ACL compiles a daily media monitoring service of stories of interest to the Christian constituency relating to children, family, drugs and alcohol, marriage, human rights, religious freedom etc. Visit the ACL’s website each day to see what’s of interest in the news. Please note that selection of the articles does not represent ACL endorsement of the content.
Elderly being dumped by families at hospital
Suellen Hinde The Sunday Mail (Qld)
ELDERLY people are being left at Queensland hospital emergency departments by relatives during the holiday season in a trend dubbed “granny dumping”.
http://www.news.com.au/national/elderly-being-dumped-by-families-at-hospital/story-e6frfkvr-1226224849144
Parents, that bundle of joy is really a beelzebub!
MOST couples assume having children will make them happier. But time and again researchers find parents are no happier than childless couples. More often children seem to bring unhappiness.
http://www.theage.com.au/national/parents-that-bundle-of-joy-is-really-a-beelzebub-20111216-1oyta.html
Women more likely to feel torn over roles
Melissa Davey
THE promotion of Nicola Roxon, Tanya Plibersek, and Julie Collins to senior ministry positions shows women do not have to sacrifice having children to reach the top, but ”having it all” is more likely to leave women guilt-ridden than men, research shows.
http://www.theage.com.au/national/women-more-likely-to-feel-torn-over-roles-20111216-1oytq.html
Thousands abused in Dutch Catholic institutions: commission
Europe correspondent Philip Williams
An independent report into child sex abuse in Dutch Catholic institutions in the Netherlands has identified tens of thousands of alleged victims and 800 alleged perpetrators.
Police arrest 112 in online child porn bust
Police in 22 European countries swooped on 112 suspects for allegedly sharing “the most extreme form” of online videos of children being sexually abused and raped, policing agency Europol said on Friday.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-12-17/police-arrest-112-in-online-child-porn-bust/3736196
Young mothers ‘drugged, shamed’ inquiry told (video)
Tasmanian mothers appearing before a Senate inquiry into forced adoptions, say they were so drugged they could not remember signing adoption consent papers. Five women who gave their babies up for adoption in the 1960s told the inquiry they believe they were drugged, shamed and given no other option than to relinquish their children.
Donor Conception & Surrogacy
Jay Weatherill backs IVF for gays
MICHAEL OWEN The Australian
JAY Weatherill has backed a push by a gay MP on his frontbench to allow same-sex couples to access IVF in South Australia.
Human Rights
Laws ‘may take race relations backwards’: Coalition
PATRICIA KARVELAS The Australian
DRAMATIC changes proposed to the Constitution to prohibit race discrimination and specify that laws must be made for the advancement of indigenous people have been dealt their most serious blow, with Tony Abbott’s opposition declaring it is unlikely to support the move.
Marriage
| The conscience vote in gay marriage Yuri Koszarycz Abbott’s decision to not allow a conscience vote on gay marriage polarises the broader community to either support ‘the Party that supports gay marriage’, or ‘the Party that opposes amendments to the Marriage Act’. |
Overseas Aid
World’s poorest let down, says Craig Emerson
MATTHEW FRANKLIN, The Australian
TRADE Minister Craig Emerson has accused developed countries of abrogating their responsibility to help the globe’s poorest nations by tolerating an impasse in global trade liberalisation talks.
Refugees
Hundreds missing in asylum boat sinking
CORRESPONDENTS IN JAKARTA , AP
A WOODEN ship suspected to be heading to Australia and carrying more than 200 migrants, many of them from the Middle East, has sunk off Indonesia’s main island of Java, local media report. So far only 33 people have been rescued.
Politics
Lara Giddings remains Tasmanian Premier, for now
SUE NEALES The Australian
TASMANIAN Labor leader Lara Giddings has been labelled a “lame duck” premier who has lost the support of her parliamentary colleagues. But her job looks safe in the short term, despite likely challenger David O’Byrne having the backing of at least seven of the 12 MPs in the Labor minority government.
Other
Kyle’s bile no match for net activists’ might
CRITICS call them ”slacktivists” – people who sign internet petitions in favour of ”real” social activism. But there’s nothing slack about Emily Hehir. In four weeks, the 25-year-old persuaded more than 60 sponsors and advertisers to boycott The Kyle and Jackie O Show.
