"... Swan grew up in a fibro house in Nambour with three older brothers and a younger sister. His dad, Maurice, served in the RAAF in Balakpapan and Tarakan in World War II, then worked at his brothers’ Swan Garage in Nambour. His mum, Maida, came off a cane farm.
Swan grew up with a sense of war; his mum’s brother fought at Milne Bay, and she’d got her driver’s licence young in preparation for the Japanese invasion. His Dad’s war remained mysterious; Swan never got to talk to him about it. Returned soldiers didn’t talk. They hung out at RSLs, avoiding the topic.
... An education at Nambour High – which he shares with Rudd and Schapelle Corby – wasn’t bad. But most people didn’t go on – the only way I was going to get to uni was get a scholarship – this was pre-Whitlam in 1971.
Swan’s childhood is not presented as a picture of grief as some suggest Rudd has done with his. Swan “grew up in the coastal way. You couldn’t imagine anything more idyllic.”
Yet Nambour was depressed. “I was one of the few in the extended clan who went on to tertiary education.” Swan got his scholarship and went to uni in Brisbane. To his relief his number never came up for Vietnam. The issue was resolved by the 1972Whitlam government which pulled Australia out of the war."
The Bulletin, April 17, 2007 “Swan’s Song” by Paul Toohey, Page 19
“There is another important aspect to the Rudd-Swan pairing. Queensland spat out Paul Keating in 1996 and Mark Latham in 2004… Queenslanders are seduced by the idea of having a PM and a treasurer. They are backing the local boys. But it has been a long and savage process for Swan. He lost his seat in 1996, wrestled with cancer, saw his own ambition burn as Beazley got done over. And there was Rudd."
The Bulletin, April 17, 2007 “Swan’s Song” by Paul Toohey, Page 19
CHRISTIANITY :
Labor MPs refuse to be sworn in holding Bibles
13/2 Matthew Franklin for The Australian |... the winds of change were freshening as a majority of Labor MPs refused to be sworn in holding Bibles, instead exercising their option to offer an affirmation of allegiance. Of the Labor frontbench, only Mr Rudd, Simon Crean, Martin Ferguson and Peter Garrett took the Bible in hand as they declared their allegiance to Queen Elizabeth II and her heirs and successors.
In marked contrast, all members of the God-fearing Coalition front bench swore on the Bible, many supplying their own for the occasion.
" … The family did church but none of it stayed with Swan.”I am not sure what my position on religion is,” he says, “you could say I am unfinancial.”
The Bulletin, April 17, 2007 “Swan’s Song” by Paul Toohey Page 20
CLONING AND DESTRUCTION OF HUMAN EMBRYOS FOR RESEARCH :
Wayne Swan voted in favour of the cloning and destruction of human embryos for research during the last Federal parliament's Conscience Vote on the issue.
Embryo cloning gets the go-ahead
December 2006, Sydney Morning Herald | AUSTRALIAN scientists will be able to clone human embryos for medical research under legislation passed by Parliament which divided the country's most senior politicians
In a rare conscience vote, the House of Representatives passed the controversial measures despite the Prime Minister [John Howard] urging MPs to vote against the bill because it eroded some of society's most absolute values.
.... Those in favour of the bill included cabinet ministers Brendan Nelson, Julie Bishop, Ian Macfarlane, Alexander Downer and Philip Ruddock and Labor frontbenchers Julia Gillard, Simon Crean, Jenny Macklin and Wayne Swan.
Quote: From the No Cloning.org,au website / Do No Harm
The Prohibition of Human Cloning Act 2002 was passed just four years ago without a single dissenting vote in either the House of Representatives or the Senate. Section 9 of that Act provides that “A person commits an offence if the person intentionally creates a human embryo clone”.
CLONING – WHAT THEY SAID JUST FOUR YEARS AGO
“DEAR COALITION SENATOR AND MEMBER:
IF IT WAS ‘WRONG’ IN 2002
TO CREATE EMBRYOS SOLELY FOR RESEARCH,
HOW CAN IT BE ‘RIGHT’ IN 2006?”
Wayne Swan (Labor – Lilley)
Firstly, I wish to state that I fully support the prohibition in the bill of human cloning. I consider the notion of such a pseudo-scientific development abhorrent.
Wayne Swansupported use of the RU486 abortion drugduring the last Federal parliament's Conscience Vote on the issue.
LABOR family services spokesman Wayne Swan is to be congratulated for his courageous policy shift in favor of boosting Australia’s birth rate ("ALP package aims to boost birth rate," December 19).
No doubt he will be ‘the recipient of a Women’s Electoral Lobby wooden spoon for "services to wimmin".
However, Labor’s new policy will not be effective unless there is a philosophical shift in favor of births over abortions.
Feminist groups are ideologically committed to promoting abortion — if they were truly pro-choice rather than pro-abortion, they would not fight tooth and nail as they have in the ACT to prevent photos of foetal development being included In the counselling booklet being given to women considering abortion
Nor would they recommend the ultrasound screen be turned away from these women so they cannot see the images of their unborn babies. Whether one is pro-abortion or pro-life, if one genuinely respects the autonomy of women one should always be pro-information. Women are entitled to know about post-abortion grief and about increased risk of breast cancer.
... Mr Swan should make provision of this information, and of foetal pictures, compulsory by all abortion providers. It may help to reduce the horrendous toll of 100,000 abortions yearly in Australia, and boost the birth rate.
Babette Francis, Endeavour Forum Inc,
http://www.endeavourforum.org.au/swan.htm
See Left side Links for Labor's history of conscience voting on Abortion and current policies.
It is said that Swan, who once controlled Queensland Labor on behalf of the AWU [Australian Workers Union], denied Beattie a place in the incoming Goss Labor cabinet of 1989. Beattie laughs out loud but doesn’t deny it. “We were both headstrong, Swan and I, but the truth of the matter is, we’ve both matured over the years"
The Bulletin, April 17, 2007 “Swan’s Song” by Paul Toohey, Page 17
ARTICLES & GENERAL QUOTES:
Swan & Rudd
“When Rudd rolled Beazley from the Labor leadership last December, he kept Swan on as his Shadow Treasurer. No one predicted it. Everyone thought Swan, deeply loyal to Beazley, trenchant in his detestation of Rudd, would be herded to an outer paddock.
That the two men agreed to work together in Labor’s two key jobs, and possibly to lead the country later this year, was not the result of a factional deal. Nor did Swan grovel to Rudd. The public won’t see any forced backslapping. They will see a genuine relationship – not warm, but real.”
The Bulletin, April 17, 2007 “Swan’s Song” by Paul Toohey, Page 17
Don't forget 39 Labor MPs didn't want Kevin Rudd
(27/11) Crikey.Com | Slicing through Labor's post-election euphoria is the stark fact that 39 of Prime Minister-elect Kevin Rudd's parliamentary colleagues voted against him for the leadership less than 12 months ago. They wanted to keep Kim Beazley in the job so that he could have a third crack at the prime ministership. In the caucus wash-up, Rudd received 49 votes to win by just 10.
The anti-Ruddsters were: Wayne Swan, Stephen Smith, Anthony Albanese, Stephen Conroy, Martin Ferguson, Jenny Macklin, Tanya Plibersek, Penny Wong, Craig Emerson, Chris Evans, Carmen Lawrence, Dick Adams, Sharon Bird, Mark Bishop, Carol Brown, Anna Burke, George Campbell, Kate Ellis, Steve Georganas, Jennie George, Michael Hatton, Chris Hayes, John Hogg, Annette Hurley, Steve Hutchins, Julia Irwin, Duncan Kerr, Catherine King, Joe Ludwig, Anne McEwen, Daryl Melham, John Murphy, Kerry O'Brien, Helen Polley, Bernie Ripoll, Glenn Sterle, Kim Wilkie, Dana Wortley and Kim Beazley.
Since then, some have made peace with Rudd and are assured of senior places in the first Cabinet to be announced at the end of this week eg. Treasurer Swan and Education and Training Minister Smith. Others have quit politics - Beazley and Carmen Lawrence
“Across town, on the 15th floor, the Queensland premier, quick-draw hand-shaker and fast on the smile, makes an unprecedented public admission that he and Swan were never close. “I’ve known Swanny since the beginning of time,”says Peter Beattie. “We were at university together. Let me be frank about where Swanny and I are. This is on the record. Swanny and I have had our moments along the line, as anyone does in politics.
“But he is astute, hard-working … and he’s not afraid to take on key reforms. I think his relationship with Kevin is really important. They’ve had strain in the past but they’ve put all that together and they are incredibly supportive of one another now.”
It is said that Swan, who once controlled Queensland Labor on behalf of the AWU [Australian Workers Union], denied Beattie a place in the incoming Goss Labor cabinet of 1989. Beattie laughs out loud but doesn’t deny it. “We were both headstrong, Swan and I, but the truth of the matter is, we’ve both matured over the years"
The Bulletin, April 17, 2007 “Swan’s Song” by Paul Toohey, Page 17
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“Across town, on the 15th floor, the Queensland premier, quick-draw hand-shaker and fast on the smile, makes an unprecedented public admission that he and Swan were never close. “I’ve known Swanny since the beginning of time,”says Peter Beattie. “We were at university together. Let me be frank about where Swanny and I are. This is on the record. Swanny and I have had our moments along the line, as anyone does in politics.