MAY 2008 Articles, Thoughts & Resources

Decriminalise Abortion in Victoria / Living Wills / Rudd on Homosexual marriage / Euthenasia / Homelessness / Abortion - Victoria / Broadcasting code / Pornography / Gay Marriage / Stanhope & Same sex ceremonies / Civil Partnerships / budget /

Declare God's Best Over Our Federal Parliament:

• We declare that all members of our Parliament are blessed with God’s supernatural wisdom, and that all members have clear direction for their lives.
  
  
• We declare that all members of our Parliament are blessed with creativity, with courage, with ability, and with abundance.
  
  
• We declare that all members of our Parliament are blessed with a strong will and with self-control and self-discipline.
  
  
• We declare that all members of our Parliament are blessed with a great family, with good friends, with good health, and with faith, favor, and fulfilment.
  
  
• We declare that all members of our Parliament are blessed with success, with supernatural strength, with promotion, and with divine protection.
  
  
• We declare that all members of our Parliament are blessed with an obedient heart and with a positive outlook on life.
  
  
• We declare that any curse that has ever been spoken over any member of the Parliament, any negative evil word that has ever come against any member of the Parliament, is broken right now.
  
  
• We declare that all members of our Parliament are blessed in the city.  All members of our Parliament are blessed in the country. All members of our Parliament are blessed when they go in.  All members of our Parliament is blessed when they come out.
  
  
• We declare that everything any member of our Parliament puts his or her hands to do is going to prosper and succeed.
  
  
• We declare that all members of our Parliament are blessed!  In Jesus' Name.

The LNP Party - History and Constitution

On Friday 30th May, 2008 an Agreement In Principle between the Queensland Nationals and Queensland Liberals was made on arrangements to take forward to the membership of each Party a proposition that would see the merger of both parties into a single united non-Labor force in Queensland – the LNP.

A plebiscite of all members of both Party’s was conducted. A resounding 96% of National and 86% of Liberal Party members participating in the plebiscite voted in favour of the proposed merger.The Agreement In Principle and Draft Constitution was submitted to the Queensland Liberals Combined Constitutional and Special Convention held on the 26/27 July 2008 by the Liberal Party State Council.

The Agreement In Principle and Draft Constitution was submitted to the Queensland Nationals Special Conference on the 26/27 July 2008 by the Queensland National’s Management Committee and Central Council.

On Saturday the 26th July, 2008 the LNP came into existence.

At these separate Conferences and Conventions each Party met initially with its own delegates selected in accordance with their existing Constitutions and voted on whether to adopt the new Constitution – and thereby merge the existing Parties into the LNP.

When it was resolved by the membership of both Party’s to accept the Draft Constitution and Agreement In Principle the delegates of both Parties joined together at the inaugural Conference of the LNP to elect a President and Vice President for 2008/09 year and debate key policy issues and launch the LNP.

The way ahead:

Having now being created the LNP will pursue endorsement from both the Federal National and Liberal Party Executives as well as registration with the Electoral Commission.

A full constitutional review will also be held within two years of the official formation of the LNP.

Source Link: http://www.lnp.org.au/the-party/328.html

Victorian abortion report out-of-touch

30/05 Australian Christian Lobby Newsletter | The Victorian Government yesterday tabled the Victorian Law Reform Commission’s report into abortion law reform and is planning to introduce law changes to decriminalise abortion within months. ACL has labelled the report ‘abysmal’ and ‘out-of-touch’, highlighting the way it misrepresents the depth of community disquiet about abortion rates, effectively ignores 80 per cent of submissions made to it, and rejects any  support measures for women.

Please click here to read ACL Victoria’s media release on the issue.
The report presents three options for reforming abortion laws, including one which would effectively allow the killing of a child right up to the moment of birth. The other two are obviously designed to appear more moderate but would still radically change Victoria’s abortion laws and make it much more permissible for abortions to take place.

To read the report and the three options please click here. ACL is opposed to all options in the report and has called for a full-scale non-partisan parliamentary inquiry to be held before any legislation is developed. We will keep you advised of developments. At this stage the Victorian Government has committed itself to a month of briefings and focussed discussions for MPs before drafting a bill.

VICTORIA: DLP Causes Euthenasia Bill Delay

28/05 The Hon Peter Kavanagh MLC, Member for Western Victoria |

ARCHIVES: HANSARD 2007.05.02 " ..... We are to vote according to our consciences whether or not to allow embryos to be cloned, experimented upon and then destroyed. The question is whether or not to cross what the federal opposition leader, Kevin Rudd, called in the commonwealth Parliament an ‘ethical threshold’. I think perhaps ‘ethical precipice’ would be a better term. I agree with Mr Rudd that we should not cross that ethical barrier. We should not, in his terms, create life for the explicit purpose of experimentation and destruction. It is clearly wrong to destroy the weak in order to benefit others. Human life should never be an industrial material. As has been noted before in this house, human beings are ends in themselves, not means to ends.

..... In my view there are very strong limits on the proper role of governments in enforcing morality, but the first role of any government or legal system is to prevent harm being done to other people. This necessarily demands, first, that people are not killed and, second, that they are prevented from killing others. Life is so important because it is a prerequisite to every other good. When a person is killed, so is every potential, every chance, every opportunity. When we kill, we take everything away. Life is an individual’s paramount right, and its protection is every state’s primary duty.

The embryo is a human being. Mr Scheffer, in his contribution, said that he does not accept that the cloned embryo is a potential human being. I agree. There is nothing potential about it; it is a human being.

Legal abortion on demand for Victoria

29/05 Saltshakers Media Release | Victorian Law Reform Commission Report on Abortion tabled in Victorian Parliament TODAY

As expected, the VLRC has recommended that abortion be 'decriminalised' - removed from the Crimes Act. This really means making it LEGAL.

This is not a surprise BECAUSE the government, in the 'terms of reference', asked the VLRC to "provide advice about options to:

As expected, they have ignored all the people who said NO - ABOUT 80% OF THE 500 SUBMISSIONS!!!  

The Report lists three legislative MODELS for the government to choose from in order to remove abortion from the Crimes Act.
All laws would be placed in the Health Act.

Rudd ignored FuelWatch price warnings

28/05 Laurie Oakes - Network Nine News | The federal government is reeling tonight following the revelation that it ignored warnings from its own public service experts in four key departments that a National FuelWatch Scheme could increase petrol prices rather than reduce them.

In a massive embarrassment for Kevin Rudd, a Cabinet document has been leaked to the Nine Network showing concerns about the scheme expressed by the prime minister's own department, as well as the Finance Department, the Department of Resources and Energy, and the Industry Department.

... The leaked document shows the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet did not support a scheme based on the Western Australian model. It says: "PM&C notes that, while the proposed national FuelWatch scheme will likely succeed in removing intra-day price volatility in the retail petrol market, which is a concern to many consumers, the impact of the proposed scheme on the overall pump price is not clear.

Early election on cards as Coalition blocks Rudd's petrol plan

28/05 Steve Lewis, Gerard McManus - Herald Sun | THE Opposition will use its Senate numbers to block part of the Government's FuelWatch scheme, making an early election more likely.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd hinted on Monday at a possible double-dissolution election, saying if the Opposition blocked key Budget measures it would be "on their heads". Treasury spokesman Malcolm Turnbull today said the Opposition would do just that. “What we are going to do is oppose the key part of FuelWatch, which is the controversial part, which is that, that sets prices or requires the prices be fixed 24 hours in advance," Mr Turnbull said.

Opposition Leader Brendan Nelson told MPs at yesterday’s Coalition parties meeting to remain unified and disciplined because the Government could call and election in late 2009.

VICTORIA: DLP Causes Euthenasia Bill Delay

28/05 The Hon Peter Kavanagh MLC, Member for Western Victoria | Attempts to accelerate debate on the Medical Treatment (Physician Assisted Dying) Bill 2008 were defeated today at 3.20PM when Peter Kavanagh DLP MLC for Western Victoria, refused leave for the Bill to be brought forward.

"Passage of this Bill would necessarily result in the deaths of vulnerable people including those who do not genuinely consent to being killed. I vetoed this proposal to 'jump the queue' on the basis that this Bill deserves ample consideration by the Parliament and the community", Mr Kavanagh said.

Ms Hartland will "first read" (ie introduce) the Bill tomorrow but it is likely now that the Bill will not be fully debated until 25 June.

‘Living wills’ bill puts vulnerable patients at risk

27/05 Australian Christian Lobby | The ‘living wills’ bill currently before the West Australian Parliament does not contain enough safeguards and would put vulnerable patients at risk, the Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) said today. ACL West Australian Director Michelle Pearse said that while Advanced Healthcare Directives can be beneficial if suitable protections are in place for both doctor and patient, the current bill does not provide these protections.

Now Labor divided over petrol

27/05 Matthew Franklin, Chief political correspondent - The Australian | A DEEP split has emerged within the Rudd Government over petrol, with Resources Minister Martin Ferguson warning its planned Fuel Watch price monitoring system will fail working families, crush small businesses and tarnish Kevin Rudd's economic reform credentials.

In a letter to senior colleagues obtained by The Australian yesterday, Mr Ferguson attacked the Fuel Watch scheme as an anti-competitive waste of money and predicted it would leave battlers out of pocket, despite government claims it would lead to lower fuelprices. "The biggest losers ... would again be working families in places like western Sydney," Mr Ferguson wrote in a letter to Consumer Affairs Minister Chris Bowen, which he also copied to the Prime Minister, Wayne Swan and Finance Minister Lindsay Tanner....According to his April 14 letter, written just a day before cabinet endorsed Fuel Watch, Mr Ferguson believes the scheme could force small independent service stations out of business.

'Art of government lost' as committees multiply

26/05 'Siobhain Ryan - The Australian | THE Rudd Government has been slammed for running the country by committee, unveiling in the past seven days three inquiries, releasing two discussion papers and announcing the memberships of two high-powered bodies. With the Opposition putting the tally of new Labor taskforces, reviews and white papers at more than 100 since November 24, the Government announced in the past week alone reviews of credit rating agencies, its Murray Darling water buyback plan, and the Australian Building and Construction Commission.

Over the same seven days, it released a green paper on homelessness, a child protection discussion paper and the membership lists for two more of its creations, Infrastructure Australia and the National Council to Reduce Violence against Women and Children. A spokesman for Opposition Leader Brendan Nelson said the Government seemed to have outsourced its own job to newly created bureaucracies.

"We're a full six months into this Government, but a lot of people are seeing inaction and committees and inquiries as opposed to decision-making," he said. The Coalition has counted more than 100 new reviews, summits, agencies and positions created since the November 24 election. Most deliver on promises Labor made ahead of the federal poll but some, such as the proposed Department of Homeland Security, which is widely expected to be shelved, have been subsumed in still further reviews.

Rudd on Q&A

23/05 Australian Christian Lobby Newsletter | Prime Minister Kevin Rudd was last night given a grilling about homosexual marriage on the ABC’s new Q&A television program. Up against gay activists in the studio audience (there appeared to be no-one else except Mr Rudd standing up for man-and-woman marriage), he held the line declaring his personal view as well as Labor’s policy position was that marriage was between a man and a woman. Mr Rudd, reiterated Labor policy of removing discrimination against same-sex couples in terms of superannuation, taxation and the like through relationship registers which were not homosexual-specific and through reform of federal laws, announced recently. He was also asked about his faith, the plight of the homeless, aboriginal welfare and a raft of other policy issues.

Click hereto view the ABC’s vodcast of Mr Rudd’s stint in the hot seat.

Euthanasia Bill in Victorian Parliament next week

23/05 Australian Christian Lobby Newsletter | ACL understands the Private Member’s Bill to allow doctors to prescribe a lethal cocktail of drugs to the terminally ill will be presented in the Victorian Legislative Council as early as next week. This Bill, co-sponsored by Colleen Hartland MLC (Greens, Western Metropolitan) and Ken Smith MLA (Liberal, Bass) is written in compassionate language with many provisions for “safeguards” but nonetheless breaks new ground in the relationship between the medical profession and patients.“Do No Harm” is a prime ethical code for those in the caring professions, but this Bill rewrites this ancient precept. If you live in Victoria, please take action by visiting www.makeastand.org.au and firing off an e-mail to your local politician.

Sick and vulnerable people need to be able to trust their doctors to give them the best possible care, not to be prescribing killer drugs.

HOMELESS INQUIRY FINE, BUT GOVERNMENT MUST COMMIT BIG MONEY TO FIX THE PROBLEM

23/05 Family First Media Release | Prime Minister Kevin Rudd must commit big money to fixing Australia's homeless problem, rather than just talk about it."Australia has a massive problem with 100,000 people homeless every night," Family First leader Steve Fielding said today.

"Announcing an inquiry into the homelessness problem is fine, but Family First is disappointed that the Prime Minister did not commit substantial funds to fix homelessness in last week's budget. The government committed to build just 600 homes for homeless people and families over the next five years. It is a drop in the bucket."

Vic abortion report due soon

23/05 Australian Christian Lobby Newsletter |Still in Victoria, it is now nine weeks since the Victorian Government received the Victorian Law Reform Commission report into abortion.
While we are still waiting for the Government to reveal the details of their intentions, an article by Brian Tee MLC (Labour, Eastern Metropolitan) that appeared in the Herald Sun  may well be a signal of how they mean to proceed. Decriminalisation is the clear intent, which ACL opposes.
Abortion should remain in the Crimes Act AND a number of safeguards for the unborn and for the mother should be implemented. A copy of our submission to the VLRC is found here.

Again, the www.makeastand.org.au site gives you more information and the capacity to express your opinion to your MP.

Speech by Malcolm Turnbull, Shadow Treasurer, to the National Press Club, replying to the Budget

But instead this was a Budget of indecision, missed opportunities, and challenges that have not been faced. We were told our greatest immediate economic challenge was the inflation genie: out of the bottle and out of control.

A horror Budget with savage cuts in expenditure would fix all that. An anxious nation flinched last Tuesday night bracing for the axe to fall. And then nothing happened. The Budget was as mild as its authors’ rhetoric was fierce. No bang, all whimper. And so we see the most consistent theme of this Government and this Budget – spin and hype. There has never been a Government more hypocritical or less sincere. Ready to talk the talk – too weak to walk the walk.

This is a Government that says climate change is the greatest long term economic challenge of our times, but presents a Budget with nothing to say about the likely impact and costs of an emissions trading scheme due to start in less than two years. A government that kills off the solar energy industry in one blow.

This is a Government that says it wants to stop young people drinking RTDs, but has $3 billion of new tax revenue banking on the RTD binge continuing to grow.

A Government which promises to bring down petrol and grocery prices, but can do nothing but pay people to watch them go up.

This is a Government that feels our pain about the crumbling public hospital system, and then manages to drive half a million people or more out of private health insurance.

A ghastly trifecta of more pressure on public hospitals, higher premiums for those remaining in private health insurance and a revenue windfall for the Federal Government.

This is a Government that preaches accountability – but then establishes a $40 billion Labor Party slush fund, advised by its mates and without any rules, any limits, any investment benchmarks. Nothing to stand in the way of buying the next Federal election or bailing out incompetent State Labor Governments, their mismanaged utilities and great infrastructure disasters.

This is a Government fond of symbols – but delivers a Budget whose symbolic measures speak of meanness, division and the politics of envy.

And this is a Government that speaks endlessly of reform, but whose Budget offers no reform of its own – just a six month old tax package designed by Peter Costello.

FOR FULL SPEECH -

Brendan Nelson's Budget Reply

21/05 Liberal Party Media Release | In his Budget Reply, Leader of the Opposition Brendan Nelson outlined a number of key measures to help address challenges faced by Australian families:

A commitment to ensure equitable funding to carers, in reflection of the work they do on behalf of the Australian community.

Senate broadcasting inquiry hearings stacked to ignore community concerns

21/05 Australian Christian Lobby Newsletter | Senate inquiry hearings into the effectiveness of broadcasting codes of practice have been clearly stacked in favour of maintaining the status quo, with the majority of witnesses coming from the industry itself, the Australian Christian Lobby said today.

ACL Managing Director Jim Wallace said he is concerned that vital community concerns about the lack of effective regulation of the industry and declining television and radio standards will be swept under the carpet by an inquiry which seems more intent on listening to the views of the broadcasting industry than anyone else. 

Two victories against pornography today!

21/05 Saltshakers Media Release | Two landmark legal decisions regarding pornography have been reported in today's newspapers... In both cases, Christians have actively opposed the promotion of sleaze. Congratulations to those who acted on these matters.

1. 'Viva Erotica' appeal dismissed by Federal Court - This is an ongoing battle run by an online company called Adultshop.com The company produced a film which was rated X18+ by the OFLC because it contained actual sex scenes.

2. Kittens car wash in Bentleigh ordered to REMOVE 'promotion' of sex - Residents of Bentleigh East in Melbourne (including some of our readers) have run a long campaign against a 'Kittens carwash' in their suburb on Warrigal Road which they claimed did little more than promote an associated Kittens strip club.

USA : California overturns gay marriage ban

16/05 Saltshakers Media Release | BELOW is another good example of what will happen if the Labor Party bring in a National Bill of Rights.

ACTIVIST JUDGES IN THE COURTS will be free to force you an I to accept the unacceptable.

Article: California overturns gay marriage ban

California's supreme court has ruled that a ban on gay marriage is unlawful, effectively leaving same sex couples in America's most populous state free to tie the knot in a landmark ruling.

In an opinion that analysts say could have nationwide implications for the issue, the seven-member panel voted 4-3 in favour of plaintiffs who argued that restricting marriage to men and women was discriminatory.

"... limiting the designation of marriage to a union 'between a man and a woman' is unconstitutional and must be stricken from the statute," California Chief Justice Ron George said in the written opinion.

*Full article attached and at: http://au.news.yahoo.com/080515/2/16vjs.html

Fight goes on as Stanhope pushes same-sex ceremonies

16/05 Australian Christian Lobby Newsletter | We were rightly encouraged last week to see the Rudd Government intervene to ensure that ACT Chief Minister Stanhope’s civil partnerships legislation did not contain ceremonies and celebrants mimicking marriage. He was also forced to remove other provisions including: lowering the age for his “civil partnerships” to 16 for both homosexuals and heterosexuals; something sure to raise the ire of any parent; and allowing interstate couples to take advantage of them, which was obviously calculated to permit a homosexual “marriage” spectacular in the ACT. The Federal Government also forced him to remove recognition of overseas homosexual unions.

However, in a move which shifts this fight very squarely to the ACT election, Mr Stanhope has set up his own ceremonies and celebrants outside the legislation, with the Deputy Registrar-General officiating at them. This is something which the Federal Government can’t stop because it is not part of the legislation. Mr Stanhope’s move is in calculated and direct defiance of the undertakings he was forced to give Federal Labor to avoid his legislation being overturned. It is a shocking example of the lengths to which he will go to impose his social engineering on the ACT and ultimately Australia, and of just how much he has forfeited his right to any credibility as a public leader.

Leadership’s currency is the legitimacy of example and it also demands loyalty in large measure, both up and down.

In Mr Stanhope’s case the most important area in which he is required to demonstrate example as a public leader in a civil society, is his willingness to subject his own ambitions and wants to the will of the people and the legitimate authority of his constitutional superiors in the Federal Government. With the Chief Minister failing to provide an example in this area, why wouldn’t anyone who disagrees with his laws for the ACT feel free to ignore or circumvent the ones they find objectionable?

Surely of all people Mr Stanhope realises that the basis of our civil society is not our fear of the law, but our respect for it. My maintaining the speed limit should not be because of my fear of getting caught, but my disciplining myself to observe the law whether or not the police happen to be on the road. It is my respect for authority, the heart of civil society.

Mr Stanhope’s claims of a mandate for his civil partnerships were never proven, despite calls by ACL for his Government to provide the evidence. His cynical attitude to and use of public consultation on this issue, have now been exposed as chronic within his government on a range of issues, as shown by several recent articles about an internal party document on the ACT Government’s election position which reportedly said: "The trick is to sell back-flips as responding to community concerns." Please click here to read one of the reports.

Mr Stanhope’s arrogant abuse of power, his disregard for truth in government, and his failure to provide the example expected of a leader in a civil society now make his and his government’s fitness to govern – its moral and ethical credentials to govern - a central issue in the ACT election.

These are not party-partisan comments, the catalyst for them are his venomous criticism of and disregard for a Federal Labor Government. It is just a fact that while Mr Stanhope’s actions to create a non-legal pantomime outside the law will disappointment Christians, it is now part of a much bigger issue, and the fight goes on.

Address to the National Press Club

14/05 Excerpted from The Hon Wayne Swan's Speech | Let me say this afternoon that I am proud of the way we handled four important requirements we established early as we framed this Budget. The first requirement was that it be right for what we think will be the economic circumstances of the coming year. It is going to be quite a difficult year, as our forecasts show. This Budget will help us weather it. It demonstrates our commitment to building a strong economy through responsible economic management. I'll say more about that a little later.

The second requirement the Prime Minister and I agreed right at the beginning, was that whatever we had to do in producing a Budget that was right for the Australian economy, we would protect working families, and we would faithfully implement the commitments we made prior to the election. We insisted we would keep faith with Australia. That we would begin to rebuild public trust in national politics. So we also met that requirement last night.

Our third requirement was that we would deliver on our commitments to prepare Australia for the great challenges of the future - beginning in this Budget a modernisation of the Australian economy. We wanted to invest for the future – acting in areas of long term government neglect including education, health, climate change and infrastructure.

Our final requirement was that the Budget provides for our nation's long-term defence and security needs – and we certainly delivered on that commitment as well.

The ACT government has passed their Civil Partnerships Bill

13/05 Saltshakers Media Release | The ACT government has passed their Civil Partnerships Bill - they removed the 'ceremony' component after the Rudd government threatened to override the Bill.
Although the ACT has taken ‘ceremonies’ out of their CP Bill, they have said they will allow an 'unofficial'  ceremony to be held. Ceremonies of themselves don’t make a marriage. The registration of the marriage by the state is what needs to be compared to the registration of relationships in civil partnerships/relationship registers - not the ceremony many Civil Marriages today have a simple signing and no ceremony.

ACT 'Civil Partnership' are now very similar to the Tasmanian and Victorian Relationship Registers. As we have said all along, it is not what they are called that is the problem – it is what they do. They give legal recognition to immoral, unnatural, and unhealthy relationships and present them as natural and normal.

Following the ACT decision, Federal Attorney-General Robert McClelland called on the remaining states to follow suit. So now we have our national government, that some people are congratulating, actively encouraging the normalisation and registration of homosexuality nation wide.

Yet there is NO evidence, anywhere in the world, that giving 'relationship registration' rather than 'civil unions' will stop the activists demands for same-sex marriage.

What they're saying about Wayne Swan's Budget

14/05 Liberal Party Briefing | It is now clear Wayne Swan and Labor's failure to take decisive action in last night's Budget has wasted a valuable opportunity to set out a clear economic strategy and tackle key challenges such as petrol prices, grocery prices, climate change and water.

Commentators have criticised Labor's Budget:

• The Editorial in the Sydney Morning Herald stated, "Overall, the budget bears all the signs of having been put together by image makers, not economic managers." (SMH 14/5/08)
• The Australian Financial Review's David Bassanese said, "In terms of an inflation-fighting weapon, the Rudd government's first budget will go down in history as long on rhetoric and short on results." (AFR 14/5/08)
• The Australian's Alan Wood said, "So how well has [Labor] met the [inflation] challenge? The short answer is not well enough to relieve the pressure on monetary policy." (The Australian 14/5/08)
• The Australian's Jennifer Hewitt said Labor "squibbed its own inflation rhetoric." (The Australian 14/5/08)
• The Age columnist Kenneth Davidson said, "The budget is a missed opportunity... There is nothing in this budget that will make the Reserve Bank les likely to increase interest rates." (The Age 14/5/08)
• The Age economic editor Tim Colebatch said, "Will [the Budget] cut through the knots to solve any of Australia's problems? No... There is no clear sense of direction, no absolute priorities other than the electoral one: don't offend anyone who might vote for us." (The Age 14/5/08)
• Sydney Morning Herald economic editor Ross Gittins said, "Kevin Rudd has failed to grasp the nettle. In his effort to demonstrate Labor's credentials as a good economic manager he is off to a disappointing start... At his first test, he has failed to live up to his rhetoric. This budget is not 'tough as all hell' because it hasn't 'taken the axe to irresponsible spending'. We were told the budget would 'exert maximum downward pressure on inflation and interest rates'. It doesn't." (SMH 14/5/08)
• Daily Telegraph columnist Piers Akerman said, "Forget the rhetoric about inflation being Public Enemy No.1. It is a big-spending Budget..." (Daily Telegraph 14/5/08)

Dragon slayer off the mark

12/05 The Brendon Nelson Article | THE benchmarks for tomorrow's federal Budget are very simple. Last year the Australian public listened to what Kevin Rudd had to say. They heard him say that he was going to be a good economic manager and end the blame game. They heard him say that he was going to bring grocery prices down. They heard him say that he would bring petrol prices down.

They heard him say that he would make housing more affordable. They heard him say that he would not increase taxation as a share of GDP. They heard him say that he would help, not hurt, working families. These are the benchmarks that the Prime Minister set for himself and the ones against which we will hold him accountable. These are the tests for the Budget.

Labor playing politics with our economy

12/05 Liberal Party Media Release | Yesterday, Kevin Rudd launched an opportunistic attack on the record of the Howard Government. It was a poor attempt to create a distraction in Budget week, and it ignores the facts. As Brendan Nelson said last week:"This country is a different country today. A more prosperous country. One that is more confident in itself and its place in the world because of what John Howard did as Prime Minister of Australia over almost 12 years.

"Australia was quite a different place in 1996. It was a country that had emerged from long term unemployment, of oppressively high interest rates, of the collapse of small and larger businesses."
The Liberal Party has a proud record of achievement for Australia. John Howard and Peter Costello left a strong economy, with Australians more prosperous and secure than at any time in our history.

Mr Rudd may seek to launch cheap political shots. But the test for him and his government is whether the Budget sets out a clear plan to build on the prosperity handed over by John Howard and Peter Costello, and whether it will keep inflation low, jobs secure and petrol and grocery prices from rising. Mr Rudd and Labor have a political strategy. It is far from clear that they have an economic strategy.

4 ALCOPOPS = 4 DOUGHNUTS

6/05 Family First Media Release | A Senate inquiry into alcohol laws was today told that many people may cut back on the amount of alcohol they drink, if only they knew how many calories were in each glass.

"Australia has an obesity epidemic, yet food labelling laws do not require alcohol labels to inform people of the nutritional content of what they are drinking," Family First leader Steve Fielding said today.

ACT civil partnerships defeated by Federal Government

05/05 Australian Christian Lobby | Yesterday, the ACT’s Stanhope Government did a back-flip on its intention to introduce a form of homosexual marriage called civil partnerships. This would have allowed same sex partners to formalise their relationship in a ‘wedding’ ceremony presided over by a state-licensed official.

Victoria - Abortion debate - Pro Life Conference on 17 May

05/05 Saltshakers Media Release | Victoria is facing the decriminalisation of abortion - the government wants to remove abortion from the Crimes Act and has asked the Victorian Law Reform Commission "for legislative advice on the decriminalisation of terminations of pregnancy". The VLRC handed its Report to the Victorian government on 28 March - the government has 14 sitting days to table the Report in parliament - this gives them until 11 June 2008.

It will then be posted on the VLRC website. [VLRC Abortion page: http://www.lawreform.vic.gov.au/wps/wcm/connect/Law+Reform/Home/Current+Projects/Abortion/]

To our knowledge the government has not tabled the report yet.

After the Report is tabled, legislation is expected.... .

On Relationship Recognition

ACL calls for marriage and family safeguards in same-sex law changes

04/05 Australian Christian Lobby | The Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) today commended Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Federal Attorney General Robert McClelland on their intervention with the ACT Stanhope Government, which has seen agreement reached to remove aspects of the ACT civil partnerships legislation which, among other things, would have mimicked marriage or extended its reach to minors.

“While it is a great shame that it took the intervention by Federal Labor, with all the diversion of time and energy that takes for both governments, we understand from ACT Attorney-General Simon Corbell’s announcement today that this legislation is now back to being pretty much consistent with the Tasmanian model of relationships registers, as we originally asked for,” said ACL Managing Director Jim Wallace.

Fifth National Day of Thanksgiving

03/05 Australian Prayer Network | I enthusiastically support this, the fifth National Day of Thanksgiving, on May 10 2008. I encourage all Australians to take advantage of this opportunity of the National Day of Thanksgiving to make a difference in the life of another Australian, by saying thank you to someone who might not normally hear those words.

Visit the "National Day of Thanksgiving" Website for Function & Service locations around the country / Official statements & Testimonies

Rudd explains why he opposes euthanasia

02/05 AAP | Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd remains opposed to voluntary euthanasia but says parliamentarians are entitled to a conscience vote on the issue.

Euthanasia was a complex and difficult area of medicine but laws allowing it could lead to the elderly and terminally ill thinking they were a burden on their loved ones, he said.

The Senate is currently revisiting a decision by the previous government to overturn the Northern Territory's euthanasia laws. Australian Greens senator Bob Brown has introduced a private member's bill seeking to restore the laws. Mr Rudd, who supported the Howard government decision, said he was opposed to the move.

"I say that as someone who has ... been in family circumstances where you've seen people very near and dear to you, in the case of myself, my mother, who died of cancer," he told Macquarie Radio Network. "It's not pretty to watch but my own personal view ... these are matters for conscience votes.

"If it becomes a mater for vote in the federal parliament, people exercise their conscience differently. "You asked me directly what my view is, that's it."

The rise of homelessness amongst Aussie youth

02/05 Maxim Institute | Homelessness is a term thrown around so often in the news that it is hard to imagine the reality of it. Having a place to sleep and security are such a normal part of most people's lives, that to comprehend the gaping hole the homeless face without these things requires attentiveness. In Australia, after the release of a disturbing report into youth homelessness, attentiveness to homelessness is exactly what is required. Money alone is no panacea. The problem has arrived despite the country experiencing long-term economic growth

The Australian National Youth Commission has released a report, Australia's Homeless Youth, showing that over the past twenty years, youth homelessness has increased to approximately 22 thousand people, despite economic growth in the nation. According to the report, not enough resources are available to support the vast number of people needing to access services, with 54 percent of people being turned away from accommodation during the periods in which data was taken. The Commission urges government to show leadership in facing the issues, suggesting that if the government prioritises this issue in their agenda, the community will follow in support. Their recommendations include channelling government funds into family mediation services, as well extending drug, alcohol and mental health services, so that young people can receive timely treatment. ...According to Lincoln Hopper, CEO of community service organisation Mission Australia, "When the number of homeless teenagers doubles in 20 years—despite us achieving record levels of prosperity in that time—then something is seriously wrong." ..... Read the ANYC Report Here (PDF)

Senate submission tells Perth radio to respect women

02/05 Australian Christian Lobby | The appalling sexual objectification of women by some West Australian commercial radio stations should be curbed, the Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) says in a Senate submission lodged today.

ACL draws from examples of recent on-air comments on Perth radio stations to demonstrate how commercial radio guidelines are being breached by covering explicitly sexual themes well before 9 pm or by failing to respect the dignity of women.