Prayer: Protection For Australia

March 2010

At the prayer meeting in Parliament House this week, we were impressed to pray for protection for the nation in several areas. Protection is needed before an attack comes, to thwart any success of the enemy. So pray for a hedge of protection (like in Matthew 21:33; Job 1:10)

 - around the nation and around our Parliaments and governments;
 - around our Christian heritage for future generations to enjoy;
 - around the prosperity the Lord has granted this nation - in particular, in relation to business negotiations being undertaken for our resources;
 - around our cities, towns, gateways and infrastructures
 - around business, family, education, church and social communities
 - around Australia's relationships with other countries

Pray against those who would seek to rob our nation of the Lord's blessing. Pray and confess the Proverbs 21:30 "There is no wisdom or understanding or counsel against the Lord". .

Easter Show shouldn’t keep religion out

Australian Christian Lobby | ACL has urged Sydney Royal Easter Show organisers to rethink their refusal to allow a ‘Jesus. All About Life’ stall at the Sydney Easter Show because of its religious nature.

This follows news from Bible Society NSW yesterday that they were not able to secure the stall due to it being of a religious nature.

“It’s a curious thing that an event bearing the name “Easter” has disallowed anything to do with the very thing Easter is all about – the death and resurrection of Jesus,” CEO of Bible Society NSW, Daniel Willis stated in a media release yesterday.
Please click here to read more.

ACL yesterday called on the Show’s organisers, the Royal Agricultural Society of NSW, to change their decision on this and provide the Bible Society with the requested space.

“This is a family event held at the most sacred time of the year on the Christian calendar and one would have thought it was entirely appropriate to provide space for the Bible Society stall,” ACL NSW Director David Hutt said in a media release.

“When was it decided that religion should be kept out of an Easter event and expunged from family activities?”
Please click here to read the release.

Are you concerned about the harmful effects of daycare on very young children and Australian society?

• Do you want Government tax and other policies to help parents nurture their own children where possible?

Check out the 'Children need parent's website

Billboard debate gains momentum – mobilises parents

30/03 Wendy Francis | Family First senate candidate for Queensland Wendy Francis is convinced she speaks for the overwhelming majority of parents as she continues her campaign to “make the outdoors G rated”. After revealing yesterday that billboard company GOA has banned her proposed ads, Francis has been inundated by parents pledging their support; some even writing letters to the billboard company.

Her Facebook group – “Outdoor advertising should be G rated”, is growing at the rate of around 200 people each day with no publicity. “It’s word of mouth – people are fed up with outdoor advertising shoving sex into the faces of children who deserve their childhood”, she said.

In a letter to the joint managing directors of GOA sent today, Francis called on the company to “protect children and support parents”. It read in part, “images and messages are seen and read by children….They are seeing pictures of semi naked people in sexual poses and reading phrases like “Join now for Fox Sake” and “Get Shucked”. Francis said “While parents can set boundaries for their children inside the home, they cannot outside”.

New SA Labor Government to be sworn in

Mr Rann delivered Labor a third term in power, with Liberal leader Isobel Redmond yesterday conceding defeat in last Saturday's poll.

Mr Rann will be sworn in as premier for a third consecutive term and has pledged to reconnect his Government with the public after Labor suffered huge swings against it in the election.

Postal votes are still being counted but Labor is forecast to hold 25 seats to the Liberals' 18, with four independents, in the 47-seat lower house.

Help build the ACL election fighting fund

Australian Christian Lobby | Thanks to the generosity of our supporters, ACL’s Federal election fighting fund has now reached $101,500 and we are well on the way to our target of $150,000.

This is giving us enormous confidence to proceed with plans for another Make it Count (MIC) election webcast with the Prime Minister and the Opposition Leader (subject to confirmation).

Reaching our target will allow us to distribute easy-to-read comparisons of party policies affecting Christians to thousands of churches throughout Australia. It will also assist in achieving mass promotion of the Australiavotes.org website which will also carry the party responses. Exceeding our target will allow us to do even more.

SA: Protest over 'family' flyers

23/03 AdelaideNow.com | Family First and the Greens are demanding electoral law reform after revelations that conservative voters were duped into preferencing Labor in key seats at the election.

Australian Greens Leader Bob Brown yesterday called for national changes, while state Family First MP Dennis Hood flagged legislation to ban campaigners from misleading voters about the party they represent. Labor volunteers dressed in pale blue gave out how-to-vote cards carrying the slogan "Put Your Family First" at polling booths in at least four key seats on Saturday.

Mr Hood yesterday told The Advertiser the "immoral" stunt cost his party votes and Family First was considering legal action.

Launch of the 'Pornography Harms' website

The 'Pornography Harms' website provides a wealth of information about the damage that pornography does - to men, women and children.

As pornography has spread, especially with the internet making it so accessible, many people have become immune to the damage that pornography causes to individuals and marriages.

Senate candidate has her ads against sexualized billboards banned for being too “family friendly”

Wendy Francis | Wendy Francis has been turned away by a billboard company with her ads promoting the protection as part of her official campaign against  sexualised images on billboards that expose children to adult themes called “Make the Outdoors G Rated.”

Francis, the Queensland Family First senate candidate, wants to change outdoor advertising guidelines and the role of the Advertising Standards Bureau.  Shebelieves she has the public on side, with over 1000 people joining her new Facebook group – “Outdoor advertising should be G Rated” – within days.

She has the formal support of child advocate Hetty Johnston and is hosting a summit next month which will discuss the never-acted-upon recommendations from the 2008 senate enquiry into advertising and the sexualisation of children.

“That this enquiry made recommendations yet did nothing shows how apathetic the major parties have become about something so important – the protection of our children,” she insists.

Participants secured for the summit include Child Psychologist Janet LeGrand, author and body image speaker Lisa Cox, and Director of the Bioethics Centre Ray Campbell.

Francis had planned to take out her own billboard ads with the simple slogan – “Let’s make outdoor advertising G rated,” yet in an ironic twist, billboard company General Outdoor Advertising Australia (GOA) has refused to accept her business.

Court extends definition of de facto couple

23/03 The Australian | A COUPLE who do not live together, or even see each other all that often, can still be considered to be in a de facto relationship, according to the NSW Supreme Court.

If one of the partners dies without a will, the other automatically gets the estate.

FamilyVoice: asking the hard questions before the SA election

16/03 | "This year we have again sent surveys to all contactable candidates in the SA state election 2010," said FamilyVoice SA state officer David d’Lima.  "Our ten questions on family, faith and freedom issues were straightforward and specific – but the two major parties found some of them too hard, and the Greens do not want voters to know anything about their policies in these areas.

..."However SA Labor headquarters found the questions too hard.  They told us to find the answers ourselves by checking out the party platform on their website.  We did our best – and Labor scored 40 out of a possible 100.

"SA Liberal headquarters personally replied to our survey, but either don’t have a policy or don’t want to have a policy on most of the questions we asked.  We therefore scored them 5 for most questions.  The Liberal total was 52. 

Wyatt Roy, university student, to contest Longman for LNP

The Liberal National Party has picked the 19-year-old university student as its candidate to contest the Labor-held seat of Longman.

... The stakes are higher in Longman where the Coalition needs only a swing of 1.7 per cent to make Mr Roy Australia's youngest federal MP.

SOUTH AUSTRALIA: Emily's List Candidates for March 20, 2010 Election

EMILY's List is a political network formed to increase the number of women Labor parliamentarians who are willing to support key feminist issues, including abortion. It provides financial, political and personal support to Labor women candidates who agree to support the values of EMILY's List.

It is the only network of its kind in Australian politics.

The following candidates are endorsed by EMILY's List in the South Australian election, to be held on March 20, 2010.

SA Recommended Candidates - Seeking Your Financial Support

Adriana Christopoulos - Future Member for Fisher
Mary-Lou Corcoran - Future Member for Finniss
Viv Maher - Future Member for Mount Gambier
Grace Portolesi - Member for Hartley
Vanessa Vartto - Future Member for Unley

SA Endorsed Candidates, Not Seeking Financial Support

Lyn Breuer - Member for Giles
Gail Gago - Member of the Legislative Council
Robyn Geraghty - Member for Torrens
Stephanie Key - Member for Ashford
Jennifer Rankine - Member for Wright
Gay Thompson - Member for Reynell
Leesa Vlahos - Future Member for Taylor

GREAT NEW WEBSITES: SOUTH AUSTRALIA VOTES

SA Votes is a resource to help people cast an informed vote at the up-coming South Australian election on 20th March 2010.

Use this site to compare and contrast the policies of the parties on key issues, some of which may not gain significant mainstream media coverage.

AND: TASMANIA VOTES

TASMANIA Votes for insight into the 20th March 2010 election.

Watch a message from Jim Wallace and Nick Overton on this election .

“Peaceful Pill” An Appalling Disregard for Life

Wendy Francis | Advocates of voluntary euthanasia display an appalling disregard for life, according to Queensland’s Lead Senate Candidate for Family First.

Wendy Francis was commenting on newly released data from the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine, showing that the so-called “peaceful pill” promoted by euthanasia advocates is being used by people in their 20s, 30s and 40s.

The Institute’s findings reveal that fifty one people in Australia have died from an overdose of the drug Nembutal in the past 10 years. In 27 of the cases there was reportedly no significant illness, deteriorating health or chronic pain.

Mrs Francis says she applauds Associate Professor Nicholas Tonti-Filippini’s call for Philip Nitschke, who has promoted the use of Nembutal for euthanasia or assisted suicide for many years, to be prosecuted for aiding and abetting people taking their own life.

Proposed Victorian changes set to create powerful ‘equality police’

09/03 | Proposed Victorian law changes to allow the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission to initiate its own discrimination investigations without even a single complaint, would effectively create a powerful new ‘equality police’ in the State, the Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) said today.

ACL Victorian Director Rob Ward said that legislation reportedly due to be introduced into Parliament today would substantially increase the powers of the Commission – allowing it to act as ‘a law unto itself’ in deciding which organisations should be investigated and what it viewed as sufficient grounds

Why State Governments dance to the gay lobby’s tune

Jim Wallace, MD of Australian Christian Lobby | ACL’s hard-working Tasmanian Director Nick Overton has had a busy State election campaign.

The Make It Count event with the Premier David Bartlett and the Opposition Leader Will Hodgeman attracted more than 400 people in Hobart and was webcast to a further 460 people watching in venues at Launceston, Devonport, Burnie and Smithton.

Nick’s Meet Your Candidate Forums in Launceston and Devonport this week attracted 88 and 160 people respectively, with a Hobart forum being held tonight.

In contrast, the prominent Tasmanian homosexual activist Rodney Croome held a pre-election candidates’ forum last week in Launceston. ACL understands that between six and eight people turned up.

This obviously explains why this lobby has so much pull on the priorities of State Governments around the nation.

TASMANIA: Emily's List Candidates for March 20, 2010 Election

EMILY's List is a political network formed to increase the number of women Labor parliamentarians who are willing to support key feminist issues, including abortion. It provides financial, political and personal support to Labor women candidates who agree to support the values of EMILY's List.

TAS Recommended Candidates - Seeking Your Financial Support

Michelle Cripps - Future Member for Bass
Kay Eastley - Future Member for Braddon
Madeleine Ogilvie - Future Member for Denison
Judy Richmond - Future Member for Braddon
Rebecca White - Future Member for Lyons

TAS Endorsed Candidates, Not Seeking Financial Support

Heather Butler - Member for Lyons
Lara Giddings - Member for Franklin
Michelle O'Byrne - Member for Bass
Lisa Singh - Member for Denison

Why hasn’t Gillard been honest?

From the Archives: Andrew Bolt blog - 2007 | ".... But how desperately she tries to deny the truth. Yesterday she was asked this on Adelaide radio:

Interviewer: So when did you cease being a member of the Socialist Forum?

Gillard: Well, many a long year ago, and obviously my most active involvement was when I was a university student more than 20 years ago.

OPINION: Family law unable to back mum on new life

In a judgment handed down in Melbourne, federal magistrate Evelyn Bender acknowledged that some women feel compelled to "start fresh" after divorce by leaving town, with the children. Until recently, they had mostly been allowed to go their way, on the grounds that happy mothers meant happy children.

However, the shared parenting law, brought in by the Howard government in 2006, shifted the pendulum toward a child's right to have the father involved in all aspects of life, including weekday meals, weekend sports, overnight stays and parent-teacher nights. The shared parenting law is the subject of a government review.

South Australia: Jurors to hear prior crimes of people on trial under Mike Rann plan

If he is returned by voters on March 20, South Australian Premier Mike Rann has promised to amend the 1921 Evidence Act to allow juries to hear a suspect's prior crimes in cases involving violent crime and sex offences.

However, civil libertarians say the reform would undermine the basis of the judicial system.

NATIONAL: Dreamtime `spiritual', so off science courses

The Australian | ABORIGINAL Dreamtime stories will be removed from the national science course on the orders of curriculum head Barry McGaw, who said religious and spiritual beliefs had no place in the science classroom.

Professor McGaw, chairman of the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority, said he had not realised the Dreamtime had been included in the science course until it was reported by The Weekend Australian last Saturday.

"I'm a science graduate and a former science teacher," he said.

"I think Dreamtime is a religious or spiritual interpretation of the beginnings of life.

"For the same reason, we wouldn't let intelligent design or creationism be included.

"It shouldn't be in the science curriculum, and we're going to take it out."

Enthusiasts flood computer game inquiry

04/03 The Australian | VIDEO game enthusiasts have flooded a government inquiry into whether an R 18+ rating is needed for interactive games, with 55,000 submissions received.

Home Affairs Minister Brendan O'Connor said the response to the computer games discussion paper showed there was a high level of interest in the Australian community.

But the Australian Christian Lobby has challenged the consultation process, arguing that commercial interests have been trying to deny the link between violent video games and aggression.

"We believe that gaming industry claims that such a link is unproven are reminiscent of the tactics of tobacco companies in questioning the link between smoking and lung cancer," the lobby says in its March newsletter.

Update - Federal 'Charter of Rights'

04/03 | The Rudd government is yet to make a formal response to the Consultation conducted by Frank Brennan into whether Australia should have a 'Charter of Rights' or a 'Human Rights Act'.

The Consultation Committee handed their report to the federal government on 30 September 2009.

The Consultation recommended a 'Charter of Rights' or a 'Human Rights Act' as well as a large number of legislative and administrative changes which it claims will 'protect human rights'.

Dreamtime fine, but don’t forget Judeo-Christian culture in science curriculum

Australian Christian Lobby | On the basis of pre-release reports, the Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) today welcomed the inclusion in the draft national science curriculum of the topic Science and Culture which is said to examine different cultural groups and their perspective on science, but expected that this would include Judeo-Christian perspectives.

“It’s fine to study the Dreamtime and Chinese medicine as part of ‘science as a human endeavour’, and this also provides an opportunity for European children in state or public schools to learn more of their own cultural heritage,” ACL Managing Director Jim Wallace said.

Violent games make violent kids

02/03 | Research published yesterday by the American Psychological Association, analysing 130 studies worldwide, has proved conclusively that exposure to violent computer games affects youth behaviour

... Dr Anderson and his colleagues found that playing violent video/computer games makes kids more aggressive and less caring, regardless of their age, sex or culture.   They found that exposure of youth (of junior primary school age to college undergraduates) to violent video games is a causal risk factor for increased aggressive thoughts and behaviour, and decreased empathy and pro-social behaviour.

NEW CURRICULUM A CASE OF OLD ‘SOLIDARITY FOREVER’

Senator Ron Boswell | “Julia Gillard’s new curriculum reads like a learner manual for international socialism,” said The Nationals’ Senator Ron Boswell today.

“This curriculum is an intrinsically socialist document that if implemented would indoctrinate Australian children with the socialist left view of science, the environment and history.”

“It may be Julia Gillard’s view of the world but it is not an objective 21st Century approach to the education of children in a progressive Western society.”

“The new curriculum reeks of socialist doctrine.”

“Year 9 history involves learning about ‘the main features of the factory system and its effects on productivity, consumption, social structure, labour conditions and the division of labour’ – this reads like a Marxist learner.”

Crisis control in crisis as Rudd falters over fall guys

SMH.com.au | Kevin Rudd has finally been through all the old Paul Keating and John Howard chapters on crisis management and, being Kevin, has opted for a page that falls cautiously between the two.

Early in the week we noted he'd sniffed Keating's advice to try diversion: ''Throw a chunk of bloodied meat in the opposite direction.'' Rudd's grave announcement that home-grown terrorism was now a permanent part of the Australian experience wasn't quite gory enough to end headlines about the home-insulation fiasco, however, because it was stating something we all knew or at least suspected.

Then he produced the Howard tactic of declaring that he would take personal responsibility for all the dreadful cock-ups that were overwhelming his government. But it was too late and Rudd was forced to look too contrite. He'd called Peter Garrett a first-class minister and had left him as a human shield for two weeks as the home-insulation debacle ran amok.

Now he has forced himself to inspect the Keating ''in extremis'' formula for how to deal with a predicament so crippling that there is nothing for it but human sacrifice.

''Sometimes,'' the Keating playbook went, ''you have to kill one and hang him up in the town square so the people can sniff the corpse.''

Rudd has recoiled from quite so frightful a vision. Instead, he's gone the half-step and simply placed Garrett in a set of stocks, stripped of all but a singlet and a pair of underpants. He's still in the town square, however, a victim of ritual humiliation.

Ten ACT schools to trial curriculum

02/03 Canberra Times | Ainslie Primary, St Edmund's College and Telopea Park are among 10 ACT schools that will trial the new draft national curriculum before it is implemented next year.

Gillard defends curriculum content

02/03 Brisbane Times | Education Minister Julia Gillard has rejected opposition criticism that the draft national curriculum fails to address key events in Australian history.

Opposition education spokesman Christopher Pyne on Tuesday complained the document made no reference to the Magna Carta or the Westminster parliamentary system, on which Australia's political system was based.

... Independent Education Union spokeswoman Christine Cooper said it was time to move beyond discussing the document's detail and start looking at how it would be implemented.

"The success of the national curriculum will depend on the extent that teacher engagement and resources are applied at the state and territory level," she said.

I need to lift my game: Rudd

01/03 The Age | KEVIN Rudd has gambled on raising his political fortunes with an extraordinary statement of contrition, declaring the government deserves a ''whacking'' and he needs to lift his game in delivering its reform agenda.

After conceding last week he should have asked more questions about the bungled insulation program, the Prime Minister extended his mea culpa dramatically yesterday. But it risks undermining rather than boosting confidence in the government's ability to carry through its promises.

... Before the 2007 election, Mr Rudd promised that if by mid-2009 federal and state governments had not begun a national health reform plan, he would put to the people a proposal to assume funding responsibility.

''We need to lift our game. I need to lift my game in terms of delivering on these undertakings, that's fair criticism. The reason that we've had problems with this is that we didn't properly, I think, estimate the complexity of what we are embarking on,'' he told the ABC.

Sources say the hospital plan is ready for release when the moment is considered right politically.

Curriculum puts Dreamtime first

The Australian | SCHOOL students will learn about Aboriginal Dreamtime stories, Chinese medicine and natural therapies but not meet the periodic table of elements until Year 10 under the new national science curriculum.

The curriculum, obtained by The Weekend Australian, directs that students from primary school through to Year 10 be taught the scientific knowledge of different cultures, primarily indigenous culture, including sustainable land use and traditional technologies. The indigenous strand is part of a topic called Science and Culture examining different cultural groups and their perspectives on science.

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