this disturbing anomaly remains,” ACL Managing Director Jim Wallace said today.

“The community wants to see less late-term abortions and would be rightly concerned to see money intended to assist people having babies also going to those having abortions after 20 weeks’ gestation.

Loophole allows baby bonus for late abortions

27/08 Ben Packham, Herald Sun | IT was intended to boost the birth rate, but a legal loophole means the $5000 baby bonus can be claimed for late-term abortions. The loophole arises because abortions after 20 weeks' gestation are recorded by doctors as stillbirths. Parents of stillborn babies receive the maternity benefit on compassionate grounds.

The Federal Parliamentary Library, which examined the issue for Liberal senator Cory Bernardi, confirmed the anomaly. Senator Bernardi said: "This is not a debate about abortion. This is about the baby bonus being misused and misapplied to women who do have terminations. "Clearly that is not the intention, it's not in keeping with the support of mainstream Australians for the baby bonus."

... A spokeswoman for Families Minister Jenny Macklin maintained the baby bonus was not available for aborted pregnancies. "If there is any evidence of this occurring we will follow it up immediately," she said. The loophole emerged ahead of a push to axe Medicare funding for late and mid-term abortions.

Schools want more Rudd plan info

27/08 News.com.au | PRINCIPALS and parents have broadly welcomed Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's plan to make schools more accountable, but say the devil will be in the detail. Mr Rudd today announced individual school performance reporting will be a condition for reaching an education agreement with the states to begin in January.

The Prime Minister also pledged to establish new standards to reward school principals and the best performing teachers and fund teacher recruitment, development and excellence. Australian Secondary Principals Association deputy president Jim McAlpine said the plan was positive. "In a broad sense, I think ways of rewarding high performance are welcome, but the devil is in the detail,'' Mr McAlpine said.

.... Australian Council of State School Organisations president Jenny Branch said Mr Rudd should have consulted parents before formulating the plan. "We are really concerned that this government is really not talking to the people it needs to talk to before it's making decisions about what's best for Australia,'' she said. "He's stating he knows what parents want, well we're not sure how he's actually engaged with the parents of state schools when he hasn't run this past the national body.''

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

SPECIAL NOTE ON THE TYPES OF INDUCED ABORTION AVAILABLE:
In the first week there are micro-abortions caused by "contraceptive" drugs and devices. After implantation there are those induced by drugs such as RU 486, Methotrexate and prostaglandins. In the first trimester there are surgical abortions like suction and D&C. In the second and third trimesters there are instillation types, D&E, intracardiac injections and partial birth abortions (late term abortions).

Remember ALL Abortions will be LEGAL under this legislation

Partial Birth Abortion, also called "brain suction" or "D&X" methods, is particularly horrendous - This procedure can be performed on unborn babies anywhere from 13 to 32 weeks old..
- 80% of babies are normal & most babies are viable.

This is like a breech delivery. The entire infant is delivered except the head. A scissors is jammed into the base of the skull. A tube is inserted into the skull, and the brain is sucked out. The now-dead infant is pulled out. The drawing. illustrate this

NOTE - An 8 year Senate battle in the USA finally banned Partial Birth abortion in February 2007. 4 out of 5 Judges declared this procedure to be nothing less than Infanticide.

QUOTE: "There are no medical circumstances in which a partial-birth abortion is the only safe alternative. We take care of pregnant women who are very sick, and babies who are very sick, and we never perform partial-birth abortions. . . . There are plenty of alternatives. . . . This is clearly a procedure no obstetrician needs to do." F. Boehm, Dr. OB, Vanderbilt U. Med. The Washington Times, May 6, 1966, p. A1

Pregnancy Reductions will also become legal under this legislation ..... & intracardiac injections ... Since the advent of fertility drugs, multi-fetal pregnancies have become common. "The frequency of triplet and higher pregnancies . . . has increased 200% since the early 1970s."

QUOTE: Since these are usually born prematurely and some have other problems, a new method has been developed. Assisted Repro. Techniques . . . , L. Wilcox, Fertl. & Sterility, vol. 65, #2, Feb. ’96, pg. 361

At about 4 months a needle is inserted through the mother’s abdomen, into the chest and heart of one of the fetal babies and a poison injected to kill him or her. This is "pregnancy reduction." It is done to reduce the number or to kill a handicapped baby, if such is identified. If successful, the dead baby’s body is absorbed.

Sometimes, however, this method results in the loss of all of the babies.

EMILY'S LIST WELCOMES BILL TO DECRIMINALISE ABORTION.

August 2008 | EMILY's List welcomes the introduction of the Abortion Law Reform Bill 2008 to decriminalise abortion in Victoria. EMILY's List praises the initiators of the Bill, Minister for Women's Affairs, Maxine Morand and Minister for Health, Daniel Andrews for delivering a Bill which will modernise in the way in which abortion is regulated in Victoria.

.... The precise detail of the Bill is important. It permits terminations after 24 weeks gestation where the medical practitioner

a) reasonably believes that the termination of pregnancy is appropriate in all the circumstances and

b) has consulted at least one other medical practitioner who also reasonably believes that the termination is appropriate in all the circumstances.

The phrase 'appropriate in all the circumstances' is to be interpreted broadly, and includes relevant medical circumstances as well as the woman's current and future physical, psychological, and social circumstances.


NOTE : EMILY's List is a national organisation that aims to make ensure "Progressive" Labor Women are elected to parliament ... Apparently progressive means "pro-abortion and pro-institutional child care" because the Emily's List website clearly states that to join this political & personal support network, women need to be : Pro-Choice / Pro Equity / Pro-Childcare / Pro-Equal Pay & Pro-Diversity

At February 1996 there were 4 women ALP members of the House of Representatives. Today, there are 152 Labor women in parliaments of which 113 are EMILY's List members.. - VISIT THEIR WEBSITE FOR MORE INFO

SOME OF EMILY'S LIST CANDIDATES:

Bob Brown 'vilified' Exclusive Brethren

But Exclusive Brethren spokesman Daniel Hales said Senator Brown's attempt to refer the church to the Senate's community affairs committee was based on a "fictional account" of the group's activities. "Senator Brown's remarks in the Senate were characterised by many factual inaccuracies," Mr Hales said in a statement. The Greens leader suggested the inquiry should examine $10 million in government payments to five Exclusive Brethren schools throughout Australia, even though they had a total of just 2000 students. .... The Brethren called on Senator Brown to stop vilifying the church and it members.

PRAYER POINT: Senator Guy Barnett

Acne drug changes could cause more abortions

26/08 By Tamara McLean | MORE babies will be aborted if authorities push ahead with a decision to make the controversial acne drug Roaccutane available through the family doctor, specialists warn. Dermatologists say a move by health authorities to allow GPs to prescribe the heavy-duty medication will push up prescription rates and endanger patients.

And there was a risk patients would not be informed of the dangers of birth abnormalities among babies born to women taking Roaccutane, forcing them to require an abortion, said Dr Stephen Shumack, secretary of the Australasian College of Dermatologists. "This would be a very bad move indeed,'' Dr Shumack said.

"The college fears that appropriate people may not be given it, inappropriate people may be given it, and the side-effects may not be managed appropriately. "And, overall, far more people will be given it, which increases the risk of pregnancies, especially if this is not properly screened for, and then there's more abortions.''.

PRAYER POINT: New Governor General - Ms Quentin Bryce

Time to tell MPs unborn are 'alive and kicking'

Australian Christian Lobby Newsletter | Tail-docking a dog would be illegal, putting a lobster in boiling water would be illegal, but it will be legal to abort a six-month-old child if this Bill passes. – Victorian Liberal MLC Matthew Guy

If the Government is going to decriminalise the process, we need to do it with our eyes wide open and demand modern legislation that spells out a standard of care for our women.  I am determined to get support from all MPs to pass amendments, whatever the outcome of the conscience vote.  – Victorian Labor MP Christine Campbell

With 20,000 abortions performed in Victoria each year, the Victorian Government this week introduced abortion law reforms which provide virtually open slather access to abortion, ignoring calls for protection of women and unborn children. Set to be debated on September 9, the Abortion Law Reform Bill will, if passed, give unfettered legal access to abortion for any reason up to 24 weeks’ gestation, without even the need for a doctor’s agreement. After that, women will also have easy access to late-term abortions - including brutal partial birth abortions, with no criminal penalties for either the woman or the doctor.

Needless to say, ACL is strongly opposed to the abortion bill which sells out the unborn children of Victoria and does nothing to assist women facing unsupported pregnancies. Pro-abortionists, however, are celebrating. ACL Victorian Director Rob Ward has been lobbying hard against the bill and speaking to the media. The bill is likely to increase Victoria’s high abortion rate, departs from the Government’s plege not to change current clinical practice, does nothing to support women, and ignores major ethical concerns about the killing of unborn children – some of whom would be old enough to survive outside the womb.

With the abortion bill set to be debated in less than three weeks, it is vital that you make your opposition to the bill known to Victorian politicians. Several commentators are already suggesting the bill will be passed, even though thankfully there are a number of politicians who are strongly opposed to the bill and are making their concerns known. While strongly opposed to the bill, Labor MP Christine Campbell is working on ammendments to provide at least some protection for women and children.

If you live in Victoria, we urge you to go to our ‘Alive & Kicking’ campaign on our Make A Stand website by clicking here and sending off an email to your local Member and Upper House representatives urging them to vote against the bill. But don’t stop there, please also consider ringing your local MP or visiting them in their electorate offices to let them know your concerns. Contact details can be found by clicking here.  If you live outside Victoria you can still help. Please also join ! our campaign and your email will be sent to the Victorian Premier.

MLAs urged to declare abortion views

August 21, 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.

REAL REFORM

Real Options ... Real Support ... Real Safeguards for women in abortion law reform

21/08 Women's Forum Australia | An new alliance of women’s organisations has called on the Victorian Government to ensure that reform of the State’s abortion laws are made in theinterests of women.

The alliance, ‘Real Reform’ comprises women’s advocacy groups including Women’s Forum Australia (WFA), Real Choices Australia (RCA), Real Alternatives for Women (RAW) Feminists for Life (FFL), and the Feminist International Network of Resistance to Reproductive and Genetic Engineering (FINRRAGE).

Real Reform accepts that the new Bill will decriminalise abortion. However there must be amendments that address the importance of informed consent, counselling and options.

Babies aborted late would require legal burial

21/08 Geraldine Mitchell, Herald Sun | EMOTIONS ran high over plans to decriminalise abortion in Victoria after it was revealed yesterday any baby aborted after 20 weeks must be given a legally recognised burial. The State Government's proposed legislation would enable Victorian women to have an abortion up to 24 weeks' gestation.

... Clinical practice requires the loss of any pregnancy through a termination, miscarriage or stillbirth after 20 weeks to be registered as a birth as well as a death, and a burial must be carried out.

Labor MP Christine Campbell last night called an urgent parliamentary meeting to thrash out Bill amendments. She said the Bill was flimsy and lacked detail, and she wants three main changes: assurances that no health worker suffers a career disadvantage for objecting to working on abortions; that those performing abortions must have some obstetric or gynecological training; and mandatory counselling for women on decision making. "If the Government is going to decriminalise the process, we need to do it with our eyes wide open and demand modern legislation that spells out a standard of care for our women," she said. "I am determined to get support from all MPs to pass amendments, whatever the outcome of the conscience vote."

... The Australian Christian Lobby's state director, Rob Ward, said the Bill would make access to abortion too easy. "The Government is trying to radically reform abortion laws to make it far easier for women to have abortions, with no legal consideration of the human cost," he said.

Anti-abortion group campaigns against bill

August 21, 2008 | ABC News | A Bendigo anti-abortion group says it hopes state MPs who are voting on a bill to decriminalise abortion understand what they are voting on.

... Helen Leach from the Pro-Life Group in Bendigo says it is urging people to contact their local MPs to protest against the bill. "The battle will go [on] and it will probably go on even stronger to educate people about the facts about abortion and whether they legalise it or they don't our work will still go on," she said.

ALP CHARTER OF RIGHTS POLICY CHANGED AFTER REPRESENTATION BY CLERGY

Australian Prayer Network (APN) Newsletter | Cardinal George Pell has thanked Kevin Rudd for intervening in a Labor Party policy debate over the possible introduction of a Charter of Rights and asked that the concept be permanently shelved. Prior to the 2007 ALP National Conference, Pell and his Anglican counterpart, Peter Jensen, wrote to the Prime Minister to reiterate their concern over a Charter of Rights. Labor's 2004 policy platform included the  introduction of a "legislative Charter of Citizenship and Aspirations" in order to achieve a comprehensive recognition of the rights enjoyed by all Australians".

Cardinal Pell has been an outspoken critic of calls for a Charter of Rights, warning it could have serious and unintended consequences. At the conference last year, the platform was amended and the 2007 policy platform -- which Labor took to the election -- committed only to "a public inquiry about how best to recognise and protect the human rights and freedoms enjoyed by all Australians".

Wanting to avoid the perception that the ALP was bowing to pressure from the Church, a spokesman for Mr Rudd denied he had been lobbied by Cardinal Pell and Dr Jensen to intervene on the issue, saying Labor's policy platform was a matter for the party. In their letter to Mr Rudd, Cardinal Pell and Dr Jensen expressed their concern that "the chief advocate of a charter, Professor Williams" had been invited to the 2020 Summit, which put a Charter of Rights back on the agenda.

They again warned a Charter of Rights would result in judges, not elected members of parliament, making decisions about the direction of society. "Churches can make representations to elected MPs but there is no way to oppose or reverse social experiments enacted by the non-elected judges," they wrote. "This continues to be an area of concern." Mr Rudd's spokesman said Labor would not take any decision lightly and Attorney-General Robert McClelland was considering how best to handle the issue.

Source: Compiled by APN from media reports

Euthanasia bill delayed to Nov

22/08 Australian Christian Lobby Newsletter | Victoria: debate resumed on the euthanasia bill on Wednesday night with seven of the nine Upper House politicians who spoke indicating they would oppose it – and some speaking out very strongly.

Debate started later than planned and will be continued on Wednesday November 10. 

Please encourage politicians to oppose the bill by going to our ‘Care, not killing’ campaign on our Make AStand website by clicking here.

Abortion Bill creates controversy

20/08 By John Ferguson,Nick Higginbottom and Geraldine Mitchell | VICTORIAN women are closer to abortion without prosecution under laws that triggered heated scenes in State Parliament. The State Government introduced changes allowing women to have an abortion at up to 24 weeks of pregnancy, the Herald Sun reported today. After this period, abortions can only be performed with the consent of two doctors. The changes came amid emotional scenes in the public gallery and divisions on both sides of politics.

A conscience vote is expected to take place next month. Under the Bill, doctors must assess a woman's current and future physical, psychological and social situations to decide if an abortion should proceed. Anti-abortion activist Marcel White, an expectant father, was dragged from the gallery, screaming: "There's blood on your hands, John Brumby."

... Health Minister Daniel Andrews said the Abortion Law Reform Bill would remove women gaining abortions from the shadows of the Crimes Act. "By clarifying the law in this area, we are not intending to expand the extent to which terminations occur, or restrict access to services," Mr Andrews said.

MAJOR OVERHAUL OF IMMIGRATION POLICY ANNOUNCED

Australian Prayer Network (APN) Newsletter | The Minister for Immigration, Senator Christopher Evans, has heralded a new era in Australian immigration law bringing to an end the previous government's practice of indefinite mandatory detention, which he slammed as "dehumanising" and detrimental to Australia's international reputation. The senator said the Rudd Government would "fundamentally overturn" the previous government's immigration policy, and implement a risk-based policy of detention.

"Under the reforms, persons will be detained only if the need is established. If a person is complying with immigration processes and is not a risk to the community then detention cannot be justified," he said. The senator said those now held in detention centres who met health and security requirements would eventually be released into the community, but could not say when that would occur. Those arriving by boat on Australian shores will still be detained to undergo mandatory health, identity and security checks, but would be released into the community once they had been cleared.

"The set of values adopted are designed to drive the development of a very different detention model. "The values commit us to detention as a last resort; to detention for the shortest practicable period; to the rejection of indefinite or otherwise arbitrary detention," Senator Evans said. Children will also no longer be detained in Australian detention centres. Unauthorised boat arrivals made up only a small fraction of Australia's detention centre population, comprising six out of 357 people now detained in facilities throughout Australia, he said.

Most people detained under the current policy were those who had overstayed their visa. Senator Evans strongly criticised both the morality and the effectiveness of the former government's approach. "Desperate people are not deterred by the threat of harsh detention; they are often fleeing much worse circumstances. The Howard government's punitive policies did much damage to those individuals detained and brought great shame on Australia," he said.

Source: Compiled by APN from media reports

Pleas for living from the unborn

19/08 Mirko Bagaric, Professor of Law at Deakin University | MOST of the community would seem to support proposed changes mooted by the Victorian Government to decriminalise abortion.

A Bill to be introduced by Health Minister Daniel Andrews later this week is likely to allow women an open choice to have an abortion during the first 24 weeks of pregnancy. There will be a conscience vote on the legislation, but its inevitable passage will have nothing to do with good conscience. Instead, it will simply confirm that as a species our moral sympathy gland is rarely triggered by beings whose suffering or loss we cannot readily detect.

Our moral stances continue to be driven by self-interest as opposed to detached and fair principles.

That's why we are not marching in the streets to stop the intense cruelty our farmers inflict on farm animals. That's why we are gorging ourselves to ill-health by eating too much food while 20,000 people in distant parts of the world die daily of starvation or other readily preventable causes. It's also why so many people are prepared to destroy a fetu

Law change 'won't create abortion rush'

19/08 AA{P | DECRIMINALISING abortion would not trigger a surge in terminations, says Victorian Premier John Brumby. He was speaking hours before a controversial Bill to remove abortion from the Crimes Act was due to be tabled in State Parliament. The Bill is expected to give women freedom to have an abortion at up to 24 weeks gestation. Abortion is currently permitted in Victoria under a common law ruling only if it is to protect the woman's health. Mr Brumby said the Bill was consistent with current practice and would remove the criminal implications of abortion. "I will be supporting the removal of abortion from the Crimes Act, I think that's the right thing, it's the right thing in terms of public policy,'' Mr Brumby said

Libs can win in WA - poll

16/08 News.com.au | The Liberal Party is capable of achieving an unlikely victory in the West Australian election while its new leader is closing the gap on Premier Alan Carpenter, a new poll shows. A Westpoll of five key marginal seats, published in today's The West Australian, has the Liberals leading in four seats and in a dead heat with Labor in the fifth. But the election is still too close to call, the newspaper says, with Labor maintaining a 0.4 percentage point lead over the Liberals on a two-party-preferred basis, according to the overall state voting intention.

Despite the close result in the marginal seats, Labor had a commanding lead in voter confidence, with 64 per cent of those surveyed saying they expected the government to be returned.

The Liberals' decision to replace Troy Buswell with Colin Barnett as opposition leader appears to have paid off, with Mr Barnett moving to within 13 percentage points of Mr Carpenter as preferred premier.

A month ago Mr Carpenter led Mr Buswell 57 percentage points to 12 points, but this week's poll had support for Mr Carpenter on 44 points, ahead of Mr Barnett on 31 points.

Barnett’s brothel plans welcome but not enough

15/08 Australian Christian Lobby Newsletter | Christian concerns already appear to be having an influence on the West Australian election, with WA Opposition Leader Colin Barnett using his opening policy salvo in the campaign to commit his party to repeal WA’s controversial prostitution laws (only passed in April) if they take office

This is a key issue which ACL and other groups have been lobbying on in WA and the policy commitment represents a big advance in the fight against legalising brothels and normalising sexual exploitation. However, while we welcome the WA Liberal Party’s commitment, we are concerned about their plans to licence brothels in designated areas, as these kinds of containment policies do not work.

In a media release issued on Monday, ACL WA Director Michelle Pearse urged the West Australian Opposition to go further with its plans to change the State’s prostitution laws and introduce the ‘Swedish model’ which criminalises the buyers of sex and has been proven to dramatically reduce prostitution and sex trafficking. She said that both major parties need to give greater consideration to the Swedish model.

WA first as leaders agree to talk to Christians

15/08 Australian Christian Lobby Newsletter | In a first for Western Australia, the leaders of the two major political parties have both agreed to address the Christian constituency at a ‘Make it Count WA’ event to be held in the lead up to the September 6 poll.

In an exciting breakthrough, our WA Director Michelle Pearse has received commitments from both Premier Alan Carpenter and Opposition Leader Colin Barnett to attend the event which is to be held at the Burswood Grand Ballroom, with the date still being finalised.

Just as the NT Make it Count event was a major success in raising the Christian profile in the Territory election, we are hoping the West Australian event will have a similar effect, although on a bigger scale to reflect the larger population. For this to happen it is crucial that the event is well-attended – demonstrating to the two major leaders and the public the size of the Christian voice and our desire to impact the State with the values of justice, compassion and truth. If you live in Perth please make a decision to attend and make sure your church gets involved. We will advise you of further details shortly.

‘Meet Your Candidate Forums’ will also be held in a variety of locations throughout WA prior to the election and a ‘WA Votes’ website will include answers from the political parties to questions on 15 key issues of interest to Christians. Stay tuned for further details.

Christians influence brought to bear on NT’s knife-edge election

15/08 Australian Christian Lobby Newsletter | Labor’s Henderson Government has been narrowly returned to office by one seat in the Northern Territory in a ‘knife edge’ election result which saw an average swing of nine per cent away from the ALP. Labor officially claimed victory on Wednesday, with a loss of six seats.

The successful ‘Make it Count NT’ event (pictured) and other election activities helped to raise the profile of the Christian constituency during the NT election campaign, and have heightened awareness of Christian concerns among NT political parties. This is something which is only likely to increase following such a close election result.

Labor backs off from reviving gay union law

15/08 The Canberra Times | The ACT Government has done a U-turn on the issue of same-sex unions and says it will not support a Greens push to reinstate its original legislation. The original legislation would have allowed gay and lesbian couples to celebrate their unions with legal ceremonies. But pressure from the Rudd Government saw the proposal watered down earlier this year. Instead, gay and lesbian couples can register their relationships as civil partnerships, giving them access to tax breaks and super benefits.

Outgoing Greens MLA Deb Foskey will introduce legislation in the Assembly next week which reinstates the legal ceremonies. But the Government has labelled the move a political stunt ahead of the election. Attorney-General Simon Corbell has previously ruled out continuing to push the Federal Government over same-sex legislation. He said cabinet had decided not to back Dr Foskey's proposal because the Federal Government would not support the marriage component of the legislation. The ACT Government was not willing to put its existing civil partnership laws at risk.

Dr Foskey said she would be disappointed if the Labor Government was not prepared to stick to its principles because it did not want to clash with its federal counterpart. She has written to federal Attorney-General Robert McClelland asking him not to use his powers to overrule the legislation if it passes in the Assembly.

Marriage secure following new attack

15/08 Australian Christian Lobby Newsletter | Marriage withstood a further attack from the ACT Greens this week with the Labor Government of Jon Stanhope refusing to back a bill to provide legal ceremonies for same sex couples. The Rudd Government’s commitment to block attempts to mimic marriage has effectively stymied Dr Deb Foskey’s bill. ACL is grateful for the commitments made to it by the Federal ALP prior to the 2007 Federal election, leaving the Greens as the only political force not recognising the political reality of bi-partisan support for marriage.

In May, the Stanhope Government was forced to back down from marriage-mimicking provisions in its Civil Partnerships legislation. Despite this, the Government made provision for ACT Government officials to preside at non-legally binding ceremonies. Christians considering their votes at the up-coming ACT election on October 18 will be hoping that no public officials officiate at any same-sex events during Canberra’s Spring Floriade. Christians’ engagement with both sides of politics on the marriage issue has secured its protection in Australia against global moves to erode it and the benefits it uniquely bestows on society and children.

Medicare, not medikill

14/08 Make A Stand website | On 17 September 2008, Senator Guy Barnett (Liberal, Tas) will move a disallowance motion in the Senate seeking to tip the balance of power in favour of voiceless unborn children. The motion aims to terminate Medicare funding for abortions performed in the second trimester of pregnancy – 14 to 26 weeks gestation.

Partial birth abortion is a brutal method used to terminate pregnancies during the second trimester of pregnancy. Although banned in the United States, this horrific method of abortion may attract a Medicare benefit.

WA Liberals vow to crack down on cannabis

13/08 News.com.au | The Liberal Party has pledged to repeal Labor's "soft on drugs" cannabis laws if they win the WA election next month. Smoking implements and tools would be banned from sale, there would be no allowable possession of cannabis plants for personal use and the cannabis possession threshold would be reduced by two-thirds. Opposition Leader Colin Barnett said Labor's drug laws sent the wrong message to young people that so-called social or recreational drugs were acceptable. "If elected, a Liberal government will repeal Labor's soft on cannabis laws,'' Mr Barnett told reporters.

``They were a mistake when they were introduced and they have had a damaging effect on young people in Western Australia,'' Mr Barnett said. Opposition youth spokeswoman Donna Faragher said the government had failed in the area of illicit drugs. ``We will re-introduce a one-time cautioning system for possession only, we will remove the cultivation of cannabis plants from the scheme and we will introduce mandatory education sessions for both juveniles and adults,'' Ms Faragher said.

``We believe these changes will send a clear message to the community that cannabis is neither a soft nor harmless drug that the current Labor government would have us believe.'' Currently, people can be fined for possession of a small amount of cannabis or growing up to two non-hydroponic cannabis plants but do not automatically incur a criminal record.

CHARITIES AND CHURCHES COULD FORFEIT TAX CONCESSIONS

Australian Prayer Network (APN) Newsletter | Charities and other non-government organisations could lose billions of dollars' worth of tax perks as the Rudd Government's taxation review prepares to examine whether the concessions offered to the $80 billion non-profit sector are justified. The investigation, by Treasury boss Ken Henry, is expected to meet with resistance from some of the sector's most powerful groups. Most of the country's religious groups, which make up about $25 billion of the sector, run commercial enterprises.

Among them is the Seventh Day Adventists' cereal giant Sanitarium, which generates more than $300 million a year. Many of the operations have little to do with charitable work but are exempt from various taxes including corporate tax and capital gains tax. The Catholic Church has long opposed reforms such as charging tax on commercial enterprises. While any changes recommended by Dr Henry may offer the opportunity to bolster Treasury's coffers, it will create a significant political challenge for Kevin Rudd, a confessed Christian who has courted the religious vote.

Australian Industry Group head Heather Ridout, said the non-profit sector was a huge part of the economy and so it made sense to look at it as part of the review. "The non-profit sector is a very big and important part of this", she said. Business enterprises run by religious groups range from pizza chains, insurance companies, wineries, farms, schools, hospitals and aged-care facilities. All are exempt from tax. Australia is one of the few countries in the world where religious groups are not forced to pay tax on business ventures.

The non-profit sector accounts for 8 per cent of GDP and employs more than 600,000 people, but a lack of transparency and poor accounting standards and corporate governance in the financial arrangements of many organisations has long been a concern. In an era of heavy corporate regulation, most parts of the non-profit sector remain unregulated. There is no process for the registration of charities, no consistent collection of information about the activities or funding sources of charities and there is little or no monitoring of the activities of charities.

Source: Compiled by APN from media reports

Labor bruised after one-seat win in the Northern Territory

12/08 The Australian | LABOR has narrowly won power in the Northern Territory after a knife-edge election result that has left the party deeply factionalised and the authority of Chief Minister Paul Henderson considerably weakened. Despite chief minister Paul Henderson yesterday refusing to claim victory, Opposition Country Liberal Party leader Terry Mills yesterday conceded defeat in the unexpectedly close election race, which hinged on the result in the Darwin electorate of Fannie Bay, which had been held by former chief minister Clare Martin. A sombre Mr Henderson said yesterday that while it was "not impossible" that Labor could lose Fannie Bay -- which at 18 per cent experienced the second-biggest swing of all NT electorates on Saturday -- he was "more confident" that the Labor candidate Michael Gunner would claim the seat.

Though counting of postal votes continued in Fannie Bay, Labor looked almost certain to be returned to government with a wafer-thin majority of one seat after Mr Gunner's lead over rival Gary Lambert was increased to 92 votes yesterday. The Darwin electorate of Fong Lim is still also undecided. Labor previously held 19 seats in the 25-seat Legislative Assembly, compared with 13 in the new parliament... Federal opposition frontbencher Malcolm Turnbull seized on the Territory results yesterday, saying it was a "big wake-up call" for Kevin Rudd. 'This is an extraordinary swing and it underlines the disillusionment Australians are seeing and feeling with the lack of leadership," Mr Turnbull said.

Liberals pledge to limit brothels

09/08 Perth Now | COLIN Barnett has promised to scrap WA's controversial prostitution laws. The Opposition Leader said yesterday he would not allow brothels to spread across suburbs. He intended to regulate the industry by licensing brothels in designated areas. Labor's laws shifted responsibility to councils to determine brothel applications. ``If elected, a Liberal government will repeal the Prostitution Amendment Bill 2007,'' Mr Barnett said. ``A Liberal government will not allow the spreading of brothels throughout the suburbs and towns of WA.''

Mr Barnett and Opposition police spokesman Rob Johnson have been calling for changes to WA's new prostitution laws for months. Mr Johnson says councils will be powerless to stop sex houses in residential areas. In parliament last year Mr Barnett said: ``There are 144 local authorities in WA. How are they equipped to handle this industry and the sorts of issues that will arise? If anything, local government will be more susceptible to corruption, political pressure and pressure on planning.

Victorian euthanasia bill calls for falsified death certificates

-8/08 Australian Christian Lobby Newsletter | Debate on the Victorian euthanasia bill resumes on August 20. Voting is expected to be close on the Medical Treatment (Physician Assisted Dying) Bill 2008, which seeks to allow doctors, who noramally care for patients, to kill them instead.

ACL Victorian Director Rob Ward has been lobbying strongly against the bill, which devalues life and could put the lives of vulnerable sick, disabled and elderly people at risk. There are also serious problems with the guidelines and provisions in the bill. For example, instead of recording the cause of death as the ingestion of poisons, death would be deceptively recorded as the illness that has prompted the request for death. This amounts to the falsification of death certificates.

Under the bill’s guidelines a request for death may also be granted to somebody who is NOT suffering a terminal illness. And there are severe penalties for anyone who feels duty bound to intervene. The bill imposes a penalty, including a fine of up to $100,000, and/or imprisonment for up to five years, for anybody who resuscitates or attempts to resuscitate a person who has ingested drugs for the purpose of ending his or her life.

ACL urges supporters – and particularly those living in Victoria – to call, write or email Victorian Upper House members directly to tell them how you feel about this bill. Their contact details can be found here or you can go to our ‘Care, not killing’ campaign on our Make A Stand website by clicking here (please remember to tick the “Members of the Legislative Council for your Electorate” box so that they get a copy of your message).

'Double-speak', or the use of euphemistic words to downplay the dreadful proposal of legalising killing have been rife in the Victorian euthanasia debate. An article posted on Wednesday on Mercatornet.com talks about the tactic of using a choice of language to alter the perceptions of others about what is ethical and unethical.

In the article ‘Speaking to a Secular Age’, Margaret Somerville, founding director of the Centre for Medicine, Ethics and Law at McGill University in Montreal, said the euthanasia debate taking place in many Western democracies is a good example of this.
“Its proponents contend that euthanasia is just a "merciful act of clinical care", the "last act of good palliative care", or "physician-assisted death" – they avoid the use of the word suicide as surveys have shown people are less accepting of that. Compare this euphemistic, soothing language with an equally accurate description: euthanasia is physicians killing their patients.” Please click here to read this incisive article, which also includes advice on being an effective influence in the public square.

MEDICAL PROFESSION DIVIDED OVER CHANGES TO EUTHANASIA LAWS

Australian Prayer Network (APN) Newsletter | The Victorian Parliament is currently considering a physician-aided suicide Bill proposed by the Greens. Debate on the bill is expected to continue next week when Parliament resumes after the winter break.

Meanwhile a poll of almost 1800 Victorian doctors shows they are evenly divided over whether euthanasia laws should be changed so terminally ill patients can end their own lives. A minority go further and say elderly patients with no hope of recovery should be denied expensive life-preserving treatment. 45 per cent thought the medical profession should support euthanasia and lobby the Government to make it legal. Almost the same number (44 per cent) said they opposed such a push, underlining the discord among the medical fraternity.

Inspite of the survey results, anti-euthanasia campaigner Nicholas Tonti-Filippini said he believed most doctors did not support changing legislation to allow assisted suicide. "Most doctors look at euthanasia and just see it as incredible bureaucracy, whether they support euthanasia or not," he said. The Australian Medical Association does not support euthanasia, and does not have a policy on what resources should be applied to end of life treatment which they consider to be a moral issue that society needs to address rather than the medical profession.

Anti-euthanasia supporters believe that the value of human life should not be assessed in monetary terms. Euthanasia is the administration of drugs with