JULY 2008 Articles, Thoughts & Resources

Prayer Point: For the Work Load in the Prime Minister's Office:

• Pray Ecclesiastes 10:10 for the staff in the Prime Minister's Office:

  "If the axe is dull and he does not sharpen its edge, then he must exert more strength. Wisdom has the advantage of giving success."

ABORIGINAL MEN SAY SORRY FOR ABUSE AND VIOLENCE

30/07 Australian Prayer Network Newsletter - compiled from various sources | Hundreds of Aboriginal men from across Australia have issued an historic apology to their women for the "pain, hurt and suffering" indigenous men have caused them. In the icy desert of Central Australia, men of all age groups from Cape York, the Top End, Central Australia, NSW and WA recently met to discuss ways to be better fathers, husbands and sons. They also sought to repair the damage caused in the 12 months since their communities were denounced as hotbeds of violence and abuse.

Since the federal intervention to combat child sex abuse was launched in June last year, John Liddle - from the Central Australian Aboriginal Congress - said Aboriginal men had been painted as brutal and uncaring. Mr Liddle told the gathering at Ross River outside of Alice Springs. "We need to acknowledge the hurt and pain that has been caused by violence which has shamed many indigenous males who are not violent." But he conceded good men had sat in silence, and now felt they needed to issue a collective apology.

"We the Aboriginal males from Central Australia and our brothers from around Australia ... acknowledge and say sorry for the hurt, pain and suffering caused by Aboriginal males," the statement said. "We also acknowledge that we need the love and support of our Aboriginal women to help us move forward."

One of the authors of the report which sparked the Howard Government's emergency response, Rex Wild QC, said the apology was "very powerful and very moving". He said child abuse was not just an Aboriginal problem and it had been unfair of governments to single them out. "They are not acknowledging there is a higher rate, they are  acknowledging there is a rate, that there is a level of domestic violence that they have now said sorry for," he said.

Joe Hayes, a father who lives on an outstation 25km from Alice Springs, said he walked away from the gathering "a  proud Aborigine". "We have got to try and be responsible parents and our attitudes have got to change ... saying sorry is the best part of healing," he said.

Source: Compiled by APN from media reports

Please pray against Euthanasia in Victoria

30/07 Saltshakers Media release | The Vic. Upper House could start to debate this inapropriatly named 'dying with dignity" Bill today.
NON VICTORIANS BEWARE - If this passes in Victoria it could do so in YOUR state NEXT!!

FamilyVoice is heard in Macquarie Street – “for family, faith and freedom”

30/07 Family Voice Australia | On Wednesday, July 30th, 2008, a group of 15 Christians supporting FamilyVoice Australia (formerly Festival of Light Australia) gathered at NSW Parliament House in Macquarie Street, Sydney.  They were there to present copies of an open letter to Premier Iemma, expressing deep concern about his government's move to extend parenting rights to a mother’s lesbian partner – including the false designation as “parent” on the child’s birth certificate.

FamilyVoice Australia’s motto is: “A Christian voice for family, faith and freedom” – and that voice was heard in Macquarie Street on 30 July.

FamilyVoice circulated an open letter opposing this move in May, and people were invited to sign and return it to the FamilyVoice office.  FamilyVoice received over 3500 signed letters from people in NSW.

PRAYER POINT: New Senate

PRAYER POINT: Northern Territory Election

Victoria - Decriminalisation of abortion - Update and action

15/07 Saltshakers Media release | Victoria's MPs are currently on a winter break - Parliament resumes on 29-31 July and after that sits on 19-21 August.
Some MPs may be travelling but others will be working in their electorates.

NOW is a great time to contact your MPs - especially to VISIT them along with a couple of friends - and ask them to oppose ALL three Models for the decriminalisation of abortion as proposed by the Victorian Law Reform Commission.

More details of the proposals on our campaign page

How do I find out WHO my SIX MPs are?

(1 Legislative Assembly, 5 Legislative Council)
Click this link - type in your address in the GREY 'Search by your home address' box and press Search - your six MPs will be displayed!

Alternatively you can phone the Australian Electoral Commission on 13 2326 and ask for the names!

SAME SEX SURROGACY AMENDMENT DEFEATED IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA

Australian Prayer Network (APN) Newsletter | TA bill to recognise the biological parents of a child born to a surrogate mother has passed the Upper House of the South Australian Parliament in a conscience vote. Biological parents have not previously been legally recognised as the parents of a child born through surrogacy. An amendment proposed by Labor MP Ian Hunter to recognise same-sex couples in the legislation was defeated thanks to the votes of Family First, the Liberals and some Labor parliamentarians.

Surrogacy is a medical process usually used as a last resort when a woman cannot carry a child. The practice was illegal in South Australia, but allowed in the Australian Capital Territory and New South Wales. Under the procedure, a fertilised egg is implanted in a surrogate, who carries the child. Upon birth, the surrogate relinquishes the child to the commissioning couple.

Many Christian groups are opposed to surrogacy due to the negative impacts such arrangements can have on children, including significant legal and relational issues that are not always foreseen at the time the surrogacy arrangement is entered into

Source: Compiled by APN from media reports

ACTION in BENDIGO

15/07 Saltshakers Media release | A local pro-life group has been formed in the Bendigo area to campaign against the proposed decriminalisation of abortion.

Local MP Jacinta Allan (Member for Bendigo East) has told some of her constituents that she favours Model C - and will accept the killing up to full term unborn babies under the third VLRC Model for decriminalisation of abortion.

Jacinta Allan is a member of Emily's List (see

She is the Minister for Regional and Rural Development and the Minister for Skills and Workforce Participation. Details:

The pro-life group has organised two activities to oppose the VLRC proposals...

If you live in Bendigo you might like to participate.
If you live elsewhere, it gives you some ideas of what could be done!

2. Ecumenical Prayer Service - Friday 25 July, 12 noon
Venue: Bendigo Town Hall.
Prayers to stop the legalisation of abortion.

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.

Confidence crash amid recession fears

10/07 The Australian | CONSUMER confidence has crashed to lows last seen in the early 1990s, amid fears the resources boom will not shield Australia from the threat of recession stalking the major Western economies. Consumer confidence figures released yesterday, combined with dismal housing figures and a run of recent economic data pointing to a downturn, raise the prospect of interest rate cuts by the end of the year and even a chance the Australian economy may slip into recession.

... Consumer confidence - hit by soaring petrol prices, high mortgage costs and the tumbling share market - is now at a level last seen during the 1990-92 recession, when unemployment rose to 11 per cent. Housing finance figures released yesterday show that the number of new housing loans is down almost 23per cent since January this year, with a 7.9 per cent fall in May alone. BankWest yesterday lifted its standard variable mortgage rate 0.2percentage points to 9.55 per cent despite no official move from the Reserve Bank. Like St George, which on Friday lifted rates to 9.67 per cent, it has been hit by the fallout from the credit crisis, which has raised borrowing costs for banks themselves.

Business surveys show the downturn is also hitting company profits and sales, while a slump in job advertisements reveals business is also cutting back its hiring.

NATIONAL SUICIDE PREVENTION STRATEGY ANNOUNCED BY FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

Australian Prayer Network (APN) Newsletter | The Federal Government will spend $460,000 on a national suicide prevention strategy, as part of a focus to improve men's health in what the government says is the first ever national men's health policy. It recognises that men often have poorer health than women, are likely to die earlier and are more likely to commit suicide. “Men's health deserves our attention. Over the next twelve months, the Government will develop a comprehensive men's health policy,” Health Minister Nicola Roxon said in a statement.

“We want to know what men consider to be the priorities for their health, and we want to look at how we can build up the evidence base in this area, including opportunities for research over the long term.” Figures released by the health minister's office show men are expected to live 4.8 years less than women, and are three times more likely to commit suicide than women. They also experience 70 per cent of the burden of disease related to injury and are over-represented in HIV/AIDS related deaths.

The announcement has brought great encouragement to the men and father's movement of Australia. The National Fathering Forum emphasised that a large number of deaths, injuries and illnesses that men experience are preventable. They claim that the health and well-being disadvantages of men and fathers is closely associated with social and economic disadvantage such as unemployment.  Indigenous men's health is significantly worse than that of non-Indigenous Australian males, with average life expectancy of just 59 years, 20 years less than non-Indigenous men.

Being male is associated with a number of health disadvantages. For males, this results in higher rates of:
* Hospital admissions for most injuries and illnesses
* Premature death by unnatural causes such as suicides and accidents
* Undiagnosed mental illnesses
* Suicide
* Alcohol and drug abuse
* Addictive anti-social behaviours
* Addictive gambling problems


Source: Compiled by APN from media reports

Threat to marriage thwarted

04/07 Australian Christian Lobby Newsletter | Traditional marriage came under attack from the Australian Greens on two fronts this week, with the Tasmanian Greens tabling a same-sex marriage bill in that parliament on Tuesday, and the ACT Greens tabling a bill in the ACT Legislative Assembly on Wednesday aimed at providing legal marriage-like ceremonies for same-sex couples.

The Tasmanian move was a repeat of action taken by the Greens in that State three years ago, with the then Government deciding not to debate the motion. Thankfully, the bill again seems unlikely to be successful.

Fence at the top of the cliff needed for better child protection

04/07 Australian Christian Lobby Newsletter | The Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) today congratulated Federal and State Governments for creating a national child sprotection framework but called for a “fence at the top of the cliff” to help stop child neglect and harm in the first place.

Surrogacy under the political spotlight

04/07 Australian Christian Lobby Newsletter | Surrogacy remains under the political spotlight, with the West Australian Parliament passing its surrogacy bill last Thursday and ACL’s Tasmanian Director Nick Overton invited to appear at a public hearing on surrogacy in that State last Tuesday.

(To read the media release ACL WA put out on the issue before it was voted on last Thursday.)

Homelessness Is A Big Issue - Yes Minister, We Already Know

03/07 Family First Media Release |YES Minister, homelessness is a big issue that needs big action, not just talk, to resolve Australia's homelessness crisis. "`If the Rudd Government is serious about fixing Australia’s homeless problem it will immediately commit serious money to fix the problem," Family First leader Steve Fielding said today.

NELSON'S LEFT FLANK GOES TO WAR OVER SAME SEX BILL

02/07 Australian Prayer Network Newsletter | Brendan Nelson faces a revolt from left-leaning Liberals if the Coalition refuses to back Labor's plans to grant same-sex couples financial rights equal to those of heterosexual couples. Moderate senators will either demand a conscience vote or cross the floor to end discrimination against gays when the bill is debated later this year. The threats began reverberating after the Liberal Party averted an internal explosion by persuading the Queensland senator Sue Boyce not to cross the floor on the issue. She was poised to oppose the Coalition using its Senate numbers to delay and send to a committee a bill extending superannuation and death benefit rights to gay couples.

Labor wanted the superannuation rules in place by July 1, but the Coalition motion allowed the legislation to be delayed indefinitely by being sent to a senate committee with no reporting date. Senator Boyce planned to support a Democrat amendment which would have forced the committee to report before June 30, enabling the bill to be debated and passed by July 1.

Coalition senators held an emergency meeting and talked Senator Boyce out of taking such action. In return, she agreed to a reporting date for the committee of September 30. Dr Nelson allowed the bill to be delayed and wants it amended to include not only gay couples but interdependent couples as well, such as two elderly sisters. The moderates believe this is a ploy to make the changes more politically palatable for the right. Should the Coalition decide not to support the measures, or should Labor not accept extending the measures to interdependents, the moderates will revolt, sources said.

The Tasmanian senator Guy Barnett also defied the wishes of Dr Nelson and most of his colleagues by going ahead with a motion to disallow a $267 Medicare payment for abortions performed after 14 weeks. Senator Barnett had earlier raised the issue in the partyroom meeting but was counselled against going ahead by Dr Nelson and other senior Liberals. "If I do nothing, funding will continue and I cannot continue to support Medicare regulations that allow funding of second and late-term abortions to continue unchecked," Senator Barnett said. .... Source: Compiled by APN from media reports

Optimism collapses as voters fear for future: Newspoll

02/07 The Australian | AUSTRALIANS' confidence about their jobs and the cost of living has crashed to its lowest since the recession of the 1990s, with pessimism in the community at levels last seen two decades ago when Paul Keating warned that the nation could become "a banana republic". In the past six months, the percentage of people who fear their living conditions will "get worse" has more than doubled - the biggest jump in the 23-year history of Newspoll's standard-of-living survey - as the percentage ofthose expecting an improvement almost halved.

Fears about living standards for the next six months are worse than voters experienced before the introduction of the Howard government's GST in July 2000. According to the latest Newspoll survey on standard-of-living expectations, conducted at the weekend, the percentage of people who think their living conditions will get worse in thenext six months has gone from just 18per cent after the November election of the Rudd Government to 43 per cent.

.. Well, things are a bit tough out there," the Treasurer said, when asked about the electoral backlash against the Rudd Government in the Gippsland by-election and falling support for Labor and Kevin Rudd, revealed in yesterday's Newspoll in The Australian. ... The Newspoll survey on standards of living shows even Labor voters - who after the election of the Rudd Labor Government last year were the most optimistic they had been for 10 years - have lost confidence. Six months ago, 24 per cent of Labor supporters thought their standard of living would improve, but that has dropped to 17 per cent, and the proportion of those who thought it would get worse has more than doubled, from 14per cent to 34 per cent.

Coalition supporters were even more disenchanted, with those who thought their living standards would improve dropping from 16per cent to just 7 per cent - the lowest level of optimism among Coalition voters in 23 years. Coalition voters who think standards will get worse more than doubled from 23 to 53per cent - the highest since the 1990s recession. ..

Greens renew push to legalise civil ceremonies

02/07 ABC News | ACT Greens MLA Deb Foskey has tabled a bill in the Legislative Assembly to allow same-sex couples to recognise their relationship with a legal ceremony. The provision was included in the ACT Government's original Civil Partnerships Bill but the Federal Government objected, forcing the ACT to water down the legislation.

The laws, which came into effect in May, allow same-sex couples to take part in a civil ceremony and register their relationship but any ceremony is not legally binding

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