News roundup

Some recent news...

1. Victoria - Bill for an Inquiry into euthanasia DEFEATED!
The Motion proposed by Greens MP Colleen Hartland to call for the Victorian Law Reform Commission to conduct an Inquiry into euthanasia was defeated on 31 August when the Coalition all voted against the motion.

2. PM Gillard under pressure
Pressure continues to mount on the Gillard government. Labor powerbroker Graham Richardson says that with the latest issue - the illegal boat arrivals - that Gillard cannot retain power...  Article: Labor stalwart says Gillard 'finished', ABC Online, 1/9/2011

• Craig Thomson issue is continuing...
  The PM has refused to allow or require Craig Thomson to explain his position to the federal parliament.
• Illegal boat arrivals
  The 'Malaysian solution' is no longer a 'solution.
  The High Court handed down its decision - the government cannot send the boat arrivals to Malaysia - however, the government will have to accept the 4,000 Malaysian refugees - at an estimated cost of around $200 million.
• Julia Gillard and the AWU allegations
  Some fifteen years or more ago, a then boyfriend of Julia Gillard was involved in misappropriating money form the union he worked for. Julia Gillard has always claimed she knew nothing of the matter. The Australian published a column by Glenn Milne but removed it from their website after it was revealed some details were incorrect.
  Andrew Bolt writes about the matter which almost caused him to give up politics. He says "the issue was not that Gillard had done anything improper. There is no evidence of that." He says "The issue was her judgment in having a professional and romantic relationship with a man now exposed as a conman."
  Column - How Gillard tried to kill a story 

3. Homosexual 'marriage' debate
The debate about homosexual marriage heats up - several articles by proponents have been published in recent days.
Here are three articles opposing homosexual 'marriage':

• An article in The Australian by David van Gend of the Queensland Family Council...
  Read the article: A dad does matter to a child, whether gay couples like it or not, The Australian, 29/8/2011
• Too much to bear - An article by Ted Lapkin, who was a ministerial adviser to the federal Coalition, and was communications director to a senior member of the Republican leadership in the US Congress.
  Read article: Too much to bear, The Age, 28/8/2011
• Professor Margaret Somerville, an Australian-Canadian ethicist, is Samuel Gale professor of law, professor in the faculty of medicine, and founding director of the Centre for Medicine, Ethics and Law at McGill University, Montreal.
  It's all about the children, not selfish adults, The Australian, 23/7/2011
  "SAME-SEX marriage creates a clash between upholding the human rights of children with respect to their coming into being and the family structure in which they will be reared, and the claims of homosexual adults who wish to marry a same-sex partner. It forces us to choose between giving priority to children's rights or to homosexual adults' claims. . ."

4. Abortion in Victoria
Bernie Finn, one of the MPs who led the fight against Victoria's Abortion Law Reform Act, spoke in Albury recently on the abortion issue. He described abortion as equalling murder, and said the Abortion Law Reform Act allowed abortion "right up to the point of birth."
Read the media report: click here.