With preparations for the plebiscite on marriage shelved until well after the July 2 election, the Turnbull Government clearly wants voters to focus on the jobs and growth narrative outlined in this week's budget.



But one of the big consequences of any possible change in the definition of marriage – homosexual sex education in schools – is already proving a major distraction from the government's election agenda.



Hardly a week goes by without revelations of a new program designed to teach children that their gender is fluid or that they might be same-sex attracted.



It seems that children are never too young to be inducted into the bright new world of rainbow sexual concepts.



An avalanche of homosexual and transgender material is flooding into the curriculum from high school to pre-school – all without parents' knowledge.



This rainbow sexual indoctrination is even starting before pre-school. Day care centre workers are being taught to see the toddlers in their care as sexual beings.



A new manual produced by Early Childhood Australia (ECA) for early childhood educators mentions masturbation 21 times in 36 pages.



ECA's "start early" program resource also examines cross-dressing, thanks to funding from the Baird Government in New South Wales.



Encouraging child care workers to see toddlers as sexual beings is creepy.



And in Victoria, a Melbourne University academic, Kylie Smith, wants pre-schoolers taught about gay marriage and the idea that their gender is fluid, not biological.



These controversial ideas which are contested by leading feminists and paediatricians are all being implemented with state and federal government funding.



The Safe Schools Coalition of Australia resource, The Gender Fairy story book, tells four-year-olds that "…only you know whether you are a boy or a girl. No one can tell you." Not your teacher and certainly not your mummy or daddy.



Junior high brings more teaching on masturbation and the introduction of anal sex to the classroom through the Victorian Government's Building Respectful Relationships program.



Guides for sexualising role-playing exercises advise teachers on how to "de-role" children to help them avoid falling into "a state of distress or disassociation" which the program author obviously considered a real risk.



The Safe Schools Hub, a website funded by the Commonwealth Department of Education and Training, now hosts controversial Safe School Coalition resources.



These resources tell schools to allow boys identifying as girls to use the girls' toilets and provide schools with step by step guides on "Supporting a Student to Affirm or Transition Gender Identity at School."



Imagine an 18-year-old man identifying as a girl using the same toilets, showers and change rooms as your 13-year-old daughter. This scenario is now envisaged via a Turnbull Government-funded website.



Special facilities for transgender students are okay, the Safe Schools hub says, but they should never stop a student from using the toilet facility of their "gender identity" as this would be demeaning.



The Safe Schools hub also encourages schools to celebrate the International Day Against Homophobia.



There is no international day against bullying over body image – the most rampant form of bullying in schools by a long way.



The Safe Schools Coalition is far from "gutted", as many thought it was after the review of it by University of Western Australia Emeritus Professor Bill Louden.



The Andrews Government in Victoria has point blank refused to abide by the recommendations of the Louden review to prune Safe Schools.



The pre-Louden version of Safe Schools will be compulsory in Victorian public high schools by 2018.



Premier Andrews labels anyone who questions his rainbow programs as "bigots".



In Queensland the Palaszczuk Government has refused a Right to Information request from ACL to release the secret list of schools running the Safe Schools program.



Federal Education Minister Simon Birmingham's insistence that Safe Schools be transparent for parents is being ignored, making him look weak in the face of rainbow activists.



Never mind that research shows that up to 80 per cent of girls and 90 per cent of boys struggling with gender identity issues will be entirely comfortable with their biological gender by the time they get through puberty.



Never mind that 10 years after a sex change operation, a person is 20 times more likely to commit suicide than the non-transgendered population.



Never mind that hospitals like John Hopkins in the United States now no longer perform gender reassignment surgery because it was found not to be helpful.



None of this information features in the resources.



Bigot, homophobe and hater are the bullying words deployed against anyone asking questions. They protect these programs making politicians and the community too scared to challenge them.



Queensland-style secrecy is the other enabler.



Any government program that relies on slurs and secrecy for its currency, should sound warning bells and pique journalists' curiosity.



Now a coalition of rainbow groups is calling on Australia's corporate sector to sign a letter of endorsement of Safe Schools.



The leader of one of these groups, Rodney Chiang-Cruise, took to social media after Mr Turnbull ordered the review of Safe Schools to label the Prime Minister a "C…t".



Apart from aligning their brands with dubious company, does corporate Australia really want to declare war on the biological gender of Australia's children?



Rainbow politics is taking captains of industry and politicians down a very strange path.



Most Australians would prefer to let boys be boys and girls be girls and get on with arguing about the economy.



Originally published in Online Opinion

Budget 2016 statement from Lyle Shelton, Managing Director, Australian Christian Lobby



Given Australia is one of the world’s wealthiest nations, it is deeply disappointing that tonight’s budget sees Australia’s overseas aid cut to the lowest in our history.



We are spending just 22 cents per $100 of national income to help the world’s poor.



There is no quarrel with the idea that countries, like families, need to live within their means.



But most of us have mortgages and yet still manage to sponsor a child through child sponsorship and give to our local church’s mission programs helping the poor in developing countries.



Just as we are encouraged to be generous as individuals, so too should our nation.



ACL will use the election campaign period to encourage both sides of politics to begin re-building our aid program.



It remains a great shame to both sides of politics that they walked away from the Millennium Development Goal promise to increase aid to 0.7 per cent of GNI.



ENDS

MEDIA RELEASE



In television's ever-growing quest for shock-driven ratings, Channel 7 has stooped to a new low with its Seven Year Switch offering.



Australian Christian Lobby Managing Director Lyle Shelton said a program glamorising partner swapping and disloyalty did not present a vision of flourishing human relationships conducive to building a civil society.



"Channel 7 really should ask itself if this presents a vision of human dignity or is it just crass voyeurism?



"Many marriages and relationships have produced children by seven years. Is glamorising partner swapping really a good idea for the individuals and children that may be involved?"



Mr Shelton said Seven Year Switch plumbed a new low of so-called reality television.

"I really do think the Seven network could do better and that we as a society are better than this,” he said.



“We urge shareholders to express these concerns to management.”



Complaints can be lodged online, on the Channel 7 Facebook page, or on twitter @Channel7



ENDS

MEDIA RELEASE

14 March 2016



The Australian Christian Lobby has called into question the plebiscite costings released today by international accountancy firm PwC because it lacks objectivity.



An ACL spokesperson said, “PwC is not a neutral organisation in the same-sex marriage debate. The firm is a public supporter of same-sex marriage and of Australian Marriage Equality, who are working on the yes case for the plebiscite.



“Having voiced such strong public support for same-sex marriage, PwC is not an unbiased source of information when it comes to the plebiscite or in efforts to redefine marriage.



“These costings fail to take into account the value of a people’s vote. It is valuable to democracy and valuable to the Australian people who mostly support the plan. They also fail to consider the enormous cost of the nearly 20 times this issue has been raised in parliament in recent years. Parliamentary time, committees and inquiries are very expensive.



“The issue of same-sex marriage has gone before the parliament almost 20 times in recent years. The plebiscite is an important way to finally resolve the matter in a democratic way.



“If proponents for change are so confident of overwhelming public support, it is perplexing that they are relentlessly trying to have the people’s vote scrapped. Surely they should welcome the opportunity to have such a resounding endorsement of their vision for marriage and family.



“By doing whatever it takes to undermine the plebiscite, proponents of change are sending open-minded Australians a message that they would prefer to rush controversial law change without consultation rather than allow people the opportunity to carefully examine the consequences.



“By contrast, those in favour of preserving marriage do not seem to fear democracy and are open to all the consultation and discussion that a plebiscite will involve.

“Australians have shown that they can be trusted to respectfully debate sensitive issues.”

ENDS

MEDIA RELEASE



Thursday, February 7th, 2013



The Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) today said it expected it would only be a matter of time before protection of religious freedoms in the UK would diminish following the recent legislation redefining marriage passing in the House of Commons.



ACL’s Managing Director Jim Wallace said that although the UK bill allows religious organisations to say ‘no’ to conducting same-sex marriages, a challenge to this in the European Court of Human Rights has already been flagged, even before the bill has been voted on in the House of Lords.



“Legal expert opinion suggests that the court could rule that if same-sex marriage is normalised in law, any church would be obliged to marry same-sex couples,” Mr Wallace said.



“The passing of this legislation redefining marriage in the UK is yet another demonstration of governments failing to protect freedom of religion and conscience for churches,” he said, “in fact it goes further and creates a vulnerability that activists are indicating they will pursue.”



“No Australian political leader can suggest that protections could be provided to the church in the light of the clear intention of activists in the UK to pursue any loophole in their pursuit of the church,” he said.



He said the Australian Parliament made the right decision in rejecting same-sex marriage last year.



“Our parliamentarians should not be bullied into creating another debate on marriage when it was so decisively defeated late last year,” Mr Wallace said.



“MPs know it doesn’t rate in their electorates. The UK provides another example that redefining marriage is not the end of the gay activists’ agenda,” he said.

Martin Thompson works with Mission Australia. He spoke to the ACL's Katherine Spackman about the latest national youth survey which found that the economy is the major concern of young people.

 



 



 



 



 



 



 



A National Day of Prayer and Fasting will be held on Sunday, February 10, 2013. It encourages local churches, para-church groups and individuals to pray and fast on this day as they feel led. You can also participate in the gathering which will be held in the Great Hall at Parliament House in Canberra from 10am-4pm. Find out more by visiting the official website.



This will be followed by 40 Days of Prayer and Fasting during Lent, from Ash Wednesday February 13 to Palm Sunday March 24. Please visit this website for more details.

MEDIA RELEASE



For release: Thursday, November 29, 2012



The Australian Christian Lobby has welcomed tonight’s passing of legislation putting modest curbs on harmful poker machines.



Managing Director Jim Wallace said ACL hoped today’s reforms would be just the beginning of meaningful reform to stop the harm of poker machines to people suffering from addiction to them.



“While the reforms are modest, it is significant that the Parliament has recognised the damage poker machines do to our community.



“It is disappointing that the Government reneged on its promise to Tasmanian independent MP Andrew Wilke for more meaningful reform, as integrity in public life is paramount.



“It is also disappointing that the Opposition opposed this legislation.”



Mr Wallace said it was important that the major parties were able to stand up to the vested interests of the industry which profited from problem gamblers and State Governments which were addicted to taxation revenue from poker machines.



$12 billion goes into 200,000 poker machines each year, half of which are in New South Wales. $5 billion of this comes out of the pockets of problem gamblers.



The reforms force owners to make machines ready for mandatory pre-commitment in the future, limit withdrawals from ATMs in gaming venues (excluding casinos) to $250 and mandate warnings on machines to gamblers.

In response to a question in the Senate this week, Foreign Minister Senator Bob Carr referenced the government's recent pledge to increase to $50 million per year the amount of aid money for ‘family planning’ in third world countries, doubling the amount it gave in 2010.



ACL does not believe aborting babies is the answer to dealing with problems of maternal and child health in developing countries. Providing abortion services would be a failure of the government to properly support women and children in dire circumstances, and ACL is disappointed in Queensland Labor Senator Claire Moore's continual push of abortion as the answer. In an effort to reduce these problems, greater funding should be given to health support services, including improving birthing facilities and providing more midwives and doctors. This would save lives of women without having to abort their babies.



Senator Carr also announced this week that Australia will provide up to $70 million to the UN's Population Fund over the next four years, appears to be a better use of taxpayers’ money. This money is targeted at training midwives and doctors in remote areas of countries like Cambodia.



Soon after assuming Government, Labor over-turned the Howard Government’s long-standing ban on using overseas aid money for abortion. Sadly, the share of money going to abortion seems to be growing.



Click here to read Senator Carr’s comments to the Parliament.

HOPE: preventing euthanasia and assisted suicide is a coalition of groups and individuals who oppose the legalisation of euthanasia and assisted suicide, and support measures to stop this.



It has recently launched the Declaration of HOPE - a statement to all parliamentarians across Australia that shows it does not accept nor want euthanasia and assisted suicide enabling laws.



You can make a difference! Show your support and make a clear stand against euthanasia bills by signing the declaration today.



Click here to sign the declaration. 



You can learn more about HOPE by visiting their website.