News - October to December 2006

December 2006

22 December 2006 - More media reports on'Catch the Fire' Appeal!

For full media reports and latest information on the Appeal decision, click here .

A full page article by Andrew Bolt analyses the decision, calling the whole case a 'witchhunt'!
Pastors' toil and trouble
Andrew Bolt, Herald Sun, December 20, 2006.

"ANDREW Bolt writes: THESE exhausted pastors have been harassed, threatened, denounced as bigots and flayed in the papers and on the ABC.
AND so the witchhunt inSalem,Victoria, is over. At least for now.
But it is not enough to shrug at the persecution of Danny Nalliah and Daniel Scot and say justice was at least done in the end.
It's true, the Appeal Court last week overturned the convictions of these two Assemblies of God pastors for breaking the Bracks Government's vilification laws at a seminar on Islam in 2002.
But the hunting down of these men by zealots, convinced we're seething with racists, has cost them plenty...."

For the article PLUS comments click here .

Christian Pastors vs Islamic Council of Victoria
Read Peter Faris QC's comments on the appeal decision by clicking here .

14 December 2006 - 'Catch the Fire' Appeal allowed!

The Court of Appeal (Supreme Court) of Victoria has ALLOWED the appeal sought by Catch The Fire Ministries, Pastor Danny Nalliah and Pastor Daniel Scot.

All three justices - Nettle, Ashley and Neave - agreed that the appeal should be allowed. In particular, the argument that the Tribunal had wrongly interpreted Section 8 of the Racial and Religious Tolerance Act, the basic section that sets out the offence of religious vilification was successful.
The Court gave orders that the Tribunal orders re 'penalties' (advertisement, not saying similar things) be set aside, and that the matter be sent back to VCAT to be heard by a different judge with no new evidence.
The Court also ordered that the costs relating to the previous Tribunal hearing and the next one be decided by the Member who hears it.
The Court ordered that the Islamic Council of Victoria pay half of the costs incurred by Catch the Fire Ministries and the pastors in conducting the appeal.

Pastor Danny Nalliah and Pastor Daniel Scot welcomed the decision, as the statements made by the Justices show that the decision by Judge Higgins was flawed.
However, the process is far from over!

Click here to read the FULL decision on the appeal.

Click here for more details and a report on the decision.

Click here for Catch the Fire Ministries Media Release.

Media:
Court orders vilification retrial
The Age, Barney Zwartz, Religion Editor, December 14, 2006

Church race case back to tribunal
Herald Sun, AAP, December 14, 2006

13 December 2006 - 'Catch the Fire' Appeal decision to be handed down this Thursday, 14 December

The decision in the appeal by Catch The Fire Ministries, Pastor Danny Nalliah and Pastor Daniel Scot will be handed down TOMORROW morning, Thursday 14 December 2006 at 9.30 am.

The appeal is against the VCAT decision regarding the complaint by the Islamic Council of Victoria and three complainants. The appeal was heard in August. The decision will be handed down in the Court of Appeal at 459 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne.

* Please pray for the pastors and their legal team as they receive the decision.
* If you would like to attend to support the pastors, the public are welcome.
Please make sure you are at the Court of Appeal by 9.15 am.
Be early as there is a screening process that takes some time when there is a queue.

13 December 2006 - Melbourne City Council to introduce a same-sex 'Relationships Declaration Register'
The register would be 'non-homosexual specific' as it would ALSO allow heterosexual de facto couples to register their relationship. The relationships will need to be registered by signing the register in front of witnesses, probably at the Town Hall. A 'ceremony'?

Openly homosexual Deputy Lord Mayor Gary Singer is behind the proposal and the register is being supported by Lord Mayor John So - who was recently nominated as 'Community Supporter of the Year' in the homosexual community's Rainbow Awards (MCV, 29/11/2006). Mr Singer said the register was part of the homosexual lobby's overall strategy, saying "This is just the first step toward social equality for all relationships..." he said. The proposal has been supported by all the homosexual groups lobbying for recognition of homosexual relationships.

The proposal was endorsed in principle by a narrow majority of the Council at their meeting on 28 November and will now be considered by the February Community Services Committee.

References:
City to open register for same-sex couples
The Age, November 18, 2006.
Melbourne City Council Media Release:
29 Nov 2006.

Click here for more detailed report AND ACTION....

7 December 2006 - Federal Parliament votes to allow Cloning
A sad day for Australia...
The House of Representatives voted, on 6 December to allow therapeutic cloning - the creation of embryos, through SNCT, that will be allowed to live for up to 14 days before being killed when their stem cells are extracted. The Bill is called the "Prohibition of Human Cloning for Reproduction and the Regulation of Human Embryo Research Amendment Bill 2006".

The vote on the second reading of the Bill was 82 for to 62 on against. Six MPs were absent from the vote. Michael Ferguson (Liberal MP from Launceston, Tasmania) moved an amendment that would have prohibited the use of eggs from aborted baby girls.
Unfortunately this amendment was defeated by 23 votes: 76 to 53.
The full Bill was then put to the House of Representatives - it was carried 'on the voices' without a formal vote.

Media Reports:
Therapeutic cloning ban overturned
The Age, December 7, 2006.

MPs give all-clear to clone embryos
The Australian, Matthew Franklin - December 07, 2006

Stem cell detail 'horrifying'
AAP, December 07, 2006

Hansard - Debate and Vote:
Click here for the Hansard from Wednesday 6 December - which includes the vote.

Click here for our page on the campaign on this Bill.

4 December 2006 - Kevin Rudd elected as Labor leader
Yet another change in the leadership of the Labor Party has seen Kevin Rudd elected as the leader of the federal Parliamentary Labor Party. The Labor caucus vote was 49 votes to Kevin Rudd against 39 votes to Kim Beazley.
In part, the declaring of a poll on the leadership by Kim Beazley at the end of last week, and the ensuing leadership challenge by Kevin Rudd, was due to continuing angst in the Labor Party as to whether the party could win next year's federal election with Beazley as the leader.

Some media commentators have questioned whether a leadership change will make any difference to that scenario, whilst others supported the Kevin Rudd -Julia Gillard 'team'.

Kevin Rudd has been running a group in the Labor Party on Faith and Politics. He told the Melbourne Prayer Breakfast some years ago that he was a 'Christian Socialist' (apparently a term with roots in the British Labour Party), and this is referred to in the Compass interview below.
Media article:
Rudd beats Beazley
News.com.au - Clinton Porteous, national political correspondent December 03, 2006.

Kevin Rudd: The God Factor
Compass, Sunday May 8 2005 - Kevin Rudd talks about faith.

Julia Gillard
The new Deputy Leader of the Labor Party is Julia Gillard. Julia is a member of Emily's List - a Labor women's group aimed at electing women - one of the prerequisites for being part of Emily's List is being 'pro-choice' - ie being in favour of abortion.
Their website says "EMILY's List members and candidates must support in the community, and in Parliament, the principles of equity, diversity, pro-choice, and the provision of equal pay and childcare."
Click here for Emily's List website
Click here for the page relating to Julia Gillard.

4 December 2006 - Victorian election result
The Bracks government has been returned to government following the election held on 25 November 2006.
The Victorian Electoral Commission is expected to declare the result of most seats in the Lower House today, 4 December, with the exception of the following close seats, where preferences are still being distributed and absentee votes counted: Ferntree Gully, Forest Hill, Gembrook, Kilsyth, Melbourne and Mount Waverley.

Mr Bracks has a slightly smaller majority in the lower house, the Legislative Assembly. The Liberals and Nationals had a swing of 3 per cent after preferences. Labor won 54.8 per cent of the two-party vote. It is expected Labor will have a majority of between 18 and 26 seats in the Legislative Assembly (which has a total of 88 seats).
See report in The Age.

The last few seats in the Upper House, the Legislative Council, are still being confirmed.
Generally four of the five seats in each of the eight regions have been decided with the final one in the balance. The Labor party is expected to have 19, 20 or 21 seats out of 40. The Greens may have 1 or 2 seats, the Nationals 2 seats and the remainder to the Liberal Party. The Legislative Council result is expected by 13 December.

Results:
Results are being progressively published on the Victorian Electoral Commission website. The percentage of votes for all parties is given.
Click here for Legislative Assembly results.
Click here for Legislative Council results.
In the Legislative Council, the Greens received 10.29 % and Family First 3.83%.

* Click here for a description of the counting process.
* Click here for the VEC Media Release about the Declaration of the Poll.

November 2006

30 November 2006 - Multicultural-ism: past its use by date!
The word 'multiculturalism' seems to divide people rather than unite people.
For Christians, the feature that unites people is acknowledging the death and resurrection of Christ as a means of restoring our relationship to God that was broken because of sin.
It doesn't matter what our ethnic background or cultural heritage is!
Multiculturalism as an 'ism' has separated people into distinct groups. Janet Albrechtsen has written an insightful article showing that whilst 'multicultural' might have reflected the different cultural heritages, multicultural-ism has had negative effects on our community.
She highlights how the federal government is moving away from this term and focusing again on proper integration.

Move over, multiculturalism, your time is past
Integration is back: the Howard Government is quietly ditching a word and an outdated mind-set, writes Janet Albrechtsen
The Australian, November 29, 2006

29 November 2006 - Victorian election results
The Bracks Labor government has been returned. Their majority has been reduced slightly, and they have lost several seats to the Liberals.
The Legislative Council, the Upper House, has a new system of eight regions each electing five members.
It appears that Labor will get either 19, 20 or 21 seats out of a total of 40, and that the Greens will get two seats and could hold the balance of power.
Full results are not yet available.
They are being progressively posted on the Victorian Electoral Commission website -
Click here.
MORE results soon!

10 November 2006 - Christian Values Checklist released
Salt Shakers has prepared a 'Christian Values Checklist' for the forthcoming Victorian election to be held on 25 November.

The Checklist compares the moral policies of the major parties on issues such as homosexuality, abortion, drugs, IVF for lesbians, gambling and euthanasia. This year we have also included questions on public housing, education and the environment.

The Checklist is accompanied by a 'Brief Notes' sheet giving substantiation to the listed positions and a longer 5 page document includes references and links.

Click here to obtain your copy!

This page ALSO has information on the election and the new voting system in Victoria.

9 November 2006 - Democrats take control of US House
The mid-term elections in the US have resulted in a win for the Democratic party in the US House of Representatives. The Republican Party has had control of both the House and the Senate since the election of President George Bush, also a Republican.
News sources quote dissatisfaction with the outcomes of the war situation in Iraq as a major factor in the vote. However, if one considers the initial situation of freeing the people in Iraq from the tyranny of Saddam Hussein and the positive response of many people in Iraq to that, it is the actions of Muslim insurgents that has prolonged the problem and led to continuing civil unrest in Iraq.
Numerous articles on the web - this one details the election of the Democrats.
House Party for the Dems
New York Post, 8/11/2006.

Talking of Saddam Hussein, a court in Iraq has found him guilty of crimes against humanity and sentenced him to death by hanging. The decision will be reviewed by an appeals court. He is back in court being tried for genocide against the Kurds.
Muslim leader, former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, slammed the decision, claiming he did not get a fair trial.
Mahathir slams Saddam sentence
CNN, 6 Nov 2006

Sunni and Shiite Muslims were split on the issue...
Saddam urges Iraqis to "shake hands"
07 Nov 2006, Reuters.

Iran called for the death penalty to be carried out because of the eight-year war Hussein waged against Iran.
Iran Calls for Saddam to Be Executed
Washington Post, 7 Nov 2006.

Some western leaders opposed the death penalty being given - including France, Germany and UK Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Australia's Prime Minister John Howard said he was opposed to the death penalty in Australia, but applauded the Iraqi people for giving Hussein a fair trial.
Saddam trial 'a result of Iraqi heroism'
The Age, November 6, 2006

An inconvenient history

BBC, 7 Nov 2006. By Peter Caddick-Adams, Military historian

Interesting article asking the question: "How should the international community deal with dictators?"

8 November 2006 - Cloning VOTE in Senate
The Senate voted on the "Prohibition of Human Cloning for Reproduction and the Regulation of Human Embryo Research Amendment Bill 2006" on Wednesday 7 November.

The Bill was passed by 34 votes in favour to 32 votes against with 10 Senators 'paired'.
We are saddened by this vote that would (If passed by the House of Representatives) allow embryos to be created and then killed for research purposes.
The second reading vote was 34 to 31 with one abstaining and 10 paired or absent.

Following that vote, the Bill went to 'Committee', where amendments were considered. Several amendments were passed: the use of animal eggs was banned and penalties for misuse increased.
Then the final third reading vote was taken - 34 in favour, 32 against, 10 paired for a total of 76 Senators.
For the Senate debate and vote
Click here for the Hansard record - 7 Nov 2006
Second Reading debate, 7 Nov: Pages 15 - 31
Committee stage: P 31 - 52 and P 72 - 100
Final vote: P 100-101.
Hansard for Monday 6 November 2006 - click here.
Page 15 - 53.
Page 110 - 154.

6 November 2006 - Cloning debate in Senate
The debate and vote on Senator Patterson's cloning bill is being held in the Senate this week. The vote will be held by Friday - if not before.
If you haven't contacted your Senators yet, write a polite letter asking them not to support this bill.
Senators contact details: click here.
Senate Committee Report and details: click here.
NO Cloning campaign: click here.
Make a stand: click here to sign the petition against cloning (and write to your MP).

Please PRAY that this Bill is NOT passed!

Click here for our Cloning campaign page....

5 November 2006 - CADOA campaign continues
CADOA, the Coalition Against Decriminalisation Of Abortion, is continuing to survey MPs and candidates for the forthcoming Victorian election on 25 November. Check out the results so far... If you have information about the views of your MPs/candidates please let us know!

October 2006

17 October 2006 - CADOA advertisements in major papers
CADOA is the Coalition Against Decriminalisation Of Abortion. Recently formed, with currently 50 supporting organisations, the aim is to oppose the decriminalisation of abortion.

This is the current policy of the Victorian Labor Party "That no abortion be criminal when performed by a legally qualified medical practitioner at the request of the woman concerned." ALP Platform 2006 Section 3.38 - P 49.
CADOA is surveying all MPs and candidates for the forthcoming Victorian election (held 25 November) as to whether they support the decriminalisation of abortion - and encouraging voters NOT to vote for candidates who support decriminalisation of abortion.
A half page ad was published in The Age today as well as one in the Herald Sun.
Click here for FULL details on the CADOA website.

17 October 2006 - Prof James Sherley opposes cloning
Visiting US Professor James Sherley has spoken to MPs and Senators about the dangers of therapeutic cloning.

He has written excellent articles that have been published in The Australian and the Herald Sun...
No Path to find cure-all
The Australian, 12 October 2006.
False hope in embryo research
Herald Sun, 17 October 2006.

Please write to your 12 State Senators and your MP...
The Senate debate is expected in early November (week beg 6 Nov) and the House of Representatives debate two weeks later.
Click here for contact details for MPs and Senators.
Click here our page for the campaign against cloning.
Click here for the 'No Cloning' campaign website.

Make a Stand: A campaign action website has been established. It enables you to sign an online petition to oppose cloning
AND to write a leter to your own MP (just enter your postcode!). Click here.

12 October 2006 - Vic Greens support range of homosexual rights

The Victorian Greens would move to destroy marriage, family and society if they gain the balance of power in the Victorian Upper House.

If you doubted reports about how dangerous a vote for a Greens candidate might be, then read on.

• They want 'civil unions' or 'registered relationships' for same-sex 'couples'.
• They want to introduce anti-vilification (tolerance) legislation based on 'sexual orientation'.
• They want to abolish ALL discrimination based on 'sexual orientation', sex or gender.
• They want NO exemptions for 'religious' organisations (Christians). In other words they WANT to force the church to 'normalise' what God calls an abomination - thus calling evil good!!!
• They believe in the right of all people to assume any self identified sexual orientation or gender. Today a man, tomorrow a women, and change at will????

Read the media report:
Vic Greens to push for civil unions
The Australian, AAP, October 05, 2006

Read the Greens policy on homosexual rights:
Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex People (GLBTI) Policy

11 October 2006 - Church of England in UK protests at government 'interfaith' push!
The Church of England has protested at the UK government's push to encourage interfaith activities. The leaked report said that the attempt to integrate minority faiths had backfired, leaving society "more separated than ever before".

The report claims that Muslims have been favoured above other faiths, and that the UK is still a Christian country at heart! The report was written by Guy Wilkinson, the interfaith advisor to the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Read article:
Drive for multi-faith Britain deepens rifts, says Church
The Telegraph, 08/10/2006

This is precisely what Salt Shakers has been saying - that trying to have a 'multi-faith' society or a 'multicultural' society causes disharmony and undermines the Christian basis of our nation.

It leads to statements like the recent one from Dr Ameer Ali, the head of the Muslim Community Reference Board, who claimed that Australia is a Muslim nation!

Why? He said this was because we have 'Muslim values'. On ABC radio 612 in Brisbane, on 9 October, he said that most Australians now adopt the Muslim ideals of charity, tolerance, justice, democracy, peace and equality ...'especially equality of women'.
He also said that Muslims, Christians and Jews are all of the same father, Abraham, therefore we are all one in our common heritage...
For a Muslim this is usually taken to mean we are ALL 'Muslim'!
In his travels abroad, Ali actively claims he is from a Muslim country - Australia! He says it is time we all started to accept the fact that multiculturalism is our future and recognise we are already acceptant of Muslim ideals.
Read more about the statements made by Dr Ameer Ali:
Australia a Muslim nation: advisor
October 08, 2006, AAP, Herald Sun.