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.

Classification

Apple censors explicit music on iTunes Match

Apple is unintentionally censoring rap music and other explicit tracks downloaded using its iTunes Match service — by replacing them with the clean versions of the same songs.  According to a report in Cult of Mac — confirmed in tests by Mashable — songs uploaded to the service with explicit lyrics are automatically replaced by the clean version of the song.

R18+ video games set to get the nod in Australia

VIDEO games with an R18+ rating could be sold in Australia from next year.  Legislation for the adult category for games classification is expected to be debated in Federal Parliament in a matter of weeks.  But the guidelines for the classification are still not clear and it is uncertain if video games previously refused classification for being too violent or graphic for even adult gamers would subsequently be allowed to reapply for classification, prompting fears that graphic content could reach children.  Developmental psychologist Glenn Cupit, of the Australian Council on Children and the Media, warned should such games be sold in Australia, they would find their way to children.

Aussie mothers protest against Facebook for removing breastfeeding photos

ANGRY mums have organised a protest at Facebook’s Australian offices next week after the social network suspended users who had posted images of themselves breastfeeding.  Sydneysider Lucy Allen, 21, had her Facebook account deactivated for two days in July last year after she posted a photo of herself breastfeeding and pumping milk at the same time.  “Facebook didn’t actually give me a reason,” Ms Allen said. “They just said it was a breach of their terms of use.”

Education

Parents ask to see the maths as school fees climb

FRUSTRATED at being hit with ever-increasing bills, parents of children at private schools are calling for greater transparency surrounding fees.  As the year 12 tuition costs at 40 of Sydney’s independent schools rose by an average of 5.7 per cent above last year’s figures, one parent said the continual increases – outstripping inflation and salary rises – were ”killing us”.  Parents who spoke to the Herald on condition of anonymity said they were not given adequate explanations about why the increases were necessary.

Parents lobby Victorian Government to ban Bible in classrooms

PARENTS are stepping up pressure on the Education Department to end religious education in state schools amid claims it is making children isolated and fearful.  A massive billboard has been erected in Bulleen claiming state schools “are not church playgrounds”.  It says: “Special religious instruction divides our children”.  The billboard was erected by parent-run lobby group FIRIS (Fairness in Religion in Schools), which is calling on education authorities to change the law so that “special religious instruction” is no longer offered in state schools.

Gambling

Casino ethics were allowed to deteriorate, review told

THE Sydney casino has been ”sliding back to the old ways”, putting revenues before behaviour, a former manager told the recent review of The Star’s licence.  High-value players who had sexually harassed or threatened staff were allegedly given favourable treatment, former and existing staff told the barrister conducting the review published three days before Christmas.

The power of a word in the ministerial ear

You wouldn’t think that poker machines and ethanol have much in common. But the actions of the O’Farrell government in recent weeks have managed to tie them together quite neatly.  The Minister for Hospitality, George Souris, quietly put through a regulation last month that did Clubs NSW a big favour.  The regulation made it easier for registered clubs that are established adjacent to new housing release areas to get approval for up to 150 poker machines from the Casino, Liquor and Gaming Control Authority.

Pokies ATM link to teenager’s death

A CORONER has slammed gambling regulators over a teenager who took his life after withdrawing his last few dollars from an ATM inside a gaming venue and losing on the pokies.  Jacob Anton Van Berlo, 19, killed himself last May after losing the money at the Warragul Downtowner east of Melbourne.  Mr Van Berlo was an apprentice at the Warragul Gazette, but owed money to friends and sometimes spent his whole pay in one day on the pokies.  On the day of his death, Mr Van Berlo spent his lunch break gambling at the Warragul Downtowner, withdrawing $270 from an ATM inside the premises.

Gaming Commission refuses to block new Castlemaine pokies

CASTLEMAINE residents have lost their battle to block 65 new poker machines in their central Victorian town after the gambling regulator approved an application to build a sports club in an old railway shed.  The Maryborough Highland Society bought 65 machines at the 2010 state pokies licence auction and applied to develop old railway buildings in Castlemaine – owned by the state government – into a sports and community club.

Opposition ‘too cheap’ to meet pokies victim

THE federal opposition has declined to fork out a few hundred dollars so an Adelaide-based problem gambler can travel to Canberra to meet the coalition taskforce devising its gambling policy.  The gambling committee – chaired by opposition families spokesman Kevin Andrews – is having meetings with gaming industry representatives, community groups and individuals this week.??The taskforce includes frontbenchers Malcolm Turnbull and Luke Hartsuyker, with backbenchers Josh Frydenberg, Steve Ciobo and Alan Tudge.

Souris demands answers over sacking of casino chief

THE Hospitality Minister, George Souris, has raised questions about the Star casino’s compliance with gaming laws as authorities issued a deadline of 1pm Monday to give full details of the sacking of its managing director, Sid Vaikunta.  The chief executive of the casino’s owner Echo Entertainment Group, Larry Mullin, told the stock exchange on Thursday that Mr Vaikunta’s employment had ”ended after his behaviour in a social work setting”.  Yesterday Mr Souris said ”the casino has only just completed its five-year [licence] review, during which none of these issues seem to have come to the fore.

Woolworths lobbies opposition for voluntary pre-commitment on poker machines

AUSTRALIA’S biggest pokies operator Woolworths has lobbied the federal opposition to tackle problem gambling with voluntary pre-commitment measures, despite the limited success of its own trial of optional bet limit cards.  Woolworth’s gaming arm Australia Leisure Hospitality (ALH), which owns owns 12,000 poker machines across 294 venues Australia-wide, appeared before the opposition’s gambling taskforce this week.

Marriage

They do: Qld sets same-sex union date

Queensland’s first same-sex civil unions are set to occur in a month’s time, a move Deputy Premier Andrew Fraser is heralding as the sign of a “modern, progressive state”.  The enactment of the civil partnerships law will come three months after it was passed with support from most Labor MPs and one independent but opposed by the Liberal National Party and other crossbenchers.  The state government will today announce the law formally commences on February 23, meaning the first civil unions could occur on March 5, following the 10-day waiting period required after paperwork lodgement.

Politics

Parliament is resuming. Brace yourself

EDITORIAL

MPs and senators are returning to Canberra for next week’s resumption of Parliament amid a rare atmosphere of anticipation. For the government, nothing has changed, yet everything has changed. The numbers on the floor of the House remain the same, though the faces have shuffled around a little. Yet the steady decay of Julia Gillard’s position as Labor leader has continued over the summer break, and as it has done so the chances of Labor MPs moving to dump her have increased. There is open talk of replacing her. In part she is responsible for this growing opposition. The chicanery over the Speaker’s position, the abrupt reneging on the deal with Andrew Wilkie over poker machines, the inept Australia Day incident – all have helped cut the Prime Minister’s popularity and undermine her standing with the public, as well as diminishing the confidence of caucus members in her political skill. Another part of it is bad luck – continuing economic gloom from overseas infects attitudes towards her and her government throughout the community. Part is due to the machinations of others – principally Kevin Rudd, but also the backbench MPs who have grown increasingly nervous at Gillard’s inability to lift Labor’s standing in the polls. Disaffection feeds on itself.

Momentum building for leadership challenge

ON Friday evening a week ago, after her office had been in lockdown for much of the afternoon, Julia Gillard accepted the resignation of Tony Hodges, her disgraced press secretary. The Prime Minister clearly meant every word when she declared that no one was angrier than she was.  The incident reflected very badly not only on Hodges but on the people who recruited and promoted him, and on the Prime Minister’s office more generally. It raised basic questions about how politically savvy they are and how often they have recourse to the dark arts.  It also raised questions about Gillard’s judgment and her modus operandi. If a staffer close to her displays this level of opportunism and trickery, is it because they’re all in a day’s work and might have been rewarded if things had gone according to plan?

Prime Minister Julia Gillard in for the chop

A LEADERSHIP war plan is being mapped out by key Kevin Rudd backers, with senior NSW MPs demanding the deputy leadership in any new Rudd government.  Planning for a Rudd comeback will mean an inevitable showdown with Treasurer Wayne Swan, with the NSW camp wanting Immigration Minister Chris Bowen to take his job. Sources close to the Foreign Minister confirmed that planning was well under way for the make-up of a possible Rudd cabinet.

Disaster-prone Julia Gillard living on borrowed time

IT wasn’t supposed to start this way. The government went into the summer recess at the end of last year hoping that a break in political hostilities would give Julia Gillard the time she needed to rise above the accusations of broken promises, trickery and incompetence. The polls towards the end of 2011 had started to move in Labor’s favour, sort of.  The primary vote was still a major concern, but the Prime Minister’s personal numbers had steadily improved in the final months of the year and the hope was that the party vote would follow. Labor optimistically called it momentum.

Enough support in caucus for Rudd to wound PM

KEVIN Rudd hasn’t got the numbers to defeat Julia Gillard yet, but his support is growing in the Labor caucus and he could fatally wound the Prime Minister in the event of a spill.  Mr Rudd’s backers say the former prime minister can count on at least 25 votes in the Labor caucus, and up to 40 if a leadership spill occurs.  While either figure would leave him short of the 52-MP majority he would need in the 103-member caucus, the claims show numbers are being counted and a challenge could come sooner rather than later.

After the tumble, and staffer bumble, she’s ready to rumble

A literal and metaphorical fall for Julia Gillard sees the Prime Minister starting the parliamentary?year on the back foot, and in dire need of a leap of faith to retain the leadership.  EVEN with her back to the wall, Julia Gillard can laugh at herself. We’re chatting after a formal interview in her Melbourne office and she recalls the previous time she took an undignified tumble in front of the nation’s media, an occasion that was far less fraught and dramatic than last week’s stumble, when she was whisked from perceived danger by bodyguards at the Lobby restaurant in Canberra.

Return of Rudd could spark exodus from cabinet

LABOR faces a possible exodus of senior ministers should Kevin Rudd retake the leadership, with several members of cabinet confiding they would find it difficult to work under him again.  Speaking on the condition of anonymity, several cabinet ministers told the Herald yesterday that in the event of a leadership change, they would most likely go to the backbench.

Every which way it’s Rudd

Three immovable realities are leading Labor MPs to an unpalatable decision to restore their dumped leader.   In a Chinese classic tale, a monk is sent on a long and dangerous journey to find sacred texts. For protection, Buddha gives him a mischievous monkey god.  The monkey, equipped with a flying cloud and a magic staff, is well-meaning but wayward. Buddha controls him by putting a golden band around his head; if he’s veering out of control, the monk can tighten the band and inflict pain to bring the monkey in check.

Pro-Kevin Rudd MPs want Bill Shorten as Treasurer

LABOR’S leadership saga has taken a new twist with a radical plan being floated for Bill Shorten to become Treasurer if Kevin Rudd returns to the Prime Minister’s office.  The push for Mr Shorten to be offered the second-most powerful job in the Government is being encouraged by MPs who want to change from Julia Gillard back to Mr Rudd. While one Labor figure said it was a “fantasy” to suggest Mr Rudd would give such a plumb job to one of the faceless men who toppled him as PM 19 months ago, others said it would be a clever tactic to heal the party and show Mr Rudd would be an inclusive leader.

Rudd would not race to poll

KEVIN Rudd would not rush to an early election if he regained the prime ministership from Julia Gillard, Labor sources say.   As Ms Gillard continued to be buffeted by a barrage of speculation about her future, it is understood Mr Rudd has changed his thinking on election timing from last year when he favoured seeking an early mandate.  His longer timetable – which would depend on retaining crossbench support – would reassure some caucus members.

Abbott needs magic to pull surplus out of a hat

The rest of the world started 2012 transfixed by the unfolding euro zone debt crisis. In Australia, we started with some confusion about whether the last global financial crisis happened at all.  Mostly we were worried about whether Labor would once again install Kevin Rudd in the merry-go-round of its leadership and what happened to Julia Gillard’s blue shoe.

Groping for leadership in an hour of darkness

HAS there been a bigger lost opportunity in modern Australian politics than Kevin Rudd’s decision not to go to an election in early 2010? Rudd and his government were still popular back then and could have expected to win that election, which would have been fought over the Coalition’s abandonment of an emissions trading scheme under its new leader, Tony Abbott.  Importantly, the ALP would have almost certainly won a second term in its own right. There is every likelihood that Rudd would still be prime minister and the whole nightmare of the past two years would have been avoided. From Rudd’s failure to call that early election, the whole sorry tale of federal Labor in 2010, 2011 and these first few weeks of 2012 flows.

MP Graham Perrett says he’ll quit if Kevin Rudd returns

JULIA Gillard’s supporters are warning that any shift to Kevin Rudd as prime minister would force “suicide” resignations from Labor MPs and a disastrous snap election, as ministers and backbenchers are being urged to close ranks and stop destabilising the government.  In the volatile atmosphere ahead of the resumption of parliament next week and the possibility of a leadership challenge to the Prime Minister within weeks, Ms Gillard’s supporters are warning of forced by-elections if Mr Rudd becomes prime minister again.  The Foreign Minister’s backers say the former prime minister can count on at least 25 votes in the Labor caucus, and up to 40 of the 52 he would need if a leadership spill occurred.

Religious Freedom & Persecution

Atheist temple an aberration, not divine inspiration

A lain de Botton has reinvigorated the conversation on religion. His new book, Religion for Atheists, moves away from the tedious debates of recent years to a more reflective consideration of religion’s role in sustaining shared values.  Religion as a human phenomenon is too vast, pervasive and complicated to be discussed in simple binary terms of belief and unbelief. The evangelical atheists of the past few years may not be notable for sceptical doubt, but religious practitioners are often quite uncertain in their beliefs. De Botton is writing for the sceptics, whether they belong in any religion or not. It’s a welcome shift of focus.

Refugees

Libs to reopen bigger, cheaper Nauru centre

THE Coalition has pledged to reopen an asylum-seeker processing centre on Nauru after receiving commercial capital costings of less than one-third of the Gillard government’s $316 million building estimate, and less than half the $1.7 billion running costs.   A commercial contractor, involved in setting up the original offshore processing centre in Nauru under the Howard government Pacific Solution, has submitted a report suggesting a much cheaper option, with an extra 600 beds, than the Department of Immigration’s estimate.  The opposition frontbench was briefed on Thursday on the proposal, and told there could be 350 beds at a smaller site within 12 weeks of reopening the detention centre.

Sexualisation of Society

Girlhood threatened by terrors of the web

LOG OFF your daughters. Keeping teenage girls off the internet is the basic premise of the latest parenting book to whip up controversy, Girl Land by American essayist Caitlin Flanagan, which will be out in Australia in April.  Released in the US at the start of the year and in Britain this week, Girl Land holds that a girlhood of diaries, daydreams and dates is under siege from the ”coarsening and deadening effect of the internet”. Flanagan argues that ”taking away the internet connection in her bedroom is one of the greatest gifts a parent can give a daughter”.

Other

Child killer study finds diverse motives for men and women

HE BECAME known as the Facebook killer because it was on the social networking site that he broadcast his intention to kill his daughter: ”Bout 2 kill ma kid,” wrote Ramazan Acar shortly before he murdered two-year-old Yazmina in Melbourne in November 2010 by stabbing her repeatedly. But it was less the medium than the motive that defined his crime.  Soon after that message, he posted another intended for his ex-partner, Rachelle D’Argent: ”Pay bk u slut.”

Fairfax bid: Is it insurance or a minefield?

FOR iron ore billionaire Andrew Forrest, Gina Rinehart’s move this week to become Fairfax’s largest shareholder is nothing if not serendipitous. For the mega-wealthy, control of Australia’s most influential newspaper group, Fairfax, is like an insurance policy against political decisions that run against their commercial interests.  Rinehart has paid less than $200 million for this insurance and while she probably will have to pay more, the investment could yield a hefty return.  According to well-placed sources Rinehart was not the only candidate running the ruler over Fairfax – Forrest and his mate Kerry Stokes were sniffing around as well.

Homegrown jihad

The campsite on the 50,000-hectare cattle station in the red dirt country at Louth was booked by phone in the name of Adam George.  Expecting a group of feral fox and pig hunters on safari to the back of Bourke, the property owner left directions in a mailbox and saw just one man, who simply called himself ”Joe”.  The company Joe kept alarmed the locals. The seven men – led by Aimen Joud from Melbourne and Mohamed Ali Elomar from Sydney – got lost and had to ask for directions.

HSU whistleblower denies money laundering

THE Health Services Union whistleblower Kathy Jackson has been accused of destroying documents and laundering money through a colleague’s bank account, according to a leaked email obtained by the Herald.  Ms Jackson, the national secretary of the union, has described the allegations as ”entirely false”.  Ruth Kershaw, a prominent union economist who previously worked with Ms Jackson at the Health Services Union in Melbourne, made the explosive claims in an email to Struan Robertson, a former industrial officer with the union and the half brother of the man at the centre of the scandal, federal Labor MP Craig Thomson.

The ACL continued to have media exposure this week with pieces published about prostitution reform in Tasmania, marriage and the Queensland election.

Tasmanian Prostitution discussion paper:

* The Examiner – Prostitution issue required new approach by Mark Brown

Marriage

* The Australian – Christian Lobby backs Coalition on traditional marriage

Queensland Election:

* Christianity Today LNP Newman to address Christian voters via webcast, Premier declines invitation

ACL’s Tasmanian Director Mark Brown had the following opinion piece published in The Examiner on Tuesday, February 1st about the prostitution discussion paper released in Tasmania.

Last week saw the release of the long awaited discussion paper looking into possible legislative options relating to prostitution. It was pleasing to see the government honouring David Bartlett’s pre-election commitment to seriously consider the Swedish model of dealing with prostitution as one of the three options (criminalisation, decriminalisation and legalisation).

In Sweden prostitution is regarded as a “serious form of violence against women and children” and has had legislation in place since 1999 which bans (criminalises) the purchaser of sexual services. This model has been copied in other countries including Norway, Iceland, South Korea and France.

The legislation does not make prostituted women criminally liable but instead seeks to protect women and children by reducing demand. This in turn sends a strong message to society about respect for women. The results in Sweden speak for themselves. Its National Board of Health and Welfare reported significant decreases in the number of women in street prostitution and men purchasing sex. There has also been a measurable decrease in the number of victims of human trafficking, which the Coalition Against Trafficking’s Gunilla Ekberg says is intrinsically linked to prostitution.

One concern about the Swedish model noted by the European Parliament was that of displacement – a spilling over of demand into neighbouring jurisdictions. There may be truth in this argument but it is up to legislators in those regions affected to do their own analysis. But if Norway and Iceland are anything to go by they have clearly thrown support behind its neighbour’s approach.

The Australian context has given plenty of scope for assessment of the other options and the results are not at all good. A discussion paper of Queensland’s licensing of brothels admits that 90 per cent of the sex trade remain outside the boundaries of the law. Legalisation of prostitution in Victoria has likewise been unsuccessful in controlling the industry, with illegal or unregulated prostitution accounting for 50 per cent of prostitution in Victoria.

Brothels, legal or not, also attract criminal elements. Last year The Age newspaper in Melbourne revealed the case of a prostitute in a legal brothel being threatened with a gun by a client for insisting on condom use. The women admitted the brothel allowed workers to charge more for unprotected sex even when the law forbids it.

The Home Office in the United Kingdom examined a wide range of prostitution systems for a 2004 report and found licensing schemes in both Australia and Europe have “failed to deliver the safe working environment that they set out to achieve”.

The option of decriminalisation chosen by some mainland states and New Zealand has also shown worrying trends especially in regards to children being lured into prostitution. In New Zealand, a Maxim Institute study of prostitution showed that decriminalisation has not led to any decrease in the number of street workers or underage workers and had in fact likely led to an increase.

Legitimising prostitution through decriminalisation or licensing only increases demand and makes the likelihood of children getting caught in the web more likely. With the case of the 12-year-old girl being prostituted to over 100 men still fresh in our minds, surely we should take the only real option that decreases demand and makes a strong statement about the way men view and treat women.

Nefarious, Merchant of Souls is a hard-hitting documentary that exposes the disturbing trends in modern sex slavery. Nefarious ushers you into the nightmare of sex slavery that hundreds of thousands experience daily. You’ll see where slaves are sold (often in developed, affluent countries), where they work, and where they are confined. You’ll hear first-hand interviews with real victims and traffickers, along with expert analysis from international humanitarian leaders.

Over the coming months, the Australian Christian Lobby is helping to organise public screenings of these events around the country. Dates have been locked in for Queensland and Tasmania screenings.

MEDIA RELEASE

For release: Thursday, February 2nd, 2012

The Australian Christian Lobby will proceed with a live webcast in Queensland with LNP Leader Campbell Newman on Wednesday February 8 from 5:30pm, despite the Premier and Deputy Premier declining.

ACL’s Qld Director Wendy Francis said the constituency was disappointed the Premier and Mr Fraser were unavailable.

“ACL has been running Make it Count leaders’ forums for years at Federal, NSW, WA, Victorian, Tasmanian and NT elections and has always received excellent cooperation from Prime Ministers, Premiers and Opposition Leaders,” she said.

“The Christian constituency is concerned with a wide range of issue from addressing poker machine addiction, homelessness, human trafficking to pursuing the best interests of children in public policy.

“We are grateful that Mr Newman has agreed to participate and felt we should honour his commitment by proceeding with the event despite the Premier and Deputy Premier declining.

“More than 40 denominational and other senior church leaders will be in the live audience and will ask questions of Mr Newman that are of concern to the constituency,” Ms Francis said.

Media note: Media are welcome to attend the webcast filming before a limited audience of church leaders and ACL supporters at the Emanuel College, University of Queensland.

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.

Abortion
Mother of ‘miracle baby’ who survived abortion credits God’s intervention
Ravelle Mohammed – Christian Post

As the nation marks January as Sanctity of Life Month and thousands gather to march for the unborn, Tina Torry, whose baby survived an abortion, shares her story of how “divine intervention” saved her daughter’s life. It was 1978 when Tina Torry, 17 at the time, became pregnant. Her boyfriend, family, and health care professionals were adamant that she have an abortion – as it was legal at the time, she told The Christian Post. “I had no moral support to keep the child,” she said. “From day one, I was pointed to an abortion clinic. They never said consider adoption.”

Children & Family
A divorce can never be good for children no matter how amicable it is, says study
Fiona Macrae – Daily Mail

There is no such thing as a good divorce when children are involved, a study has concluded.
The analysis of almost 1,000 families found that children suffer when their parents’ marriage ends – no matter how amicable the split. The researchers said their finding contradicts the widely-held belief that it is possible to have a ‘good divorce’ in which the children and adults emerge relatively unscathed.

Push to make smacking of children illegal
Staff Writer – The Daily Telegraph

Smacking kids can be tantamount to child abuse and should be banned in Australia, the nation’s leading paediatricians said yesterday. Dr Gervase Chaney, the head of The Royal Australasian College of Physicians’ Paediatric & Child Health Division, said it was no longer OK for mums and dads to argue “that it never did us any harm” and called on colleagues to stand up for children’s rights. And Professor Frank Oberklaid, a paediatrician from Melbourne’s Royal Children’s Hospital, said Australia was lagging behind other countries in outlawing smacking which, in some cases, could lead to abuse and even death.

One third of divorces in UK caused by Facebook in 2011
Luiza Oleszczuk – Christian Post

Divorce-Online surveyed 5,000 divorce petitions between 2009 and 2011. The main three reasons regarding Facebook-related causes for filing a divorce were: inappropriate messages sent to the opposite sex; posting nasty comments about former partners; and friends reporting a spouse’s behavior on the social media website, according to Divorce-Online’s blog post on the survey. Many people seem to be too careless about the power behind social media, and unaware that statements posted on Facebook and Twitter have legal validity.

Donor Conception & Surrogacy
Mother denied leave after surrogate birth
Josephine Tovey – Sydney Morning Herald

After many unsuccessful attempts at getting pregnant and enduring miscarriages, Susan* and her partner had the baby they had long wanted with the help of a surrogate. But they did not get the support they expected from her employer, the state government, with paid parental leave.

Drugs & Alcohol
Gambling industry are no dopes
Simon Tatz – ABC

Clubs Australia, the gambling industry and those who oppose poker machine reform, are creating a compelling argument to legalise drugs in Australia. The argument against pre-commitment technology and/or limiting the amount of money put through a pokie in one spin is equally a reasoned case for changing drug policy in Australia.

Euthanasia
Man denies helping friend take his life
Christine Flatley – Ninemsn

A man accused of helping an elderly friend kill himself with a vet anaesthetic denies he bought the drug during a trip to Mexico, a Brisbane court has been told.

Gambling
Pokies reform: Gillard pushing private over public interests
Matthew Holloway – Online Opinion

On the 30th of January Shadow Minister of Families Kevin Andrews hit out at the Gillard government over its poker reform deal with Andrew Wilkie. Minister Andrews pounced on revelations that Jenny Macklin’s office had received technical advice in April 2011 that the 2014 deadline for national poker reform could not be met.

Human Rights
Legal aid programs to be reviewed
PSNews

A review of legal aid programs has been announced by the Attorney-General, Nicola Roxon. Ms Roxon said the Commonwealth-funded legal services would be scrutinised to ensure they were delivering the most cost-effective legal assistance services to those most in need. “Our commitment of more than $1.3 billion in legal assistance funding is the largest commitment in over a decade and is making a real difference around the country,” Ms Roxon said. “Applications are open for organisations to tender to complete the review.”

Indigenous
Emotions run high after Aboriginal girl’s suicide
Sarah Martin – The Australian

A Remote Aboriginal community in South Australia where a nine-year-old killed herself has been barricaded to outsiders. As emotions run high, police are fearful of payback for her family members and the high risk of further suicides.

Marriage
‘Longest married couple’ in the US together for 78 years
Catholic News

The Worldwide Marriage Encounter has announced the 2012 US winners of its Longest Married Couple contest: a Nevada couple who married in 1933, reports the Catholic News Agency. “The number of years many of these couples are married is just awesome,” Scott and Karen Seaborn, the US leadership team for Worldwide Marriage Encounter, said of the contest entrants. “There are four couples married 78 years, many couples married 70 plus years and quite a few couples with 60 plus years of marriage. What a testament to having a commitment to a long marriage!”

Anglican clergy rebel over partnerships ban
The Times

The Church of England is facing a rebellion from its clergy over a ban on civil partnership ceremonies in its 16,000 churches. Nearly 100 clergy in the London diocese, one of the most traditionalist in the country, have signed a letter demanding the same rights for priests to hold civil partnership ceremonies in their churches as they have to celebrate the marriages of divorced couples.

Politics
Greens preference Communists in Port Adelaide by-election
Antony Green – ABC

When parties issue how-to-vote cards recommending preferences, they have several objectives. For major parties, where there is usually little chance that their candidates will have preferences distributed, the issue is usually about ensuring an easy to follow sequence of numbers. For major parties the main reason for recommending preferences is to ensure the party’s supporters complete a formal vote. Which brings me to the strange decision of the Greens in the South Australian Port Adelaide by-election to give a second preference to the communist candidate.

A comedy of errors that’s not very funny
Tory Maguire – The Punch

In three days the whole Labor Caucus is due in Canberra to break out the white boards and textas and brainstorm some policy ideas for the year, then share a sausage sizzle at The Lodge. The MPs who’ve been summoned would be forgiven for demanding one of the areas up for discussion should be how the Prime Minister intends to turn around what’s been a terrible start to the year.

FWA chief calls in police over HSU row
Ean Higgins – The Australian

Fair Work Australia vice-president Michael Lawler has made sensational allegations to NSW police that two senior officials of the Health Services Union may have engaged in serious criminal activity. Mr Lawler, whose partner is HSU national secretary Kathy Jackson, has written to the head of Strike Force Carnarvon, Detective Inspector Dave Christie, making allegations against HSU East acting assistant general secretary Gerard Hayes and the union’s former Victorian divisional secretary, Carol Glen.

Abbott takes campaign to Twitter
Paul Osborne – AAP

Federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has used a lunch break from shadow cabinet to answer a barrage of questions on Twitter. Mr Abbott, who uses the hashtag @tonyabbottMHR and has just over Twitter 49,000 followers, announced on the social networking site at 1pm (AEDT) that he was “happy to take some questions for the next 15 minutes”.

Prostitution & Sex Trafficking
Sex slavery charges after Sydney brothel raids
ABC

A man has been charged with sex slavery and trafficking offences after police rescued three Thai women from brothels in Sydney’s south-west overnight. Five brothels were raided in Guildford, Cabramatta, Casula and Canley Heights by immigration officials and federal and NSW police. It is alleged the young women were told they were travelling to Australia on student visas. But police say they instead had their passports taken away when they arrived and were take to the brothels against their will and exploited sexually.

Alleged Denver metro area sex ring exemplifies national trend in human trafficking
Sara Burnett – The Denver Post

The crime ring had all the makings of a traditional street gang: A clear hierarchy, members who tattooed the group’s name on their bodies, girlfriends at the ready to help cover their tracks. But rather than drugs and guns, the organization whose indictment was announced this week trafficked primarily in young girls, prosecutors have alleged. It’s a trend that, according to experts, is growing, not just overseas or in big port cities but in towns across the United States.

Religious Freedom & Persecution
Iranian Christian convert sentenced to two years in prison
Mohabat News

A Christian convert whom security authorities arrested in her home was sentenced to two years in prison by the Revolutionary Court in Tehran. According to reports sent by reporters of Iranian Christian news agency, Mohabat News, Ms. Leila Mohammadi, a Christian convert who resided east of Tehran, was sentenced to two years of imprisonment after enduring 5 months of uncertainty in notorious Evin prison.

Refugees
Eight dead as asylum-seeker boat sinks near Malaysia
Lanai Vasek – The Australian

Another asylum-seeker boat with passengers bound for Australia has sunk, with reports eight people are dead and 18 have been rescued. Marine police official N.Kalai Chelvan said the boat was heading to Indonesia’s Batam island early yesterday when it sank in choppy waters. He said the boat was carrying a group of men from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq who were likely trying to reach Australia through Indonesia.

Sexualisation of Society
‘Sexualised’ Romeo and Juliet ad removed from print
Matthew Westwood – The Australian

Nothing but death could part Romeo and Juliet, but Shakespeare’s star-cross’d lovers have met a more mundane obstacle: the Advertising Standards Bureau. The watchdog has ruled that a theatre advertisement – showing two young people embracing in bed – depicts a teenager in a highly sexualised image. The Queensland Theatre Company ad shows 26-year-old actress Melanie Zanetti in bed with actor Thomas Larkin, also 26.

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.

Abortion
Standing up for the unborn
Selina Venier – Catholic Leader

Emily’s Voice is a pro-life organisation that represents the 80,000 plus “little Australians” each year who won’t be given the chance to experience life outside the womb. Selina Venier spoke to their new CEO Paul O’Rourke. As Catholics prepare to join the Rally for Life in Queens Park, Brisbane city, on February 11, Paul O’Rourke is another pro-life advocate in the fight for the unborn.

Education
Gillard commits to budget surplus
Alison McMeekin – The Daily Telegraph

Thousands of vocational students would no longer have to pay expensive upfront fees — while others would be guaranteed subsidised training places worth up to $7800 — under plans announced by Prime Minister Julia Gillard this afternoon. Ms Gillard will propose the sweeping reforms to the vocational education system to the States and Territories.

Environment
Insuring the environment – who pays when mining goes wrong?
Stephen Garnett – The Conversation

This past Christmas, Darwin waited with unnecessary nervousness as Cyclone Grant developed to our north. It missed us, but on Boxing Day it dumped 385mm of rain into the Edith River. The resulting flood washed away a railway embankment and sections of a goods train carrying copper concentrate from Oz Minerals’ Prominent Hill mine in South Australia to the Port of Darwin. More than 1,000 tonnes of copper concentrate was spilled.

Marriage
Bisexual group’s slur warning
Andie Noonan – Star Observer

Bisexuals have issued a plea ahead of this weekend’s Pride March for an end to biphobic comments as they march down Fitzroy St, St Kilda. Bisexual support group Bisexual Alliance Victoria (BAV) says it will not tolerate biphobic jeers from the crowd. BAV president James Dominguez stressed that most people gathered to watch the LGBTI pride march are supportive, however, in the past some people along the route have yelled out hurtful remarks.

Gay ‘marriage’: why does different have to mean bad?
Christian Today

In just a few weeks, the British Government will begin rounding up opinions on marriage and whether the current legal definition of a union between one man and one woman should remain, or be redefined to apply also to same-sex couples. Whenever a change to the law is being considered that has the potential for significant impact on a nation’s social structures or the way in which future generations think and live, it is always best to err on the side of caution.

Unstable behaviour
Mercator Net

A leading activist agrees that homosexual preferences are fluid and changing. If so, why do gays need special treatment? Many people think that homosexuality is a biological characteristic like race or sex – biologically fixed and genetically determined. They think this because this is the view that has been successfully propagated by the gay rights lobby for decades in order to provide a justification for arguing that ‘homophobia’ is a form of discrimination akin to racism or sexism.

Politics
PM’s hold on job slipping, say backers
Philip Coorey – SMH

Kevin Rudd has hit back at accusations by colleagues he is not a team player as close supporters of Julia Gillard concede her grip on the prime ministership is slipping. One factional boss, who is loyal to Ms Gillard, said yesterday: ”There’s been quite a shift over summer” and ”she’s in trouble”.

Religious Freedom & Persecution
Pakistani Christian charged with ‘blasphemy’ denied bail
Michael Ireland – ASSIST News Service

A judge has denied bail to a young Christian man charged with desecrating the Quran under Pakistan’s controversial blasphemy laws — despite the lack of evidence against him, sources have told Compass Direct News. Compass reports that police in Shahdara, near Lahore, had arrested 23-year-old Khuram Masih on Dec. 5 and charged him with desecrating the Quran after his landlord, Zulfiqar Ali, alleged that he had burned pages of the book in order to prepare tea.

Bethlehem: Once-thriving Christian community facing extinction
Joanne Hill – Jewish Tribune

If the persecution of Bethlehem’s Christians isn’t stopped, the once-thriving community is in danger of being virtually eliminated, warns David Rubin, Israeli author, political analyst and terrorism expert. For most of their history, Christians constituted approximately 80 per cent of Bethlehem’s population, but that changed dramatically after the Oslo Accords granted control over the region to the Palestinian Authority (PA) in 1995, and the community has subsequently shrunk to 15 per cent. I predict that, unless something is done about this, within another 20 years there will be only a handful of Christians left in Bethlehem.

Refugees
Reforms in Myanmar may spark refugee return
Denis Gray – Associated Press

The pastor stood before more than 300 young Burmese refugees gathered for morning prayers in a weathered, jungle church. “There’s a time for war, and a time for peace. Sixty-three years is long enough for killing,” he told them. “Hope to see you all soon in our beautiful land.” Simon Htoo’s buoyant words would have been unlikely just a few months ago, but surprisingly rapid reforms and cease-fires under way in Myanmar are opening the prospects for the return of one of the world’s largest refugee populations — some 1 million Burmese huddled in frontier camps and hide-outs across five countries.

Sexualisation of Society
Porn scandal teacher may stay
Aleks Devic and Anthea Cannon – Herald Sun

A “porn star” teacher could keep his job, despite a video of him having sex with an ex-student being posted on an X-rated website. Just days before school resumes, the Geelong high school at the centre of the storm says it is taking the matter “very seriously”.

Other
Catholic social solutions to workplace fairness
Race Matthews – Eureka Street

Bruising industrial confrontations within Qantas and in Victorian hospitals during the latter half of last year pose pertinent questions as to whether alternative forms of ownership and control of workplaces might in some instances have more to offer than conventional wisdom may suppose.

Community pay ruling will change lives
NineMSN

The dream of buying a home and raising a family is now within reach of workers in the social and community sectors granted an eventual $20,000 a year pay rise. One of them is 32-year-old Deb Batterham, one of 150,000 workers in the field, most of them women. Although she adores her work as a researcher at a homelessness service in central Melbourne, Ms Batterham says she recently considered turning her back on it after nine years.

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.

Abortion
Marking four decades of abortion politics
Tobin Grant – Christianity Today

Like every year since 1974, pro-life demonstrators participated in this week’s March for Life in Washington, D.C. to protest the Supreme Court’s decision. Organizers hope that the march brings focus to the issue of abortion, but they are often dismayed by event coverage. This year, pro-life activists were particularly upset with coverage by CBS, which posted a slideshow that initially only featured images of those protesting the March for Life. CBS has since changed the content so that it now includes photos of pro-life participants.

Bioethics
Do we need a morality pill?
Michael Cook – Bioedge

Princeton bioethicist Peter Singer and a research assistant, Agata Sagan, proposed a “morality pill” in a column in the New York Times this week. They speculate that moral behaviour is at least in part biochemically determined. Hence, it should be possible to engineer moral behaviour with drugs.

IVF doctor faces $10 million ‘wrongful birth’ case
Paul Bibby – SMH

Debbie and Lawrence Waller love their 11-year-old son, Keeden, but they believe he should never have been born. Just days after Mrs Waller gave birth in August 2000 following IVF treatment, Keeden suffered a massive stroke that caused severe brain damage and meant he was never able to walk, talk or go to the toilet. The stroke was the result of a rare blood clotting condition known as antithrombin deficiency which Keeden inherited from his father.

Children & Family
How divorce ruins children’s lives
William West – Mercator Net

A new study on divorce, looking at the complete spectrum of research on the subject, confirms what most people already know – even if they are not willing to admit it: divorce causes “irreparable harm” to the whole family, but particularly to the children. There have been plenty of individual studies exposing one or more effects of divorce, but rarely do researchers give an overview of the findings to date – and it makes disturbing reading.

Mums prefer online parenting advice: survey
The West Australian

With the kids back at school, mums and dads will again be chatting at the school gate at pick-up time. But don’t bother swapping parental tips; it appears the internet has replaced mothers’ wisdom and is the go-to for family advice. New research has found that eight in 10 mums are more likely to log on than go to their own mums for parenting advice, turning to parenting websites such as Netmums, Mumsnet, Google and Facebook rather than taking advantage of their mum’s hard-earned parenting experience.

Family violence erupts across the north
Tara Murray – Macedon Ranges Weekly

Family violence in Melbourne’s northern suburbs has increased by more than 50 per cent in the past five months, according to an agency that helps victims. Berry Street Northern Family and Domestic Violence Service, which takes in seven municipalities including Hume, says it’s receiving, on average, 360 police referrals a month to help victims. The agency’s Felicity Rorke said a number of referrals were from Sunbury police. Police also refer people to the Sunbury Community Health Centre.

Classification
Tony Abbott to establish Online Safety Working Group
Hamish Barwick – Tech World

The Coalition has announced plans for an Online Safety Working Group designed to assist parents and teachers in protecting young people from the risks associated with the internet and social media. The Coalition will consult with technology, education and cyber safety representatives, to develop its online safety policy in the areas of education, regulation and enforcement. Federal opposition leader, Tony Abbott, said in a statement that approximately 2.2 million Australian children actively engage via the internet and are vulnerable to its risks.

Drugs & Alcohol
Hard drug users in 50s more likely to die earlier
News Medical

Young adults often experiment with hard drugs, such as cocaine, amphetamines and opiates, and all but about 10 percent stop as they assume adult roles and responsibilities. Those still using hard drugs into their 50s are five times more likely to die earlier than those who do not, according to a new study by University of Alabama at Birmingham researchers published online Jan. 27, 2012, in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.

Gambling
Clubs ACT to meet on trial offer
NineMSN

Clubs ACT will meet to consider the Gillard government’s offer to host a trial of mandatory pre-commitment technology for poker machines this week. In late January, Prime Minister Julia Gillard reneged on her deal with anti-pokies MP Andrew Wilkie to tackle problem gambling by rolling out the measures by 2014, in return for his support of her minority government.

Cyber gambling on the rise in Australia
The Conversation

Internet gambling is becoming more popular in Australia due to increased convenience and availability, according to a new research involving 6680 participants, the largest survey of online gamblers in the country to date. Credit cards and online banking have facilitated the rise, with more than half of the 450 problem internet gamblers surveyed saying that the availability of such technology increased the amount they spent.

Marriage
Senior church figures back Christian counsellor Lesley Pilkington over ‘gay’ cure
Huffington Post

Senior figures in the Church of England have supported a Christian counsellor who treated a gay man when he asked to be cured of his homosexuality. Lord Carey, the former archbishop of Canterbury, as well as Bishop of Chester the Rt Rev Peter Forster, and Bishop of Lewes the Rt Rev Wallace Benn were among signatories to a letter giving support to 60-year-old psychotherapist Lesley Pilkington. The counsellor is due to mount an appeal this week following a British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) ruling that she was guilty of professional misconduct over a therapy session with gay journalist Patrick Strudwick.

Christain counsellor recievs backing from Lord Carey
Christian Concern

Lord Carey, along with other senior figures, has stated in a letter of support for Lesley Pilkington that she should be able to continue providing her therapy. Lesley Pilkington is a Christian counsellor and psychotherapist who was approached by an undercover homosexual rights journalist at a largely Christian conference in 2009. The journalist convinced her that he had unwanted same-sex attractions and needed her counselling assistance. He later attended several sessions with Lesley at her home where he secretly recorded her. He subsequently attacked her in the press and complained to her professional body, the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy.

Nixon clarifies ‘gay is a choice’ remarks
SMH

Actress Cynthia Nixon is trying to clarify her earlier remarks that got her in hot water with some fellow gay rights activists. After some gay rights activists complained that Nixon’s remarks could be used to deny a biological basis for homosexuality, the actress on Monday released a statement to The Advocate magazine explaining she is technically bisexual, and not by choice. “What I have ‘chosen’ is to be in a gay relationship,” Nixon told the magazine.

Politics
NSW Greens ‘riven by branch warfare’
Matthew Franklin – The Australian

Greens MPs and activists have complained that the party’s NSW branch is run by a small “cadre” of Leninist-style ideologues whose activities are making it appear to be populated by “lunatics”. And the NSW branch is attempting to censure, gag or even expel MPs critical of its policies, including last year’s controversial move to back a ban on Israel and blockades of Israeli-owned chocolate retailer Max Brenner.

Religious Freedom & Persecution
Ethiopian Christians to be deported from Saudi Arabia
BBC

Some 35 Ethiopian Christians face deportation from Saudi Arabia for “illicit mingling”, the global rights body Human Rights Watch (HRW) says. Police arrested the group – including 29 women – after raiding a prayer meeting in the second city of Jeddah. The women were subjected to strip searches and the men beaten and called “unbelievers”, according to HRW.

Other
Tankard Reist furore: feminists on the attack
Clair Bongiorno – ABC

In recent weeks social commentator, Melinda Tankard Reist, has been subjected to scornful criticisms from certain feminist commentators following a profile piece in Sunday Life magazine. This group, composed mainly of second-wave feminists, has sought to publicly delegitimise Tankard Reist. Three challenges to Tankard Reist are particularly troubling.

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.

Abortion

Majority of Canadians back restrictions to abortion based on sex
Canada Health

Canada should adopt laws to govern a woman’s freedom to abort a pregnancy based solely on the sex of the fetus, according to a majority of respondents who participated in a recent Angus Reid poll. Sixty per cent of those surveyed — including two-thirds of women — believe there should be laws to deal with the use of abortion as a means of sex selection, suggesting that Canadians are questioning the country’s lack of legal restrictions on pregnancy termination, according to a news release from the polling firm.

Miracle twins
Tracy Grimshaw – ACA

They were the miracle twins that defied the odds and captured our hearts. Given only a five percent chance of survival these identical twins are now almost five years old. Host Tracy Grimshaw speaks to the family about their incredible journey.

Drugs & Alcohol
Big boozing women seek fast solution
Kate Hagan – Brisbane Times

The dominant participants in Febfast, the campaign that encourages people to abstain from alcohol in February, are heavy-drinking professional women in their 30s, 40s and 50s. VicHealth research released to coincide with the start of the 2012 campaign shows that women represented 75 per cent of last year’s participants, many of them tertiary-educated and earning high incomes.

Education
Govt knew about school bus bungle
SMH

The NSW opposition has slammed the government over a bungle that left hundreds of disabled students stranded on the first day of school, saying they were alerted to the problem more than a week ago. On Monday 740 students across the state were left without school transport, after a dispute over new contracts led to some services being withdrawn at the last minute.

Euthanasia
Euthanasia ‘Must Always Be Prohibited,’ European body says
Patrick Goodenough – CNSNews

Anti-euthanasia activists are praising the passage by a leading European governmental body of a resolution stating clearly that euthanasia “must always be prohibited.” Although not legally-binding on the 47 countries belonging to the body, the measure may have an impact on legislative and judicial processes, they say.

Murder charge over ‘mercy killing’
Christiana Jones – The West Australian

An 81-year-old man has been charged with murder over the suspected mercy killing of his wife. Perth court was told this morning that the elderly man was currently “chained” to a hospital bed. Herbert Erickson was originally charged with aggravated grievous bodily harm after paramedics found his wife of more than 50 years, Julie Betty Kuhn, dead in the couple’s Armadale home this month.

New genetic technology asks hard life and death questions
Anthony Fisher – The Australian

We naturally rejoice in the extraordinary achievement of the human genome project and other research, which has contributed so much to our understanding of the human condition and which is so pregnant with therapeutic possibilities. The big problem is that for the foreseeable future the principal use of this technology will not be therapeutic at all. Alongside ultrasound and other procedures, genetic technology will be used for testing the unborn, and where diagnosed as carrying some disease or other unwanted characteristic the child will routinely be “terminated”.

Gambling
Wilkie ‘kept in dark over pokies timeline’
SMH

Federal independent MP Andrew Wilkie says he wasn’t told about advice received last year by the Labor government warning his timeframe for poker machine reform could not be achieved. The opposition has called on the minority government to reveal all its advice on poker machine reform, following its decision to renege on a written agreement with Mr Wilkie on mandatory pre-commitment technology.

Gambling a gamble on mental health?
Lisa Omagari – Transforming the nation

We all know it happens, we all know how devastating the effects can be. So what is being done to solve problem gambling and the mental health of those individuals who have fallen as prey? Gambling, according to The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists, could be seriously detrimental to mental health. In a statement released on 25 January, the college encouraged the government to remain committed to introducing gambling reforms.

Marriage
Christian lobby backs Coalition on traditional marriage
Dennis Shanahan – The Australian

The influential Australian Christian Lobby has politically endorsed Tony Abbott and the Coalition for their “integrity” on traditional marriage a week after saying Julia Gillard had lost integrity and trust over broken promises. Jim Wallace, ACL managing director, wrote to all Coalition MPs and senators yesterday to “congratulate the Coalition on its keeping its election promise on marriage” and accusing the Greens and Labor’s Left of wanting to “destroy the sacred meaning of marriage”.

Backing for Jones over same-sex marriages
Mario Christodoulou – Illawarra Mercury

A Union heavyweight has taken a swipe at efforts to destabilise Throsby MP Stephen Jones ahead of his historic private member’s bill to legalise same-sex marriage. Australian Workers’ Union (AWU) branch secretary Andy Gillespie yesterday said the “vast majority” of unions supported Mr Jones’ stance on same-sex marriage. He said he believed elements of the Labor Party were using the issue to try to undermine Mr Jones.

Politics
Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s supporters count the numbers as NSW Right leads Rudd revolution
Simon Benson – The Daily Telegraph

Julia Gillard’s key backers have begun counting numbers to gauge her support among MPs in a clear sign the PM is concerned about a possible leadership challenge from Kevin Rudd. It appears she may already have lost the support of the powerful NSW Right, with a majority now said to have swung behind the former PM.

Julia Gillard and Labor flatlining with voters: Newspoll
Dennis Shanahan – The Australian

Support for the Gillard government is flatlining, with Labor in its weakest position on record for the start of a new parliamentary year as Julia Gillard gives ground to Tony Abbott as preferred prime minister. Labor support among voters has not shifted during the summer break, with the party’s primary vote on 30 per cent and the Coalition maintaining its clear election-winning lead going into the year on 45 per cent.

Party trolls shall not pass, or be named
Noel Topwell – The Canberra Times

Here at The Canberra Times, we’re no strangers to the internet trolling scene. We see the occasional instance of several ”concerned Canberrans”, commenting on our website, usually about political yarns, who all just happen to share the same IP address. Then we get the occasional flurry of angry, oh so angry, comments from ”readers” that, coincidentally, all come from a cluster of computers, probably situated in the same office. Could it be political? Surely not. Lobbyists, trying to influence public policy? Why, you oughtta be ashamed of yourself, with that suspicious mind of yours.

Prostitution & Sex Trafficking
Girls for sale! Changing the conversation on exploited kids in the U.S.
Forbes

A recent study cites that 20% of men who’ve bought sex know that they are buying someone or something trafficked illegally against her will and over 40% believe it causes psychological and physical harms. So why do they participate in it? The truth is that they don’t care. They’re getting their sexual gratification met. And to them, that’s your job, that’s what they see. That’s what you’re there for. A lot of those men feel like there will always be a population of women who may have had horrible lives or whatever, but they’re there to meet your sexual needs. The lack of empathy is really appalling.

Sex slaves nationwide and in West Michigan
Crystal Hilliard – WoodTV

An estimated 2400 children are living as slaves in West Michigan, according to the US Department of State. They’re tricked, kidnapped or sold into human trafficking rings. Police continue to find them and non-profit organizations continue to work toward rehabilitation. “We’re getting victims so it’s not so much a question of if it’s happening,” Andy Soper with Wedgwood Christian Services said. “It’s how and where it’s happening and how we can work together to solve those issues.”

Religious Freedom & Persecution
Petition for release of Christian convicted of blasphemy reaches half a million
Benge Nsenduluka – Christian Post

A Pakistani Christian woman convicted of blasphemy and sentenced to death has successfully appealed a court’s ruling, just as a petition demanding her release has reached over 500,000 signatures. Asia Noreen Bibi, whose case has received global interest, including that of Pope Benedict XVI, was sentenced to death by hanging in 2011 after spending more than a year in a Pakistani prison. Asia Bibi, a wife and mother, is accused of making derogatory remarks about the Prophet Muhammad by Muslim witnesses, which she has denied.

Refugees
Breaking the ‘boat people’ deadlock
Lyn Bender – Eureka Street

If you are tired of hearing about asylum seekers imagine how weary they must be.
Much of the analysis regarding asylum seekers does not seem to drive home the core truth: that the debate conducted by politicians is not really about solving the so called refugee problem. It is predominantly a show for an audience. It is a game of hardball.

Sexualisation of Society
Sexual assault added to child porn charges
Daily Telegraph

Additional charges of sexual assault have been laid against a Sydney man facing child pornography charges. In December a 49-year-old man was arrested and charged after more than 35,000 still images and 800 video files of alleged child abuse were seized from a house in Rosemeadow.

Susannah Helman is a curator at the National Library of Australia in Canberra. She spoke to the ACL’s Katherine Spackman about the Handwritten Exhibition currently on display in Canberra which features 10 centuries of manuscripts.

Bernie Finn is President of March for the Babies and Member for Western Metropolitan Region in Victoria. He spoke to the ACL’s Katherine Spackman about the recent decision by an abortion clinic to no longer offer late term abortions in the state.

Mark Brown is the Tasmanian State Director of the ACL. He spoke to the ACL’s Katherine Spackman about the discussion paper on prostitution reform that’s been released in the state.

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.

Abortion
I’m Labor, I’m pro-life and I’m no political hypocrite
Simone McDonnell – The Punch

I am extremely proud to be a member of the Australian Labor Party. A party that is committed to pricing carbon, that is increasing superannuation, and that will soon introduce Australia’s first National Disability Scheme. Labor for Life is simply a group of ALP members with pro-life values. We are a new organization, only formalising our structure at the ALP National Conference in December. There are strong branches operating in the ACT and QLD. As within all democratic bodies, members are entitled to hold and express their own views.

Bioethics
Drugs sold to dead in pharmacy swindle involving claims under Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme
Samantha Maiden – The Courier Mail

Pharmacists have been caught pocketing rebates for dispensing drugs to dead patients in a crackdown on fraud. Almost $2 million in taxpayer-subsidised medicines were wrongly claimed last year, an investigation into claims lodged on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme has revealed. In the latest cases, a Queensland pharmacist was forced to repay Medicare $39,000 after data analysis revealed the pharmacy was regularly claiming prescriptions multiple times to the value of $35,000. The pharmacist also claimed $4000 for prescriptions supplied before and claimed after the date of a patient’s death.

Children & Family
Overhaul of the aged-care system is needed to avoid an imminent crisis claims Australians Deserve to Age Well campaign
The Daily Telegraph

An overhaul of the aged-care system is needed to avoid an imminent crisis, a coalition of 28 groups has warned the federal government. The group, including health professionals, unions and charitable organisations, has warned the aged-care system designed for Australia in the 1960s is now buckling and in need of urgent reform. Launching the Australians Deserve to Age Well campaign yesterday, the group said that by 2050 the system would need to support 3.5 million older citizens.

Drugs & Alcohol
Generation Y-not
The Daily Telegraph

They are the modern day invincibles. A generation of young women who blithely out-drink and out-smoke men, who routinely sunbake without protection and some engage in unsafe sex. Health professionals are increasingly worried about the growing band of women who think they’re bulletproof. The reckless behaviour is exposing some of them to sexually transmitted infections at record levels, with health officials saying Australia is in the middle of a chlamydia epidemic.

Education
$300 million in education tax rebates going unclaimed
Samantha Maiden – Herald Sun

Thousands of parents are missing out on education tax rebates worth up to $800 for every child after failing to lodge the paperwork. School uniforms, laptops, hats, shoes and sports uniforms have joined the list of expenses eligible families can claim this financial year. Computer repairs, home internet connections, computer software for educational use, school textbooks, stationery and prescribed trade tools are also on the long list of legitimate education expenses.

We’ve had enough, it’s time to raise your own kids, teachers say
Evonne Barry – Herald Sun

Parents are shirking the responsibility of disciplining their kids, turning teachers into makeshift mums and dads. A major Herald Sun survey of Victorian teachers found three-quarters believe parents have unreasonable expectations about the school’s role in raising kids. And the stresses are showing, with nearly half of teachers surveyed admitting they had considered resigning over the past 12 months.

Thousands of parents illegally home schooling
Ian Townsend – ABC

As a new school year begins, more than 50,000 Australian children will be home-schooled and in most cases, their parents are doing it illegally. It is compulsory to send children between the ages of six and 16 to school, or register them for home schooling, but more parents are opting out of the traditional school system and keeping their children at home.

School staff in rort scandal
Farrah Tomazin – The Age

Parents and staff in Victorian schools have been caught taking kickbacks, stealing fund-raising money and pocketing tens of thousands of dollars that should have been spent on students. Documents leaked to The Sunday Age reveal the alarming rate of fraud in schools and the lack of checks and balances to ensure finances are properly controlled.

Indigenous
Libs baulk on referendum support
Christian Kerr – The Australian

Coalition support for a referendum on constitutional recognition of indigenous Australians cannot be guaranteed, senior opposition sources have warned. While there is strong support in opposition ranks for the idea, Liberal frontbenchers are critical of the broader package of proposals to recognise Aborigines and to remove racially discriminatory provisions in the Constitution. “There’s no way in the world we will end up supporting a generic, anti-racial discrimination provision in the Constitution,” a Liberal frontbencher said yesterday.

Ruckus puts referendum out of reach
Paul Sheehan – SMH

At least the Aboriginal tent embassy in Canberra has finally achieved one constructive thing in its 40 years as a moral eyesore: it helped kill off the proposed amendment to enshrine racial preference in the Australian constitution. That proposed amendment is now dead.

Marriage
Bipartisan talk on same-sex unions as doubts grow over marriage equality
Christian Kerr – The Australian

Chief government Whip Joel Fitzgibbon and his opposition counterpart, Warren Entsch, have discussed jointly sponsoring legislation for same-sex civil unions amid speculation any move for full marriage equality will fail. Mr Entsch, a longtime parliamentary campaigner for gay rights but an opponent of same-sex marriage, confirmed the discussions yesterday, adding he hoped to receive advice on appropriate wording for a bill this week. “My view is that a marriage proposal will not succeed,” Mr Entsch said

Parents of gays make TV pitch to Abbott on same-sex marriage vote
Dan Harrison – SMH

Parents and grandparents of gay and lesbian children will make a direct appeal to Tony Abbott to allow them to marry in a television commercial which will air nationally from today. The advertisement, organised by the Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, is designed to increase the pressure on Mr Abbott to grant Coalition MPs a conscience vote on same-sex marriage.

Politics
Independent MP Andrew Wilkie considers supporting no-confidence motion in Labor over Australia Day riots
Patrick Lion, Simon Benson – The Daily Telegraph

Independent MP Andrew Wilkie has raised the prospect of supporting a no-confidence motion in Labor over the Australia Day security scare. Raising serious doubts over the Prime Minister’s version of events of what went on in her office, Mr Wilkie said yesterday he would back moves to bring the matter before parliament to help him decide a position before a no-confidence vote. His threat came as the Coalition said it would give Ms Gillard until this afternoon to refer the incident to the Australian Federal Police, otherwise it would.

Galaxy poll shows twice as many voters back Kevin Rudd as Australia’s preferred leader to Prime Minister Julia Gillard
Simon Benson – The Daily Telegraph

Twice as many voters now back Kevin Rudd as the nation’s preferred leader and Labor’s best hope for survival as Prime Minister Julia Gillard continues to be shadowed by the government’s elephant in the room. But they rejected any plan by Labor to deliver Bill Shorten as a “spoiler” candidate should Mr Rudd challenge, with the former PM outpolling the man responsible for his sacking by four to one.

NSW Liberal dilemma over party president’s election
Sean Nicholls – SMH

The NSW Liberals are wrestling with whether to delay internal elections until next year to allow the party president, Arthur Sinodinos, to stay in the role until the federal election. The federal Opposition Leader, Tony Abbott, wants Senator Sinodinos, who became president before he entered the Senate last year, to remain as he believes he will deliver stability and maturity to the campaign.

Mitt Romney, the Mormon, runs foul of southern Christians in the US presidential race
Paul Toohey – The Sunday Telegraph

What is a Christian? It is not a Mormon, as the US presidential race is fast teaching us. Political pundits predicted that the Republican presidential nominee’s resident Mormon, Mitt Romney, would fare poorly in the South Carolina primary, a strongly Christian state. They were right. I did not imagine some minor theological differences could cause such a problem. Nor did I understand that the theological differences were not minor at all. Mormons say they believe in the same God as Christians; American Christians believe Mormons are communing with an entirely different Bloke, one they have invented to suit their own dodgy purposes.

Religious Freedom & Persecution
New York Senate committee passes church/school bill
Baptist Press

A New York State Senate committee has stepped in on behalf of churches that soon will not be allowed to meet in public schools in New York City. Sponsored by assistant Senate Majority Whip Martin J. Golden, the bill would “prevent school districts from excluding groups from meeting on school property because of the religious content or viewpoint of their speech, including allowing religious worship services.” If S6087A, approved by the committee Jan. 24, does not pass, New York City would become the first major city nationwide to ban churches from meeting in public schools. In December, the New York Department of Education told about 60 churches they have until Feb. 12 to find alternative meeting spaces.

Over 3000 Muslims Attack Christian Homes and Shops in Egypt, 3 Injured
AINA

A mob of over 3000 Muslims attacked Copts in the village of Kobry-el-Sharbat (el-Ameriya), Alexandria this afternoon. Coptic homes and shops were looted before being set ablaze. Two Copts and a Muslim were injured. The violence started after a rumor was spread that a Coptic man had an allegedly intimate photo of a Muslim woman on his mobile phone. The Coptic man, Mourad Samy Guirgis, surrendered to the police this morning morning for his protection. According to eyewitnesses, the perpetrators were bearded men in white gowns. “They were Salafists, and some of were from the Muslim Brotherhood,” according to one witness. It was reported that terrorized women and children who lost their homes were in the streets without any place to go.

Refugees
Refugee appeals involving false claims cost taxpayers millions
David Murray – The Courier Mail

Dodgy claims involving fake religious beliefs, sham marriages and lies about sexuality are adding to a logjam of cases in immigration and refugee tribunals, costing taxpayers millions of dollars. Desperate foreign citizens who arrive by plane are launching a barrage of appeals after Immigration officials reject their claims and seek to send them home.

Lost at sea: 37 of 3237 boatpeople had passports
Paulk Maley – The Australian

Asylum-seekers are discarding their passports at soaring rates, sparking renewed calls for boatpeople to be penalised for destroying their identity documents in a bid to help their refugee claims. Of the 3237 asylum-seekers who admitted to flying to Indonesia on a passport, 3200 did not have any travel documents when they arrived in Australia. People-smugglers routinely advise their clients to discard their identity documents before arriving in Australia.

Other
Young judges too soft according to retired Supreme Court judge John Nader QC
Linda Silmalis – The Telegraph

A retired Supreme Court judge has accused his younger colleagues of being too reluctant to lock up criminals because they think it’s “cruel”. While NSW Attorney-General Greg Smith has called for alternatives to jailing offenders, John Nader QC said judges needed to return to a policy of punishing criminals with prison terms for punishment’s sake.

This is who Thursday’s event was supposed to be about
Tory Maguire – The Punch

The Australia Day event at The Lobby in Canberra has become all about Tony Hodges, Kim Sattler, Barbara Shaw, Michael Anderson, Julia Gillard, Tony Abbott, the police and a bunch of idiots who saw fit to hijack the day. It wasn’t supposed to be about them. Our political leaders had gathered at the restaurant to bestow the new National Emergency Medal on 26 Australians who, paid or unpaid, did extraordinary work during the Victorian Bushfires and Queensland floods.

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.

Classification
Coalition zeroes in on cyber bullies
The Age – Richard Willingham

Protecting children and teens from the dangers of cyber-bullying will be a key focus of a new Coalition taskforce that was announced yesterday. Opposition Leader Tony Abbott distanced the Coalition from putting a controversial filter on the internet. The government is pushing to require internet service providers to adopt a blocking list managed by Interpol, a plan that is awaiting the outcome of a review of the Refused Classification scheme.

Education
Lifting kids’ success level
Julia Gillard – The Australian

I am determined that Australia be a big winner in this century of economic growth in Asia. I understand that to succeed we need to win the race for better and better quality education.

Gambling
PM plays poor hand on issue of problem gambling
Mike Steketee – The Australian

Government, Julia Gillard said this week, was about getting things done. If only that were true, other than by exception. Meaningful poker machine reform is not going to get done, not by this government and not by the Abbott government likely to follow it.

Marriage
Pontification on gay marriage
Alan Austin – Online Opinion

Fair dinkum. Who would want to be pope? You know in advance every syllable you utter will be dissected, analysed and placed in its ecclesio-historical context. With that in mind you painstakingly compose a nuanced commentary on the world. Only to see it misinterpreted and pilloried. Again. Take this month’s speech to the ambassadors to the Holy See. Senior journalist with Reuters news agency Philip Pullella penned a reportheaded ‘Gay marriage a threat to humanity’s future: Pope’.

Politics
Shared values shine through the dark side of politics
Michelle Grattan – The Age

The violent demonstration near Canberra’s Aboriginal tent embassy on Australia Day was confronting political ugliness. What made it so dramatic was the image of a Prime Minister – who tripped and lost a shoe – being literally dragged to safety by her security guard, with Tony Abbott behind. The fact that it was a woman PM made the image all the more graphic.

Rhiannon’s secret rendezvous with ‘agent-running KGB officers’
Christian Kerr – The Australian

A secret meeting was set up between now Greens senator Lee Rhiannon and the man identified as the KGB’s station chief in Australia before she went on a lengthy 1970 overseas trip, declassified ASIO files reveal. Senator Rhiannon is the leading light of the Left of the Greens and a contender for the leadership of the party.

Other
Twitter to censor itself in some countries
AAP – Herald Sun

Social networking giant Twitter has refined its technology so it can censor messages on a country-by-country basis. The additional flexibility is likely to raise fears that the short-messaging company’s commitment to free speech may be weakening.

In what is good news for the pro-life cause, news broke yesterday that the infamous Croydon Day Clinic in Victoria is no longer offering partial-birth abortions.

The Victorian clinic is one of the last remaining providers of partial-birth abortion in Australia.

The Herald Sun reported the clinic will no longer provide abortions to women post 24 weeks.  The clinic’s management played down the move as an ‘operational decision’.

However there can be no denying the significance of this announcement.

All abortions end in the destruction of human life.  However partial-birth or late-term abortions are among the most grotesque forms legal in Australia.

Social commentator Bill Meuhlenberg has provided this harrowing eye-witness account of a partial birth abortion on his Culture Watch blog.

ACL believes it is only a matter of time before public revulsion will demand an end to this and to the offering of real choices to women who find themselves with an unsupported pregnancy.
 

Rev Dr Margaret Court has been nominated as a National Living Treasure by the National Trust of Australia. Women’s Day website has a short-list of 100 nominees where you can vote for her.

Margaret Court is Australia’s most successful and celebrated tennis player of all time. No player in tennis history has ever surpassed her incredible record of 62 grand slam titles, in both singles and doubles. Margaret became a Christian while she was still the world’s best. In 1991 Margaret was officially ordained to ministry and a year later established her own outreach ministry Margaret Court Ministries Inc.

The National Trust of Australia (NSW) CEO Brian Scarsbrick, AM says“The title National Living Treasure is conferred when someone accomplishes an outstanding achievement, swelling the country’s consciousness with admiration, pride and acknowledgement.”

You can read more about Rev Dr Margaret Court at Victory Life Centre and Margaret Court Television.

Fear of being labelled a homophobe or bigot has largely silenced political debate on same-sex marriage.

Many politicians and other prominent people who defend marriage have not gone in to great depth in making the case for marriage, preferring to talk in general terms about ‘traditional marriage’ which doesn’t really cut through.

However, as activists seek to press their claim in the Parliament this year, the Liberal Senator for Tasmania, Eric Abetz delivered a persuasive and well-received speech to the Young Liberal Movement in Sydney recently.

Senator Abetz says “For ‘better or for worse’ is part of the deal when entering the marriage contract. There is no doubt that marriage has its ‘better’ and ‘worse’ moments for the two individuals in the marriage. There is also no doubt that marriage from society’s point of view is overwhelmingly, if not totally, for ‘the better’.”

Continue to read the full speech here. You might like to contact Senator Abetz and thank him for his work .

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.

Abortion
Young people dominate Washington pro-life march
BPNews

President Obama and another massive turnout of pro-life Americans gained attention in Washington as the country passed the 39th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s legalization of abortion. The president reaffirmed his commitment to abortion rights, even urging continued efforts to protect those rights for “our daughters.” The White House issued his statement Jan. 22, the date in 1973 on which the Supreme Court issued companion decisions — Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton — that struck down all state abortion restrictions and effectively legalized the procedure for any reason throughout pregnancy.

Bioethics
The role of research ethics consultations
Health Canal

In the past decade, a growing number of academic medical centers have begun offering research ethics consultation services, in which bioethics experts help scientists address the ethical and societal implications of their laboratory and clinical experiments. For instance, an investigator may want advice on the social and cultural ramifications of conducting genetic research among an indigenous population.

Classification
Online media needs to lift its game
Vic Alhadeff – Online Opinion

For many outlets, there seems to be a parallel universe at work that repeatedly – albeit unintentionally – allows deeply offensive comments to see the light of day. Comments can’t be posted on mainstream media sites without a human accepting them and pressing a computer key. Most outlets assign staff to moderate comments and block those deemed unacceptable. In reality, however, comments continually make it to air that are highly objectionable. Different parameters apply to Twitter and Facebook, whose raison d’etre is to enable people to commit thoughts to air without an intervening gatekeeper. Yet while the latter applies its own standards in regard to content and language, it too is accountable when it comes to such issues as vilification.

Sex crime may need Facebook ban: judge
Steve Butcher – The Age

A judge has suggested a teenager be banned from using Facebook after he and a mate became ”friends” on the social networking site with a girl, 14, against whom they later committed multiple sex offences. Judge Paul Lacava yesterday described Facebook as a ”dreaded” communication method that the pair utilised before they ”just used this child as an object for their own personal gratification”.

Environment
Wind farm threat to Eden’s tourism future
Amanda Stroud – Eden Magnet

After all was said and done at last Thursday’s public forum on the proposed Eden wind farm, what it seemed to come down to is whether or not the seven, 135 metre wind turbines proposed for the South East Fibre Exports site could jeopardise Eden’s future as a tourism drawcard. The visual appeal or otherwise of the turbines – which will make Boyd’s Tower look like a match stick – is the one issue that it seems everyone can agree on; you either like the look of the wind turbines or you see them as a blot on the landscape.

Gambling
Stalemate may delay pokies reform
Jason Dowling – SMH

The biggest shake-up of Victoria’s poker machine industry in two decades is in turmoil with the state’s gambling giants at war over the value of technology monitoring player losses and ensuring government tax revenue. The Baillieu government has been warned billions of dollars in poker machine taxes are at risk unless Tatts and Tabcorp provide immediate access to their poker machine monitoring networks to Intralot, the company chosen to take over the monitoring role from August.

Indigenous
Tent protest promises international rights campaign
Dan Harrison – SMH

Activists uniting around the 40th anniversary of the Aboriginal tent embassy have vowed to wage an international campaign against Australia’s bid for a seat on the United Nations Security Council if the Gillard government does not meet their demands for indigenous sovereignty.

Indigenous rights key to UN seat: activist
SMH

An original member of the Aboriginal tent embassy says Australia will never win a seat on the United Nations Security Council unless the federal government acknowledges indigenous sovereignty. Michael Anderson said the mission of the tent embassy, established 40 years ago on Friday, was a declaration of indigenous people’s sovereignty over Australia. He was speaking after 200 protesters trapped Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Opposition Leader Tony Abbott in a Canberra restaurant before police arrived to clear a passage for the pair.

Marriage
Marriage made easier for same-sex couples
Dan Harrison – SMH

The federal government will help Australian same-sex couples marry in countries where gay marriage is legal by issuing them with documents currently available only to heterosexuals. In several nations that allow gay marriage, including Portugal, Spain, Norway and South Africa, a person must produce a Certificate of No Impediment, which proves they are at least 18, unmarried and that there is no other barrier to them taking part in a marriage ceremony.

Cynthia Nixon says she’s gay by ‘choice.’ Is it really a choice?
Karen Kaplan – Los Angeles Times

Former “Sex and the City” star Cynthia Nixon says she is gay by “choice” – a statement that has riled many gay rights activitists who insist that people don’t choose their sexual orientation. The question of whether sexual orientation is subject to nature or nurture – or some combination of both – has been hotly debated for years. If it is not an immutable characteristic, that would imply that a gay person could be somehow transformed into a straight one. In other words, homosexuality could be “cured.” Which in turn implies that being gay is some sort of illness.

Overseas Aid
Nation’s rich can do more for community
Ninemsn

Outgoing Australian of the Year Simon McKeon has called on the nation’s wealthiest citizens to take up philanthropy and try to emulate their US counterparts. Australians were a generous people, as shown by its rankings in the World Giving Index compiled by the UK-based Charities Aid Foundation, he said.

Politics
Adverse findings against Thomson
Kate Mcclymont – SMH

The formal investigation by Fair Work Australia into the Health Services Union has made adverse findings against key union officials including the president, Michael Williamson, the national secretary, Kathy Jackson, and the former national secretary Craig Thomson, now a federal MP. The three were notified last month that the workplace regulator intended to make adverse findings against them.

Religious Freedom & Persecution
Seven Christians Killed in Bauchi State, Nigeria
Compass Direct News

Early morning attacks in Tafawa Balewa, Bauchi state on Sunday (Jan. 22) left at least seven Christians dead and a church building destroyed. The attack on the Evangelical Church Winning All Church 2, residents of Tafawa Balewa said, was carried out by area Islamic extremists alongside members of the Boko Haram sect, with the church building and surrounding houses bombed.

Refugees
Bishops call for detention limits
Barney Zwartz – SMH

Australia’s Catholic bishops have called on the government to limit detention of asylum seekers to a maximum of three months, the church has announced in an Australia Day statement. Urging the parties to develop a joint approach, so humans do not become political pawns, the bishops said: “To honour the Australian sense of justice and compassion, there must be a defined limit to incarceration in detention centres for people who are not criminals.”

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.

Abortion
Croydon Clinic stops late-term abortions
Staff Writer – Herald Sun

Australia’s only clinic offering late-term surgical abortions has scrapped them. The Croydon clinic will no longer give abortions to women post 24 weeks.

A mother’s nightmare as baby born deformed after doctors misdiagnose ectopic pregnancy and inject foetus with abortion drug
Daily Mail

A mother is suing the obstetrician who she claims misdiagnosed her pregnancy as ectopic and injected her foetus with an abortant, resulting in birth defects. Thirty-five-year-old Rachel Schoger of Caldwell, Idaho, says she was four weeks five days pregnant with her daughter, Seraphine, when her doctor injected her foetus with chemotherapy drug methotrexate in 2006. Two weeks later, the baby was found inside the uterus. And against all odds, Seraphine made it through term.

Charities & NFP
Dump ACT charity bins: Vinnies
Noel Towell – The Canberra Times

One of Canberra’s leading charities has called for the hundreds of donations bins around the capital to be scrapped, declaring the concept a thing of the past. St Vincent de Paul’s management made the call heading into a round table meeting of the city’s leading charities, called to discuss the problem of illegal dumping around the bins.

Children & Family
Crash couple died after 60 years together
Vincent Morello – AAP

Donald and Patricia Logan had just celebrated 60 years of marriage when they died in a tragic head-on collision in Sydney’s southwest. The elderly couple, aged in their eighties, were returning from visiting their newborn great granddaughter with their 59-year-old son Calvyn when they were killed by a runaway B-double truck. The truck had careered onto the wrong side of the Hume Highway, near Menangle, before ploughing into their Ford Mondeo.

Drugs & Alcohol
Australia Day drinking problem
Eleanor Hall – ABC

If Australia Day is a reflection of our nation’s identity, the latest evidence suggests that we have a major problem. A study examining 10 years worth of emergency response calls shows more young Australians get drunk and violent on Australia Day than on any other day of the year. The authors of the study say it’s partly a cultural problem but they say it’s also one that can be addressed by government action.

Politics
Why we can’t trust Gillard any more
Michael Short – SMH

The Prime Minister has let us all down, particularly young people. Some things transcend politics and policy and the lust for power. Truth, honesty, integrity, decency and fairness are immutable values. They are the ethical substance of life. They ought to be cherished. To sell them out is to sell one’s soul. It is even worse when a leader expediently betrays these values, because it undermines the entire community.

The QLD election decoded
Julia Thornton – The Punch

The biggest complicating factor for the Queensland General Election, which is due before the end of March was the local government elections were due on 31 March. That left Premier Bligh with either dates of 18 or 24 February, or get mixed up in Easter or wait until May and by then she wouldn’t have a mandate. The Electoral Commission Queensland has asked repeatedly for a six-week buffer between the two general elections. To her credit, Premier Bligh has respected that and shunted the local government elections to April or May and scheduled the General Election for 24 March.

Petition for the release of imprisoned Christians in Saudi Arabia
AINA

International Christian Concern has learned that 35 Christian Ethiopian men and women were arrested after holding a prayer meeting at a private home in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on December 15th. Our sources indicate they have been imprisoned without trial and have not been told when or if they will be released. Our sources also indicate that the men in the prison have been violently assaulted by their interrogators and that one of them has sustained serious injuries to his ribs and was unable to move until recently. During interrogations some of the prisoners have been mocked by authorities for their Christian beliefs. The women report that they were strip searched upon their arrest and that unsanitary conditions during the search have led to illnesses among some of the prisoners for which they are unable to obtain proper medical treatment. – Also Saudi Arabian officials assault strip-search Christian prisoners

Sexualisation of Society
The authentic feminism of Melida Tankard Reist
Renate Klein and Susan Hawthorne – ABC Religion and Ethics

Since the publication of Rachael Hills’s article “Who’s Afraid of Melinda Tankard Reist” (and see her reflections two weeks later) at least ten on-line and print media articles have joined in a public dissection and commentary along the lines of, “she’s a conservative religious fundamentalist” and “she’s pro-life and can’t be a feminist.” The subliminal context of the attempts to bring Melinda Tankard Reist to her knees and destroy her work is of course the elephant in the room: if her considerable impact on educating the public about the harms of the sex industry could be reduced, the pornography and prostitution promoters and profiteers would rejoice.

Other
So who do you think should be a National Living Treasure?
Ninemsn

So who do you think should be a National Living Treasure? Nominate your Treasure from The National Trust’s list of 100 candidates or make your own suggestion for a nominee by emailing.

Margaret Court for my vote.

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.

Abortion
Beware the pro-lifers doing hard Labor on abortion
Tory Shepherd – The Punch

They want to see an ‘end’ to abortion, a position which is closer to that of the Australian Christian Lobby (the ACL has endorsed them in a newsletter) than those of the Liberal or Labor Party. On their Facebook site, they take what could be a sly dig at Opposition Leader Tony Abbott’s view that abortion should be “safe, legal and rare” with links to a poster that reads: “Anti-abolitionists of the 19th Century said they just wanted to keep slavery ‘safe, legal and rare’.”

Abortion opponents march to Washington Supreme Court
Newsday

Thousands of abortion opponents marched to the Supreme Court yesterday to mark the 39th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion, and supportive lawmakers urged them to further their cause by working to defeat President Barack Obama in the fall. The “March for Life” has been held every year since 1974, a year after the landmark Supreme Court ruling. It’s consistently one of the largest protests of the year in Washington, although soggy, chilly conditions probably kept this year’s numbers down a bit.

Bioethics
Sight of blind pair improved after stem cell injections
Julia Medew – SMH

Embryonic stem cells have been used to treat human illness for the first time, improving the sight of two women with severe vision loss. The controversial development could give hope to hundreds of thousands of people suffering macular degeneration – one of the most common forms of blindness in First World countries – and has been hailed a historic step by stem cell scientists.

Children & Family
Kids in court
Farah Farouque – The Age

Is the Children’s Court the best place to resolve complex family issues such as protection and custody? Many welfare groups say definitely not and change is needed. Andrew McGregor describes it as a ”wisdom of Solomon” case. It’s a phrase he has developed over the years to describe the more emotional matters argued in the family division of the Children’s Court of Victoria, the most sensitive legal jurisdiction in which magistrates make profound decisions about the living arrangements of vulnerable children from disadvantaged families.

Drugs & Alcohol
Vodka brand gets nod to add gloss to its marketing
Rachel Olding – SMH

An alcohol company has been given the green light to offer free lip gloss as a promotional tool because the make-up product does not appeal to young people, the alcohol industry’s advertising complaints panel has determined. A research centre at Curtin University complained about the promotion, which offered a free Napoleon Perdis lip gloss with each bottle of Skyy Vodka bought from Thirsty Camel Bottleshops, arguing it was a clear attempt to appeal to young women and encourage under-age drinking.

Education
Education costs soar
Merrin Jagtman – The Satellite

A staggering $300,000 plus is the cost south-west parents face to put a child born this year through private schooling over the next two decades. Figures from the Australian Scholarships Group (ASG) show the total bill for educating a Queensland baby born in 2012 from prep to Year 12 could be $330,294. The cost of educating a child through the public system is estimated to be $60,657 and $214,347 at a Catholic school.

Children to learn about ‘invasion’
Evonne Barry – Herald Sun

Australia Day – and why some call it “Invasion Day” – will become compulsory topics for all primary and secondary school students. Education Minister Peter Garrett will announce today that “the significance of January 26″ will become a non-negotiable part of history classes under the new national curriculum. The lessons will cover “what (Australia Day) means to different groups of Australians, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders”.

Euthanasia
‘Locked-in’ man seeks right to die
Daily Telegraph

Former rugby player Tony Nicklinson had a high-flying job as a corporate manager in Dubai, where he went skydiving in his free time. Seven years ago, he suffered a paralysing stroke. Today he can only move his head, cannot speak and needs constant care. And he wants to die. To try to ensure that whoever ends his life won’t be jailed, the 57-year-old Mr Nicklinson recently asked Britain’s High Court to declare that any doctor who gives him a lethal injection with his consent won’t be charged with murder. This week, the court will hold its first hearing on the case.

Gambling
Addict speaks about the burden of gambling
Waleed Aly and Julian Morrow – Radio National ABC (download audio)

According to a Productivity Commission report on gambling, between 80,000 and 160,000 Australians suffer significant problems from their gambling and these people are responsible for as much as 60 per cent of money spent on gaming machines. Someone who has struggled with that addiction is ‘Margaret’ (not her real name) from Logan City in Queensland. She’s struggled with an addiction to pokies for 15 years.

Homelessness
Forget your coins, we want change: begging should not be a crime
James Farrell – The Conversation

The criminal offence of begging should be abolished. Criminalising begging is tantamount to criminalising poverty. It perpetuates, rather than alleviates, the marginalisation and disadvantage experienced by people who beg. It also violates the fundamental human rights of some of the most vulnerable in our society. A more effective response to begging is to deal with its causes: alleviate the disadvantage of those who beg, and particularly their need for food, shelter and health care.

Human Rights
All new laws to get human rights checks
PS News

All new laws coming before Parliament from 2012 on are to be checked to see if they stack up against Australia’s human rights obligations. According to Attorney-General, Nicola Roxon, the aim of the process will be to ensure the key principles of freedom, respect, equality, dignity and a fair go for all Australians are considered in everything the Commonwealth Parliament does. Ms Roxon said that the measure was long overdue. “Australia has a proud human rights record that will be further strengthened by enshrining the consideration of human rights in the development of our nation’s laws,” Ms Roxon said.

Bid to fill gaps in human rights law
Patricia Karvelas – The Australian

The Human Rights Commission has told the Gillard government it wants federal anti-discrimination laws to be extended to protect people on grounds such as gender and homelessness. In a submission to Attorney-General Nicola Roxon’s review of national discrimination laws, the commission calls for a “broad definition” of gender discrimination.

Marriage
Priority is to protect marriage
Margaret Court – Herald Sun

We live in a blessed nation but Australia is on a steep moral decline. Everywhere you look we are making excuses for a sliding lifestyle and more people are blind to it than ever before. Our Constitution is based on biblical principles and our nation is great because of it. We are a country with a moral fabric and families and marriage are at its core. But increasingly our kids are being taught that anything goes. As a society we are losing touch with fundamental Christian values, as our leaders lean towards an agenda of political correctness to keep the minorities happy.

Court’s gay views cruel, says Tsiolkas
Dan Harrison – SMH

The writer Christos Tsiolkas has hit out at tennis champion Margaret Court for her anti-gay views.

Greens seek inquiry to explore gay marriage
Christian Kerr – The Australian

Same-sex marriage advocates hope a parliamentary inquiry could help persuade sympathetic Liberals to cross the floor when the matter comes to a vote. “This is an issue that’s been debated throughout the community and now the community is streets and streets ahead of the elected representatives,” Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young said yesterday. She would move for the inquiry when parliament returned in two weeks.

Greens to call second marriage inquiry
Star Observer

Marriage equality advocates have strongly welcomed plans by the Greens to establish yet another parliamentary inquiry into same-sex marriage. An inquiry was held in 2009, the same year Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young tabled her marriage equality amendment bill, which is yet to be voted on. The 2009 inquiry report called for the Australian Government to reverse its ban on Certificates of Non Impediment for gay couples marrying overseas but stopped short of supporting a change in the Marriage Act to allow same-sex couples to wed.

Politics
PM Julia Gillard calls in entire caucus for crisis summit
Simon Benson – The Daily Telegraph

The entire Labor caucus has been ordered to an unprecedented weekend brainstorming session before parliament resumes, as Prime Minister Julia Gillard moves to keep her party on side. All 102 MPs will workshop policy ideas and strategies, with one saying: “We will be getting the butcher paper and Textas out and solving the country’s problems.” MPs will also be asked to raise any concerns they have in their electorates with the PM and the cabinet directly.

Refugees
Refugees struggle with identity
Alana Buckley-Carr – The West Australian

Children from the Horn of Africa are growing up in Perth with identity issues as they try to adapt to a Western culture while living with traditions of the past, according to migration experts. Last financial year, WA took in the lowest number of Sudanese in almost 10 years, with just 144 settler arrivals born in Sudan. It was significantly lower than the 789 who settled in WA in 2004-05 at the height of the Darfur conflict which saw millions of people displaced and hundreds of thousands killed.

Other
Astrologers try to change their stars
Chris Owen – The Satellite

At the start of each year, many people look to their horoscope to gain insight into what to expect. But what astrology buffs never expected was that their star signs may have changed. Astronomers with the Minnesota Planetarium Society last year dropped a bomb on the zodiac. They established that the millennia-long effect of the moon’s gravitational pull on earth had caused a one-month bump in the alignment of the stars.

Cynthia Nixon: ‘For me, being gay is a choice’
Star Observer

Former Sex and the City star and openly gay actress Cynthia Nixon has revealed that she believes being gay was a choice for her. During an interview with The New York Times about her new Broadway show, a revival of the Margaret Edson play Wit, Nixon said it was a belief that no one could take away from her. “I gave a speech recently, an empowerment speech to a gay audience, and it included the line ‘I’ve been straight and I’ve been gay, and gay is better.’ And they tried to get me to change it, because they said it implies that homosexuality can be a choice. And for me, it is a choice,” she said.

Christian Movie Under ‘Mob Attack’ — Atheist Groups Claim Responsibility
Christian Newswire

The highly-acclaimed Christian movie, ‘Suing the Devil’ has been attacked by atheist groups on the Internet. One of the groups emailed the producers warning of a ‘mob attack’ on IMDB.

Feminism’s clique does not help the cause
Cathy Sherry – SMH

I have long considered myself a feminist and been disturbed by the parts of the sisterhood who operate like the nasty in-group in primary school. You can’t be our friend because you don’t wear the right pink dress. You can’t be our friend unless you toe the approved party line on abortion, childcare or sexual clothing. It is astounding to watch grown women engage in exclusionary behaviour – in lifts, at conferences, in seminars and newspapers – which most of us grew out of by the age of 10.

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