The penalty for not participating in politics is to be governed by your inferiors." (Plato)

Dad AND mum matter: please act today for Qld kids

Australian Christian Lobby | Some children will be deliberately denied a mother AND a father if a bill before the Queensland Parliament to make surrogacy available to homosexuals and singles is passed.

While the desires of adults are important, they should never trump the rights of a child which all governments are bound to uphold.

The Liberal National Party (LNP) has already signalled its opposition to homosexual surrogacy and many Labor MPs are known to be uncomfortable with this radical social engineering, which has profound impacts for the lives of children.

ACL is urging all Queensland supporters to urgently contact their local Member of Parliament and express opposition to the idea of depriving a child of its mother or father.

More information is available at our Wanted: Mum AND Dad campaign on the www.makeastand.org.au website.

The Surrogacy Bill 2009 is due to be debated when Parliament resumes on February 9, having been delayed before Christmas.
The move comes as the NSW Labor Government recently said no to allowing children to be adopted by same-sex couples because it deprived them of a mother and father figure, something the Bligh Government also did last year when it reformed adoption laws.
It makes no sense for the Queensland Government to be violating a parenting principle it upheld in its adoption law.

Abbott attacked for saying what every parent thinks

28/01 ACL | The values battle between old sparring partners Tony Abbott (pictured) and Julia Gillard is on again.
Mr Abbott’s comments about virginity being a gift that should not be given away lightly are of course sensible and do not constitute ‘lecturing’ as the Deputy Prime Minister contends.

Liberal Senator George Brandis spoke for the vast majority of parents when he said they would share Mr Abbott’s view. However, Senator Brandis’ reference to Gillard’s childlessness was unnecessary and of course does not disqualify her from having an opinion.

It is her ideas that should be targeted, not her personal circumstances. There’s already too much acrimony in our politics.

Abbott is tapping in to the growing concern in Australian society about the premature sexualisation of girls by our culture. Thankfully many groups are working to address this.

It is timely that this week another counter-cultural initiative has been launched. The Australian Christian media company, Choicez Media  has announced the release of its latest DVD resource Beautiful which is targeted at young women.

Choicez founder Jonathan Doyle said:“What we discovered was that the toxic range of messages from much of popular media culture is having profound affects on young women across a range of indicators from self harm to eating disorders to early initiation of sexual activity with no formation in the deeper meaning of what it means to be a human person made in God's image."

Another counter-cultural initiative is a positive magazine aimed at teenage girls called Bella. Its latest edition is out now.
Hopefully in the future sensible comments such as those of Abbott’s this week will cease to be controversial.

Kevin Rudd in alert on health spend

28/01 The Australian | Kevin Rudd has declared 2010 a year of "major health reform", warning that health spending alone will outstrip state tax revenues within two decades.

In the latest in a series of speeches in the lead-up to Australia Day, the Prime Minister yesterday warned that Australia faced the choice of cutting pensions, health services and aged care; running massive deficits; or, his preferred option, boosting productivity as the population aged to help lift tax revenues.

Mr Rudd told a reception in Sydney that the states' health spending was already growing at 11 per cent a year compared with revenue growth of 3 to 4 per cent a year.

Childless Julia Gillard can't understand parents on the issue of virginity: Brandis

27/01 The Australian | LIBERAL frontbencher George Brandis has attacked Julia Gillard's ability to "understand the way parents think" about virginity because she doesn't have kids.

Defending Tony Abbott’s right today to discuss the advice he gives to his own daughters on virginity, Senator Brandis has told ABC radio that the deputy prime minister was a "one dimensional" person who had “chosen not to be a parent”.

“You see, I think that most parents, in fact, all - any parent I can think of would agree with what Tony Abbott said and I think Julia Gillard who is - has chosen not to be a parent - and, you know, everybody respects her right, in the vehemence of her reaction in fact shows that she just doesn't understand the way parents think about their children when they reach a particular age,” Senator Brandis said.

“I think that although Julia Gillard is a very clever politician, she is very much a one-dimensional person and I do think her reaction, her over-reaction to the, in my view, quite unexceptionable remarks Tony Abbott made as the father of daughters, is not something she would have said if she were herself the mother of teenage daughters.

Human rights act slips down the list

26/01 Gerard Henderson, SMH.com.au | The first big Australian political story of the year has raised surprisingly little attention. This is likely to change when the civil liberties lobby realises that the Rudd Government appears to have junked the human rights agenda.

Last Wednesday, The Australian Financial Review reported an interview with the Attorney-General, Robert McClelland. There was considerable media focus on his comment that the Rudd Government, if re-elected, would consider a referendum on the republic, the recognition of indigenous Australians, local government and co-operative federalism.

The interest faded when the Deputy Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, said Kevin Rudd had made it clear ''there are no present plans to have a referendum'' on the republic.

Gillard said the Government was focused on immediate challenges and mentioned lifting educational standards. Fair enough. But if the republic is a lower-order issue to education, then education reform should take precedence over a human rights act.

World growth revised up: International Monetary Fund

27/01 The Australian | AUSTRALIA'S economic growth forecasts have been revised upwards by the International Monetary Fund amid predictions the international economy will accelerate this year. The IMF confirmed that Australia's economic growth of just under 1 per cent in 2009 had outstripped every other developed nation in fighting off the global financial crisis with other advanced economies contracting 3.2 per cent

Tony Abbott and the Usual Frenzied Reaction to Common Sense

The Opposition Leader, speaking in a woman’s magazine, was simply responding to questions put to him, and in this case was speaking more as a parent than a politician. He simply stated that in terms of advice he would give to his own three daughters, he would urge them not to easily give away their virginity, and try to have them adhere to the “rules” on sex before marriage. He said virginity was “the greatest gift” that could be given to someone and that women “shouldn’t give themselves away lightly”.

Let's not go backwards for the sake of ideology

19/01 Peter Costello, Former Federal Treasurer | In terms of policy, this year started much better than last. Back then, Kevin Rudd published a treatise on the failure of the financial system and what had to be done about it. He said human history was at a turning point: ''The international challenge for social democrats is to save capitalism from itself."

The crisis was "the culmination of a 30-year domination of economic policy by a free market ideology that has been variously called neo-liberalism, economic liberalism . . . or the Washington consensus". You can't be much clearer than that. And it looked like grand plans were afoot for financial regulation.

QLD: Nuttall faces fraud and corruption trial

18/01 AAP | Former Queensland government minister Gordon Nuttall is set to stand trial on corruption and fraud charges.

Nuttall, 56, has indicated he intends to fight 10 charges relating to allegations of official corruption and perjury. He faces five counts of corruptly receiving payments totalling $152,700 from Queensland businessman Brendan McKennariey between December 10, 2001 and April 1, 2006.

NSW: Gay adoption ban to stay

10/01 SMH.com.au | THE State Government has decided not to allow same-sex couples to adopt, ignoring a parliamentary inquiry that said changing the law would ''ensure the best interests of children''.

The Government said yesterday there was insufficient community support to justify new legislation on the topic.

Groups representing same-sex couples denounced the decision, saying an opportunity to redress discrimination had been missed.

''There are very deeply held, divergent views on this issue and that is why a decision on this matter will not be taken at this stage,'' the Minister for Community Services, Linda Burney, said yesterday.

Tony Abbott defends government private school subsidies despite 6pc fee hike

06/01 The Australian | OPPOSITION Leader Tony Abbott has defended the public subsidisation of elite private schools and said they have the right to increase fees. "Well in the end these are private institutions and it's up to them to decide what their fees should be,” he said in a radio interview today.

Mr Abbott was responding to a report in The Australian today showing wealthy private schools are increasing fees by an average of 6 per cent this year despite acknowleding parents are feeling the pinch.

The Opposition Leader also defended the introduction under the Howard Government of the SES funding model that is set to deliver non-government schools $28 billion in taxpayers' money between 2009 and 2012. “Every Australian child is entitled to government assistance towards his or her education,” he said.

QUEENSLAND: Oppose surrogacy...stand up for a child's basic rights!

05/01 Australian Family Society | The Bligh Labor Government has chosen to use the last sitting day in 2009 to table a bill to legalise surrogacy for any adult singles, same-sex or couples....

ACTION:  To get involved in this important issue we encourage Queenslanders to contact their state MP.

1) E-mail, phone or post a letter to your MP  (To find your Qld MP click here.)

2) If you get no reply within 14 days, ring their office to follow up

Why we should oppose surrogacy....

It has been nearly two years since the Bligh government initiated an inquiry to investigate the decriminalisation of surrogacy in Queensland.  In October 2008 the committee tabled its report, which recommended legalizing the controversial and unethical practice. 

When the government tabled the Surrogacy Bill 2009 on the last 2009 sitting day, it contained permission for single parents and gay couples to access surrogacy arrangements, a controversial addition which the committee was never asked to investigate.

... Yet the best interests of the children must be paramount and therefore proceeding with surrogacy immediately violates what is a basic right for a child; to be born and raised by mum and dad.  Through adversity or tragedy some children lose one or two parents, and may be lucky to receive replacement care from a step-parent or relative etc. [Read Full media release ]

The penalty for not participating in politics is to be governed by your inferiors." (Plato)