Marriage, drugs, France - same-sex 'marriage' and parents

Lots of news...

1. Marriage in the federal parliament
The House of Representatives and the Senate have both defeated the same-sex 'marriage' Bills put forward by Labor MP Stephen Jones and several Labor Senators.
The House of Representatives vote was 98 to 42 on Wednesday 19 September 2012. Read our report here.
The Senate defeated the Bill by 41 votes to 26 votes on Thursday 20 September. Read our report here.

2. Tasmania - Legislative Council defeats same-sex 'marriage'
The Legislative Council defeated the Bill, co-sponsored by Premier Lara Giddings and Greens leader Nick McKim - the vote was 8 votes to 6. Read our report - click here.

3. Drugs legalisation
A new group, called Australia 21, is calling for the legalisation of some drugs.
The group has now published two 'Reports'.
The result is hardly surprising - since the report is co-authored by Alex Wodak, a well-known advocate for legalising drugs!
Greens MPs were also involved in the 'Consultation'!
Read the Australia 21 Report - click here.

4. France - same-sex 'marriage' and removing 'mother and father'
The new French socialist government, led by President Francois Hollande, has announced that they plan to legalise same-sex marriage'.

The government has ALSO announced that they plan to change the law to remove the names 'mother' and 'father' in the civil code and replace them with 'parents'. They are also planning to legalise homosexual adoption.
Read media report.

Climate, carbon, marriage, homosexual health...

A sample of the news...

1. Climate - NZ Group loses court challenge
A New Zealand Court has ruled against the New Zealand Climate Science Education Trust, a private body that rejects the argument that human activity has caused global warming. This group challenged the claims of the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) - they said that New Zealand's climate warmed almost one degree Celsius between 1909 and 2009.
The Trust claimed the moethodologtyy was flawed and that the research ewas not properly peer reviewed.
Read report.

2. Carbon - Carbon price debacle
The Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard has announced that Australia's carbon price will be linked to the European Union price for carbon in three years time.
The current perice for 'carbon' is set at $23 a tonne, rising to $25.40 in 2014-2015.
The the price was going to 'float' according to the 'market.
Now the PM has said the price will be linked to Europe - currently the European price is less than $10 a tonne. Unless that rises rapidly (and it has been FALLING) then the Australian\budget will have a HUGE black hole! Australian industries will simply be able to purchase credits at the lower price!
Read commentary on the decision - 
Combet's cut-price carbon caper blows $25 billion budget black hole
by:Henry Ergas, The Australian  - August 29, 2012
"THE carbon floor price is dead, but it certainly hasn't died alone. Rather, there are so many fatalities in this announcement that Canberra will need a new cemetery. The first victim of this double pike with lateral twist (nine points of difficulty) is the credibility of the government's budget forecasts...."

3. Marriage
The same-sex 'marriage' debate in on in the federal parliament - with both the Senate and the House of Reps debating separate Bills.
See our Campaign page - and contact your MP and Senators... 

4. Homosexual health
Yes, this is a controversy at present. The homosexual groups and homosexual media regularly talk about the adverse health outcomes they face.... it's OK for them to say so, but woe betide anyone else who dares to mention it!
The Doctors for the Family group found that out when they put in a submission to the Senate Inquiry which highlighted some of the health risks of homosexuality.
FamilyVoice's Ros Phillips published a fully referenced four page paper on homosexual health - and was criticised by homosexual media.
Then Jim Wallace of ACL responded to a question in a debate in Tasmania last week - in a debate about same-sex 'marriage', he noted that we should be talking about the risks of homosexual health - saying we warn people about smoking so we should warn about the adverse health outcomes for homosexual sex.
Naturally, the homosexual groups were furious - and Prime Minister Julia Gillard cancelled her speech at the ACL annual Conference!
Of course, that warning about health risks applies to any recognition of homosexual relationships - not just to 'marriage'!
See more information and links on our 'Homosexuality-Health' webpage.

Euthanasia, prostitution, marriage, vilification law

More issues on the agenda . . .

1. Tony Nicklinson and euthanasia
The UK High Court has just handed down a decision regarding Tony Nicklinson. He was paralysed below the neck following a stroke 7 years ago and wanted the Court to authorise a doctor to kill him when he chooses. The High Court has decided not to allow Mr Nicklinson's request - saying that this is a decision for parliament - not the courts.
Read a media report about the decision.
Read the Life News report, supporting the High Court decision.
Read comment by Ruth Bessant of CARE, posted on Christian Today.
read this commentary by a minister at the Daily Mail.

2. Peter Singer and infanticide
Peter Singer was on Q&A last week....
Peter Singer is lauded as an ethicist ... but he has written about euthanasia and the 'right to life', even about supporting 'selective infanticide'.
Stella Young, who has a disability herself, writes an enlightening article titled 'The case against Peter Singer'.

3. WA: Prostitution
The WA government is again about to consider a proposed Prostitution Bill' that will legalise brothels and prostitution.
If you live in WA, please contact your MPs NOW and ask them to vote against this Bill.

4. Marriage Bills in the federal parliament
Three Bills are currently being debated by the parliament. The House of Reps resumed debate on Stephen Jones' Bill on Mon 20 August - and Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young's bill is expected to resume debate in the Senate on Thursday. Click here for info, links and ACTION!

5. ACT - Religious vilification law proposed
Yes, ACT Attorney-General Simon Corbell has announced that he will introduce a 'religious vilification law' into the ACT Legislative Assembly this week - no consultation, just push it through. That's because they don't like people opposing a proposed mosque that is being supported by the government. The government asked the ACT Commissioner to investigate it - she said she didn't like the pamphlet - but said the current threshold in the racial vilification law, of 'inciting hatred' was too high. She wanted it to cover "offensive behaviour"! She also proposed adding 'religious vilification' to the law. 
Now Mr Corbell has acted!
If you live in the ACT please contact your MPs (click here for details) and ask them to oppose this law. Tell them about the problems we have faced in Victoria - and how SA, NSW and WA have all decided NOT to have religious vilification laws.

News - marriage and divorce

Some recent news...

1. Children suffer from divorce
Yes, children often suffer the most from divorce. That isn't new but it is often overlooked in our increasingly selfish society.
This Victorian government health website acknowledges the suffering and offers advice - click here.
Children often blame themselves and need support and encouragement.

In 2008, an annual survey of 1600 under-10 children in the UK found that children felt that divorce was the 'second-worst thing in the world' - after being 'fat'.
The Telegraph reported, "When asked what rules they would make if they were king or queen of the world, most children replied they would ban divorce – the first time it has come at the top of the list."
Perhaps we all need to listen to the children more...

2. Men and women both suffer after divorce
A new study by the Australian Institute of Family Studies has found that women suffer financially after divorce - whilst men are 'lonelier' and suffer more emotionally. The study found that the loss of assets can lead to greater reliance on government support.
Read media report.
The research will be presented at the AIFS conference this week (titled Family Transitions and Trajectories) - click here for selected papers.

3. New Zealand - marriage
New Zealand is set to debate same-sex 'marriage' after a private Member's bill on the subject was selected in their 'weekly ballot' recently.
Prime Minister John Key, from the National Party, recently said he will vote for the Bill. He had previously said he ‘wasn't opposed to same-sex marriage’ but said it wasn't a priority for his government. His support takes the likelihood of same-sex ‘marriage in New Zealand that bit closer. Labour leader David Shearer also supports same-sex ‘marriage’. Read media report.

New Zealand already has 'civil unions' - again we see that this is a stepping stone... homosexual activists will take that as a 'first step' but they still campaign for 'full equality'!

4. Scotland - marriage
The Scottish government has announced that they plan to legalise same-sex 'marriage' - perhaps by the start of 2015. The vast majority of responses to their recent 'Inquiry' opposed same-sex 'marriage' - but the government plans to push on with it anyway! Read media report.
Of course, they already have 'civil partnerships' in Scotland - again, that was the 'first step!