Voice of a minority disappears

Nothing Right about a Bill of Wrongs

30/12 Bill Muehlenberg | ...A number of social and political commentators have weighed into the debate. Here I offer the thoughts of four recent writers who have expressed concern about such a Charter. Piers Akerman asks why we need to even consider this: “Cynics might say that this distraction should keep the chattering classes too busy to notice rising levels of unemployment or the growing list of broken election promises beginning with computers for every student and the restoration of the Murray-Darling river system, but that would be a disservice to the True Believers. To them, the lack of a national bill of rights is sufficient argument in itself to call for a document to be immediately prepared and foisted on the long-suffering public, not withstanding the reality that Australia’s extraordinary record of stable government and outstanding level of public civility, despite the appalling behaviour routinely displayed in the state, territory and federal parliaments.”

Sex-Selection Crosses the Line

19/12 Australian Christian Lobby Newsletter | Amid calls from some IVF doctors for Australia’s sex-selection bans to be overturned, Federal Labor Senator for Tasmania Helen Polley has stated that giving couples the choice of the sex of their baby is crossing the line too far.

Media reports indicate that Professor Michael Chapman, from industry group IVF Australia, believes families who already have three or more children of the same gender should be allowed to use IVF to choose the sex of future offspring. Click here for more details.

Sex-selection was banned in Australia in 2004 by the Australian Health Ethics Committee on moral and ethical grounds. However, some Australian couples are reportedly travelling to Thailand and the US to gender-select their babies through IVF.

Senator Polley said she is concerned that IVF technology is now offering parents the option of choosing the sex of their child. “We are heading along a very slippery slope if we continue down this path.” Please click here to read her media release.

Victoria's IVF/Surrogacy Bill.

Excerpted from Salt Shakers Media Release - 19/12/08 | As the parliamentary year drew to a close, the Victorian Legislative Council voted to pass the Assisted Reproductive Treatment Bill.
 
The Bill passed by 20 votes to 18 on 4 December 2008.
 
In a move that takes society even further from the Biblical standard of children being raised by their biological mother and father, the Bill allows lesbians and single women access to IVF, allows the lesbian partner of a birth mother to be registered as a parent on the birth certificate and opens up surrogacy laws.

In fact, a male homosexual couple could organise surrogacy and use IVF to have a child under the new law. They could then be registered as the ‘parents’ of the child on the birth certificate. ..

Sex-Selection Crosses the Line

19/12 Australian Christian Lobby Newsletter | The irresponsible behaviour of euthanasia advocates reached new heights this week, with the launch of a new ‘death device’ which is supposedly undetectable during autopsy. Please click here for details.

Euthanasia is illegal in Australia and it is deeply concerning to see euthanasia advocates such as Dr Philip Nitschke continuing to push a cause which puts the lives of vulnerable sick and elderly people at risk. There are also a host of other concerns about the ramifications of promoting a new way of bringing about death.

ACL believes that each and every person is of unique value regardless of their physical or mental state.

Rather than finding new ways to end people’s lives, society should be working to provide better assistance for the frail elderly and those dealing with terminal illnesses.

Update on legislation and Inquiries

Excerpted from Salt Shakers Media Release - 16/12/ | We have just returned from being interstate for two weeks… that’s why you haven’t had many emails from us!   
 
It is amazing how many things happen in such a short time.
Various Parliaments around Australia have passed legislation or launched Inquiries prior to finishing the year.

Here is an Update on some of these…
 
Federal - homosexual rights legislation
The three bills giving additional rights to homosexual couples have ALL been passed by the federal parliament - these cover superannuation, access to the Family Court and amendments to a large number of Acts (more than 60) giving homosexual couples equivalent rigths to heterosexaul de facto couples. 

NSW – adoption for homosexuals
The NSW government has announced an Inquiry to investigate giving adoption rights to same-sex couples. The Inquiry will be held by the Law and Justice Committee...
 
South Australia - Cloning
The South Australian Upper House did not consider the cloning bill before the end of the parliamentary year. The Bill will be considered when parliament resumes in February.
 
Victoria - ART Bill passed
The Victorian Legislative Council voted to pass the Assisted Reproductive Treatment Bill by 20 votes to 18 on 4 December.
 
Victoria - Caring Relationships
On 4 December, the Victorian Legislative Assembly voted to support amendments to the Relationships Register to allow caring relationships to be registered. The Coalition parties did not oppose the Bill and a division was not called.

The Bill then went to the Legislative Council and had its second reading. The Bill will be debated by the Legislative Council when Parliament resumes in 2009.

Western Australia - Surrogacy
The Western Australian government has passed surrogacy laws that allow a single person or couple to use surrogacy for the production of a child. After passing the upper house last month, the lower house passed the Bill by 36 votes to 16 on 3 December.

Federal Bill of Rights
The federal government has established a panel to conduct an Inquiry into whether Australia should have a federal Charter of Rights or Bill of Rights. The panel will be chaired by Frank Brennan, a Jesuit priest.

Dad's the word on discrimination

14/12 Stephanie Peating, SMH.com.au | Men have been prevented from taking on greater responsibilities at home by the Sex Discrimination Act, the legislation designed to break down gender inequality. A review of the legislation has found it should be overhauled to reflect the changing workplace and people's needs for greater flexibility to allow them to meet caring responsibilities for children and aged or sick relatives.

The Federal Government is considering a three-stage overhaul of the Sex Discrimination Act as recommended by the Senate's legal and constitutional affairs committee. Its chairwoman, the Labor senator Trish Crossin, said that although there was widespread support for the act, now nearly 25 years old, the suggested changes would ensure it remained "modern and relevant"

... The Federal Government promised to introduce "right to request" laws that would allow parents to have one year of unpaid leave after the birth of a child. Parents would also then be able to request flexible work arrangements with the onus on the employer to demonstrate why such conditions would then not be possible.

Charter will shame politicians into towing rights line

12/12 Australian Christian Lobby Newsletter | Politicians will be intimidated into falling in to line with the rights agenda of unelected judges should a national charter of rights be introduced.

The Attorney General Robert McClelland tried this week to allay concerns about Parliament being usurped by judges when he announced that consultation on a charter is to commence.

But the reality is that judges will issue proclamations ruling that some laws decided by democratically elected politicians contradict the charter.

RESIGNATION OF THE HON JUSTICE MICHAEL KIRBY AC CMG

10/12 Excerpted from Attorney General Statement | I have been advised that the Hon Justice Michael Kirby AC CMG has today met with the Governor-General, Her Excellency Ms Quentin Bryce AC, and advised Her Excellency of his intention to resign from the High Court of Australia, effective midnight on the evening of Monday 2 February 2009.

Tragic death underscores the harm of euthanasia workshops

10/12 Australian Christian Lobby Media Release | The Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) is urging authorities to keep a close eye on euthanasia workshops to be held in Perth this week, pointing out that euthanasia is illegal under Australian law.

ACL’s West Australian Director Michelle Pearse said that concerns raised by the family of Erin Berg -a Perth mother-of-four who committed suicide in Mexico allegedly using Nembutal – have again thrown the spotlight on ethical and legal questions concerning the promotion of suicide methods and the advocating of euthanasia.

Keep power with the people

10/12 Janet Albrectsen, The Australian | ANALYSING calls for so-called reforms should always start with a few golden rules. Follow the money. And follow the power. This week both paths lead you straight to the legal profession and to the heartland of politically driven activists. Like pigs sniffing for truffles, lawyers can smell the enticing waft of money and power in the air as they push open new legal industries. For the activists, it’s about influence as they seek to move from the irrelevant fringe of political life to the centre of the action.

To coincide with the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, today the federal Government will announce a process to introduce a legislative charter of rights. Lawyers will be smiling. They will profit the most from the inevitable rights litigation unleashed by a charter. Inevitable because a charter is deliberately drafted in such vague language that only litigation will determine the ambit of the rights. Hence the Law Council of Australia and just about every law group across the nation have been at the forefront of pushing for a charter ... Not far behind the lawyers are equally delighted political judges who relish the chance of having greater power to call the shots about these rights. And third in the queue are the happy activists, finally able to secure their political agenda via the courts instead of having to battle with tiresome old democratic processes in parliament. Political because delineating the reach of so-called rights is, in essence, a political, not legal, issue.

Priest to lead bill of rights consults

10/12 GoldCoast.com.au | THE Federal Government will appoint prominent Jesuit priest Frank Brennan to lead community consultation about a possible Australian bill of rights. It is understood Attorney-General Robert McClelland will announce today that Father Brennan and three other prominent Australians will form a committee to undertake nationwide consultation. The announcement will coincide with the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Family upset over mother’s ‘undignified’ euthanasia death

10/12 Australian Christian Lobby Newsletter | As Dr Philip Nitschke's suicide organisation Exit International holds its latest workshops in Perth this week, the sisters of a Perth mother-of-four who committed suicide in Mexico allegedly using the horse-kililng drug Nembutal have raised concerns over her “long, painful and undignified” death.

The sisters of Erin Berg, who was suffering from severe post-natal depression, say her death came about after she followed Dr Nitschke's advice on Nembutal in his book Killing Me Softly.

They have demanded that he stop using images of Ms Berg in his workshop presentations and have also been pushing for his book to be reclassified.

In an open letter to Dr Nitschke they wrote: "Any image of Erin, either alive, in a coma, or dead, should stand as a damning indictment of the dangers of your suicide information." Please click here for more details.

Ms Berg’s sisters have done the community a great service in again throwing the spotlight on ethical and legal questions concerning the promotion of suicide methods and the advocating of euthanasia by Dr Nitschke.

In a media release issued on Tuesday, ACL West Australian Director Michelle Pearse urged authorities to keep a close eye on euthanasia workshops to be held in Perth on yesterday and tomorrow, pointing out that euthanasia is illegal under Australian law. She also supported the call for Killing Me Softly to be reclassified. Please click here to read the media release.

Kevin Rudd's bill of rights sceptic Frank Brennan to avoid villains' charter

10/12 The Australian | - KEVIN Rudd has selected a bill of rights sceptic - intellectual priest Frank Brennan - to lead a panel shaping new laws to protect human rights, as one of the architects of the British model yesterday claimed it had become a "villains' charter". The announcement comes as the man behind Britain's Human Rights Act, former home secretary Jack Straw, said he had become "greatly frustrated" by the way the act had been interpreted by British courts. Mr Straw, who instituted the act 10 years ago, said he understood why it was often referred to as the "villains' charter", adding that there was a need to rebalance it with a statement of responsibilities requiring obedience to the law and loyalty to the country.

"There is a sense that it's a villains' charter or that it stops terrorists being deported or criminals being properly given publicity," Mr Straw said. "I am greatly frustrated by this. Not by the concerns, but by some very few judgments that have thrown up these problems." Father Brennan, a bill of rights sceptic, is considered one of Australia's pre-eminent public intellectuals. In 1996, he publicly attacked a US-style constitutional bill of rights following a trip to the US.

ATTORNEY-GENERAL TO LAUNCH NATIONAL CONSULTATION ON HUMAN RIGHTS

10/12 AG Media Release | Attorney-General Robert McClelland will today mark the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by launching a National Consultation on Human Rights in an address to the United Nations Association of Australia. (Media Contact:  Adam Sims  0419 480 224)

Rudd hails new A-Span TV network

10/12 ABC.net | Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has hailed the launch of a new public affairs television network as a good move for Australia's democracy. Sky News, Foxtel and Austar have joined together to launch A-Span, a new public affairs television network and an initiative of the Federal Government's 2020 Summit. The public affairs network will be available on digital free-to-air television, cable and online, providing coverage of parliament deliberations as well as industry meetings.

Aussies falling behind in maths, science

10/12 SMH.com.au | Australian school students are falling behind those from other countries when it comes to maths and science, international testing results reveal. Year 8 science students have slipped 12 points in the past four years, and lag behind students from England, the United States, Russia and Lithuania ... Federal Education Minister Julia Gillard said the study made it clear Australian students were falling behind in maths and science. "The Rudd government is determined to reverse this deeply concerning trend," Ms Gillard said in a statement.

Qld should've consulted on tax: Tabcorp

09/12 SMH.com.au | The Queensland government should have consulted Tabcorp Holdings Ltd before lifting taxes on gaming machines in casinos, the gaming giant said ... "Tabcorp is a major employer in Queensland, providing jobs for 4,500 people, and contributes some $100 million in taxes to the state government." The Queensland government announced on Tuesday that it would increase taxes on EGMs at all Queensland casinos from July 1, 2009.

QLD: LNP launches 'Save the Royal Children's' e-petition

05/12 Mark McArdle MP | THE LNP has launched an e-petition to save the Royal Children's Hospital. Deputy LNP Leader and Shadow Health Minister Mark McArdle is the sponsoring MP - with experienced nurse and LNP candidate for Brisbane Central Mark Wood the principal petitioner.

Mr McArdle said the Royal Children's Hospital was not only an historic Queensland institution but was already an established centre of excellence in children's health - with world class clinical support services, facilities and infrastructure.

"The very simple facts are that the Royal Children's Hospital is already a centre of excellence for children's health that is collocated with the Royal Women's Hospital and other medical specialist services and facilities, the Queensland Institute of Medical Research, the state's biggest medical library, specialised in-house pathology, pharmacy and dental services, a comfortable in-hospital school for sick children and more family accommodation for their families. It is also part of a world class training hospital program with Australia's best children's emergency department," he said.

"Building a new children's hospital should be about increasing capacity - not reducing it. Why on earth would any government that truly represents the best interests of all Queenslanders want to destroy a world class children's hospital?"

VICTORIA: Radical gay parenting laws a blight on the State

05/12 Australian Christian Lobby Media Release | Last night’s passing of Victorian legislation which, among other things, will enable two men to “order” a baby they are not even genetically connected to, is a blight on the State which will have ramifications for every future generation of Victorians, the Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) said today.

“This legislation has been rushed through with no chance for proper public scrutiny as part of a year of radical social engineering by the Brumby Government, including giving Victoria the most obscene abortion laws of any state in Australia,” Mr Ward said. “The passing of the bill last night, by the narrowest of margins, says that children do not deserve both a mother and a father, it says they can just be commissioned by adults who want them, regardless of gender or marital status.

“It will also mean that genuinely infertile women will now have to compete for access to infertility treatment with women who are ‘socially infertile’, and genetic material can be removed from a dead person and used to create a child.”

People smugglers arrested: Will Kevin Rudd now admit to and urgently address the problem?

05/12 The Hon Dr Sharman Stone MP, Shadow Minister for Immigration and Citizenship | “With almost daily revelations of Indonesian government interceptions of people smugglers heading for Australia, Prime Minster Rudd has to acknowledge he has a serious problem, and take action.” Dr Sharman Stone Shadow Minister for Immigration said today. Dr Stone was howled down by the Labor Government in Parliament on Monday when she called on the Prime Minister to rethink his summer border surveillance slow down, given the surge in people smuggling. Dr Stone was accused of fudging the figures, while at the same time she was refused permission to table the statistics in parliament.

The Coalition had to deal with the previous surge when thousands made a run to our shores in a steady stream of unseaworthy boats. 54 boats with over 4000 on board arrived in 2000, and hundreds lost their lives as some boats sank. “The Coalition dealt with the problem humanely and decisively. We brought people smuggling to a halt with the introduction of Temporary protection visas, the excising of Australia’s 4000 or more northern islands as migration zones, and the Pacific solution of offshore processing of people’s claims for asylum, “Dr Stone said. People smuggling dwindled away to just a handful of attempts between 2002 and 2007, with no boats for 10 months before the Rudd Government‘s softening of unlawful arrivals policy in August.

The Rudd Government’s new policy no longer takes into account how the person arrived in Australia, or how long they have spent in other countries since leaving their home land. “Within days of this Rudd policy softening, people smugglers were back in business, “Dr Stone said. “The Indonesian officials have been doing a magnificent job, working closely with Australian Federal police, intercepting we are told some 15 boats in the last few months. Five boats did make it to Australia, including one which sailed directly from Sri Lanka and evading all detection and ending up with a couple swimming ashore in WA to ask directions. One of those boats was disabled and sinking as the navy approached Dr Stone said.

“Saving lives and better protecting our border security demands that Prime Minister Rudd urgently reviews the impacts of their policy softening.“ Dr Stone said.

More porn gone from petrol stations

04/12 Australian Christian Lobby Newsletter | Mobil Australia has joined BP and Shell in removing Category 1 porn magazines from its service stations.

The think tank Women’s Forum Australia (WFA) and child advocacy group Kids Free 2B Kids have jointly commended Mobil Australia for responding to the concerns of women in removing the magazines. These groups have exposed the easy availability of porn magazines in petrol stations and convenience stores which, among other things, depict young girls as desperate for sex with older men.

Please click here to read their media release.

QLD: Labor votes to keep legalizing lies in Parliament

04/12 Lawrence Springborg MP | State Government Ministers still have the green light to lie to Parliament after Labor used its numbers to vote down laws proposed by the LNP.

LNP Leader Lawrence Springborg introduced the 'Truth in Parliament' Bill to reinstate laws which would ensure politicians who lied to Parliamentary committees would again face potential criminal charges. Mr Springborg said Anna Bligh had promised a new era of openness and accountability when she became Premier, but had failed to back up her words with actions.

"Up until two years ago, Ministers could be prosecuted under criminal law if they deliberately lied to a Parliamentary committee," he said. "However, after former Health Minister Gordon Nuttall was caught out lying to an Estimates Committee, the Labor Government changed the laws.

"The LNP sought to change the law back to what it was to ensure a more open, honest and transparent Government. "Queenslanders can't have any confidence in a State Government which is prepared to sanction its Ministers lying to Parliament and its committees.

"Unfortunately, by voting down the LNP's laws, Labor has made it clear they can't trust themselves to tell the truth." Mr Springborg vowed to re-introduce the 'Truth in Parliament' laws if an LNP Government was elected.

WA: Surrogacy laws add to growing fatherlessness problem

3/12 Australian Christian Lobby Media Release | New laws passed in Western Australia last night to permit surrogacy arrangements for both single women and couples will add to the growing fatherlessness problems in society, the Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) said today. ACL WA Director Michelle Pearse said various WA Governments had already paved the way for single women to have access to IVF, artificial insemination and adoption, and now surrogacy has been added to the list.

“It was very disappointing to see the surrogacy bill passed with no requirements that surrogacy should only occur within a committed relationship between a man and a woman,” Mrs Pearse said. “Sadly we know that many children miss out on growing up with both parents but they should at least have the right to start out in life with both a mum and a dad. “The new surrogacy laws will add to the increasing incidence of fatherlessness in our society

Government finally recognises Dyslexia as a Disability

Many of the traditional Christian values issues, such as abortion, euthanasia, anti-drug and alcohol abuse issues, care for the elderly, the disabled, family values, same sex marriage, promiscuity and pornography, and declining respect for public space and community leaders in education, the law and the church, are shared by others of different faiths, Christian understanding, and personal morals.

Kevin Rudd considers taxpayer-owned infrastructure bank

Senate calls for critical infrastructure transparency

04/12 The Hon Andrew Robb AO MP | Today the Senate has supported a number of measures to ensure transparency in regards to the Government’s Nation-building Funds Bill. The Senate has also amended the Government’s legislation to make sure that all projects will take account of running costs, so that we avoid any debacle similar to what has occurred with the “Computers in Schools” program, where the multi billion dollar running costs were overlooked, and will also prohibit upfront fees being demanded of private operators as a revenue raising measure.

The amendments to improve transparency include a Joint Standing Committee on Nation-building which will examine all of the projects that are recommended to be funded by the Government. This measure was a joint proposal between the Greens and the Coalition.

“These funding proposals must be transparent so that they don’t just become a Labor Party ‘slush fund’ – without transparency we are back to Labor funding being determined on a whiteboard!,” said the Shadow Minister for Infrastructure, the Hon. Andrew Robb AO MP.

Questions to Ministers

Archer’s corruption charge follows questionable use of vote

3/12 Australian Christian Lobby Media Release | News of a corruption charge against West Australian Independent MP Shelley Archer should also reignite public concern about her role in the passage of legislation to decriminalise brothels earlier this year, the Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) said today.

ACL West Australian Director Michelle Pearse said that in March Ms Archer questionably traded off her ‘balance of power’ vote to enable the passing of the Prostitution Amendment Bill 2007 despite her previous commitment to the ACL to send the bill to a committee for review.

“It was immensely disappointing to see a bill with such devastating implications traded off in this way,” Mrs Pearse said. “Ms Archer allowed her vote to be ‘bought’ by a $1 million Government grant to her region.

Same sex adoption in NSW not in best interests of the child

“It is amazing that at a time when the NSW Government is facing major challenges it is pushing a gay lobby agenda which would prevent adopted children from having both a mother and a father, and would also add further stress to long waiting lists,”

Christian Leader sacked by Government because of his views on homosexuality

02/12 Australian Prayer Network Newsletter | Federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon, has removed Warwick Marsh, Founder of the Fatherhood Foundation and a strongly committed Christian leader, from a Government appointed panel to advise it on Men's Health Issues for comments he made in a paper "21 Reasons Why Gender Matters", published by the Fatherhood Foundation two years ago. The paper suggests children are more likely to be abused by homosexual people than by heterosexuals and that homosexual people are more prone to infidelity than those in heterosexual relationships.

Regarding Letter to Prime Minister Kevin Rudd

02/12 Family Voice Australia (Formerly Festival of Light Australia) | A copy of a letter sent today to Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has also been sent to all Labor and Coalition federal MPs and senators.

The letter to the PM expresses our deep concern over the removal of Warwick Marsh, a highly respected and compassionate men’s mentor and advocate, from his unpaid position as ambassador for men’s health.

Warwick, who founded the Fatherhood Foundation, has mentored wounded men from many different backgrounds.  He has genuinely displayed the love of Christ in all his dealings with others, without discrimination.  He and his wife Alison have opened their Wollongong home to men in need – including homosexual men. 

However federal health minister Nicola Roxon appears to have sacked Mr Marsh because she disagrees with views on homosexuality included in his 2007 book, 21 Reasons Why Gender Matters. The contents of the book are substantiated by 178 footnotes.  Many refer to papers published in peer-reviewed academic journals.

We have already received feedback from some left wing Labor MPs including new WA lesbian senator Louise Pratt.  Senator Pratt identified a statement in Warwick Marsh’s book as a reason why she considers him unsuitable for the office of ambassador for men’s health.  She told us:“ ‘Gender disorientation pathology will increase the risk of communicable disease and bad health’ is a statement that is contrary to good public health policy.”

Senator Pratt is apparently unaware of authoritative research, both in Australia and overseas, which shows that disproportionate numbers of homosexual men and women abuse alcohol and contract sexually transmitted infections.  Two decades of annual surveys by the University of NSW of men who have sex with men show that these men have disproportionately high rates of illicit drug use.

Good health policy should acknowledge the reality while treating the sufferers with wisdom and compassion. It appears that Warwick Marsh has been sacked because he told the truth.

Roslyn Phillips
Family Voice Australia

Letter to Prime Minister Kevin Rudd from Family Voice Australia

02/12 Family Voice Australia (Formerly Festival of Light Australia) | I and many others have been deeply shocked by the injustice done to a respected, compassionate Australian by a minister in your government.

... It is quite extraordinary that a minister in your government would withdraw the appointment of a respected promoter of men’s well-being simply because he holds evidence-based views which are at odds with those of the homosexual lobby. This action suggests that your government now considers support for the full claims of the homosexual lobby as a litmus test for holding any public office.

You could demonstrate that this is NOT the case by reinstating Mr Marsh as a men’s health ambassador and by removing Ms Roxon as Minister for Health. I urge you to do so, and look forward to your early response.

For original PDF version of this letter

Questions to Ministers

Australian Health Minister Fires Men’s Health Ambassador for Documenting Risks of Homosexuality

“Today someone who dares to speak the truth about homosexuality will lose his job. Tomorrow he will likely see prison, fines and other draconian penalties imposed."

Last week, Australian Health Minister Nicola Roxon appointed Warwick Marsh of the Fatherhood Foundation as one of six men’s health ambassadors who were charged with the task of building a federal men’s health policy, in part to address the epidemic of male suicide in Australia.  The Australian homosexualist group, Coalition for Equality, however, immediately demanded Marsh’s firing, and two days later, on November 27, he was gone.

Marsh drew fire from the Coalition for Equality largely because he was one of 34 co-authors of the Fatherhood Foundation’s document, “21 Reasons Why Gender Matters.”  The Sydney Morning Herald reports that the pro-homosexual Coalition immediately urged Ms. Roxon to fire Mr. Marsh, and fellow men’s health ambassador Barry Williams, of the Lone Fathers Association, another co-author of the Gender Matters document.  Coalition for Equality Spokesman Rodney Croome said, "If the federal government is sincere about an inclusive and effective men's health agenda it must remove these hatemongers immediately."
 
Mr. Williams, however, repudiated the document, which Roxon, according to Australia’s ABC News, called "quite abhorrent."  "Look, it is very strong stuff,” Roxon said, “but I think that this is a document that was authored by 34 people. I think that Mr Williams' sins are not having read and taken care what he put his name to," she said. "He has publicly and expressly disassociated himself from any of these comments and I am prepared to accept that explanation."  Nonetheless, Croome says he wants Williams fired for his advocacy against homosexual “rights.”  

“Gender Matters” controversially describes homosexuality as a "gender disorientation pathology," characterizing it as a "symptom of family dysfunction, personality disorder, father absence, health malfunction or sexual abuse." Marsh, however, has continued to defend the document, for which he has been fired. 

Until this recent event, Roxon had been considered something of a “moderate.” In 2004, after Prime Minister John Howard’s National Marriage Bill, which sought to protect true marriage, was stopped in the Australian Senate, Marsh and others organized the National Marriage Forum, to which Howard, the Deputy Prime Minister, and then-Labour party opposition leader Ms. Roxon were invited.  Roxon appeared and stunned the record-smashing crowd by announcing that the Labour Party would support the controversial marriage bill. 

Homosexualist advocates criticized Marsh at the time for his role as Master of Ceremonies at this Forum, at which they claim a speaker called homosexuality “vile and shameful.”  Marsh, however, explained to LifeSiteNews (LSN) that the speaker in question chose to read the Scriptures during the luncheon and the “vile and shameful” remark was a modern translation of St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans, Chapter 1.

Open Letter to My Friends re Men's Health Ambassador Appointment 

02/12 Warwick Marsh | It is a wonderful thing when people vilify you and tell lies about you. Certain journalists have claimed that I am homophobic. You be the judge.
 
Is being homophobic bringing a young man into your home with your young family who has the death sentence of aids?  That same young man needed shelter from the storm. A placed filled with unconditional love. He came from a broken home. He had a father wound. He had been sexually abused by other older men. That same young man ended up working the wall in Sydney. This is not a good place for any young man to have to work. He needed someone to tell him that he was loved and appreciated not for the sex he could give to his paying customers who abused him but because of who he was on the inside a wonderful young man, with a future and a destiny.

Is being homophobic giving an award at a public function in Parliament House, Canberra in August 2005 to a wonderful Lesbian women from Melbourne who had the guts to set up an organization to help trafficked women caught in the exploitative web of male driven prostitution? Unfortunately some men still are bastards? Certainly not all but some. White Ribbon Day tells the stories.

Is being homophobic inviting a Mayor of a local council in Sydney to give awards to the men who have completed a fatherhood course? That mayor was a homosexual man but as a Lord Mayor he deserves our respect and honour. After all we are all someone's daughter or someone's son and as such we all deserve that same honour and respect.

For a Word version of this letter

Coercing Tolerance

30/11 Bill Muehlenberg | It is now clear that the Australian government thinks that homosexuality is the norm and it must be fully embraced by all Australians. And it also seems convinced that men’s issues are not that important, nor is the well-being of children and of families.

That is the strong message being sent out by the Rudd Government after one of the most dedicated champions of the men’s movement and one of the most passionate pro-family advocates was threatened with the sack as a men’s health ambassador by Health Minister Nicola Roxon yesterday. The implication is clear: tolerance of the homosexual lifestyle will now be coerced, if need be. And any opposition to the homosexual agenda will be swiftly dealt with by the Government

Roxon under fire over 'anti-gay' health ambassadors

27/11 Leo Shanahan, The Age | NICOLA Roxon has been embarrassed by the revelation that two men she appointed as health ambassadors put their names to a publication saying homosexuality is a mental disorder and gay people are more likely to take drugs and molest children.

The Health Minister, who is under pressure to dump them, said last night she found the document "unacceptable and repugnant".

"My office is currently in discussions with both men to determine what role they played, and whether the views expressed are their own," Ms Roxon said. "I regard this as a serious matter and will consider closely the responses I receive."

Roxon Sacks Health Ambassador

27/11 Barbara Miller, The World Today, ABC | ELEANOR HALL: The Federal Health Minister has sacked a person she appointed just two days ago as a men's health ambassador because of what she described as his abhorrent views on homosexuality.

Warwick Marsh from the Fatherhood Foundation refused to distance himself from a document ......

BARRY WILLIAMS: I always say look, if people are born gay that is nature. They can't help it. It is not their fault and they should not be discriminated against. I have never ever discriminated against gay people.

BARBARA MILLER: That's good enough for Nicola Roxon and she says Mr Williams can continue as health ambassador.

But in a submission to a Senate committee on family law earlier this year Mr Williams argues that same-sex domestic relationships cannot ever be a copy of heterosexual relationships.

To pretend that they are - the submission states - is to store up trouble for the future.

Corey Irlam, a spokesperson from the Australian Coalition for Equality, takes offence at those views:

COREY IRLAM: Mr Williams is stridently opposed to any legal entitlements or protection for same sex couples and their family. In many submissions to Parliament as recently as this year; and in his organisation's newsletters.

BARBARA MILLER: The submissions you refer to, what he is speaking out against is same-sex couples being allowed to have or adopt children. He is not coming out with strong homophobic opinions there, though is he?

COREY IRLAM: No. But he is turning around and saying that men who do have children, gay men who do have children are not the same as a heterosexual couple who do have children. It is perpetuating a particular view of homosexuality that does affect the mental health of those people involved.

As a health ambassador someone needs to be positive and supportive in all situations.