Media Release



For release: Thursday, September 20, 2012



Australian Christian Lobby Managing Director Jim Wallace said today’s 41-26 vote in the Senate against same-sex marriage means the Parliament has now expressed a decisive view on the matter.



“The Greens should respect the wishes of the Parliament and drop their remaining two bills.



“Everyone has had enough of this debate,” Mr Wallace said.



“It has been one of the most vitriolic campaigns I have ever seen and it has demonised so many good people out of the public square, such as Victoria’s chief psychiatrist Kuravilla George, who lost his job as a member of Victoria’s Equal Opportunity Commission because he supported marriage.”



Mr Wallace repeated calls for Attorney General Nicola Roxon to defend the Commonwealth Marriage Act against Greens moves in State Parliament to introduce competing same-sex marriage bills.



“It is not in the interests of the nation to have a hodge-podge of marriage laws.



“The Greens and gay activists should respect the Commonwealth’s marriage power instead of continually abusing the processes of state and territory legislatures to achieve a rolling campaign for homosexual marriage.



“They have had a fair go, it is time to move on,” Mr Wallace said.



 



 



 



 

A bill to change the definition of marriage was defeated by 98-42 in Parliament’s House of Representatives yesterday.



A second bill in the Senate is expected to be voted on tonight and by all accounts will also fail.



The events this week in Canberra should draw a line under what has been a long campaign by activists to overturn the definition of marriage.



There is no doubt the response from so many of you in signing petitions, emailing your MPs and Senators and visiting them has had a tremendous impact in this result.



Participating in democracy is effective. Thank you for your great work over the past couple of years in responding to many calls to act at strategic times during the campaign.



The Coalition under Tony Abbott has shown great integrity in keeping its election promise to vote together against changing the Marriage Act.



Despite making the same election promise, 38 Labor MPs voted for Labor member Stephen Jones’ private members bill to change the definition of marriage.



We have listed how MPs voted below, along with the email addresses of those who voted to uphold marriage. Please thank them.



Now that the vote has been held, it is time to move on and ACL is looking forward to focussing fully on our core business of encouraging the Christian constituency to bring Christian influence into government across a wide range of issues of justice and righteousness.



Marriage has been in trouble for generations, quite independently of gay activists’ attempts to redefine it. We all have a responsibility to promote its good, especially for children, and to help our society again fall in love with this most important of human relationships.



We have also posted a list outlining how the Senate voted to keep the current definition of marriage. The Marriage Amendment Bill 2012 in the Senate was also defeated 41-26 votes. Click here to see the list.



 



FOR same-sex marriage:



Anthony ALBANESE - Labor



Adam BANDT - Greens



Sharon BIRD - Labor



Gai BRODTMANN - Labor



Mark BUTLER - Labor



Nick CHAMPION - Labor



Darren CHEESEMAN - Labor



Jason CLARE - Labor



Julie COLLINS - Labor



Greg COMBET - Labor



Simon CREAN - Labor



Mark DREYFUS - Labor



Justine ELLIOT - Labor



Kate ELLIS - Labor



Peter GARRETT - Labor



Steve GEORGANAS - Labor



Steve GIBBONS - Labor



Gary GRAY - Labor



Sharon GRIERSON - Labor



Alan GRIFFIN - Labor



Jill HALL - Labor



Harry JENKINS - Labor



Stephen JONES - Labor



Mike KELLY - Labor

Catherine KING - Labor



Kirstin LIVERMORE - Labor



Jenny MACKLIN - Labor



Richard MARLES - Labor



Rob OAKESHOTT - Independent



Melissa PARKE - Labor



Graham PERRETT - Labor



Tanya PLIBERSEK - Labor



Amanda RISHWORTH - Labor



Nicola ROXON - Labor



Janelle SAFFIN - Labor



Bill SHORTEN - Labor



Sid SIDEBOTTOM - Labor



Stephen SMITH - Labor



Laura SMYTH - Labor



Warren SNOWDON - Labor



Craig THOMSON - Independent



Andrew WILKIE - Independent



 



AGAINST same-sex marriage:



Tony ABBOTT - Liberal



[email protected]



Dick ADAMS - Labor



[email protected]



John ALEXANDER - Liberal



[email protected]



Karen ANDREWS – Liberal



[email protected]



Kevin ANDREWS - Liberal



[email protected]



Robert BALDWIN - Liberal



[email protected]



Bruce BILLSON - Liberal



[email protected]



Bronwyn BISHOP - Liberal



[email protected]



Julie BISHOP - Liberal

[email protected]



Chris BOWEN - Labor



[email protected]



David BRADBURY - Labor



[email protected]



Jamie BRIGGS - Liberal



[email protected]



Russell BROADBENT - Liberal



[email protected]



Scott BUCHHOLZ - Liberal



[email protected]



Anthony BURKE - Labor



[email protected]



Anthony BYRNE - Labor



[email protected]



Darren CHESTER - Nationals



[email protected]



George CHRISTENSEN - Nationals



[email protected]



Steven CIOBO - Liberals



[email protected]



John COBB - Nationals



[email protected]



Mark COULTON - Nationals



[email protected]



Anthony CROOK – Nationals Western Australia



[email protected]



Yvette D’ATH - Labor



Yvette.D'[email protected]



Peter DUTTON - Liberal



[email protected]



Craig EMERSON - Labor



[email protected]



Warren ENTSCH - Liberal



[email protected]



Joel FITZGIBBON - Labor



[email protected]



Paul FLETCHER - Liberal



[email protected]



John FORREST – Nationals



[email protected]



Joshua FRYDENBERG - Liberal



[email protected]



Teresa GAMBARO - Liberal



[email protected]



Joanna GASH - Liberal



[email protected]



Julia GILLARD - Labor



Contact form



Natasha GRIGGS – Country Liberal Party



[email protected]



Luke Hartsuyker - Nationals



[email protected]



Alexander HAWKE - Liberal



[email protected]



Christopher HAYES - Labor



[email protected]



Joseph HOCKEY - Liberal



[email protected]



Gregory HUNT - Liberal



[email protected]



Ed HUSIC - Labor



[email protected]



Stephen IRONS - Liberal



[email protected]



Dennis JENSEN - Liberal



[email protected]



Ewen JONES - Liberal



[email protected]



Robert KATTER - Independent



[email protected]



Michael KEENAN - Liberal

[email protected]



Craig KELLY - Liberal



[email protected]



Andrew LAMING - Liberal



[email protected]



Sussan LEY - Liberal



[email protected]



Geoffrey LYONS - Labor



[email protected]



Ian MACFARLANE - Liberal



[email protected]



Nola MARINO - Liberal



[email protected]



Louise MARKUS - Liberal



[email protected]



Russell MATHESON - Liberal



[email protected]



Robert MCCLELLAND - Labor



[email protected]



Michael MCCORMACK – Nationals



[email protected]



Daryl MELHAM - Labor



[email protected]



Sophie MIRABELLA - Liberal



[email protected]



Scott MORRISON - Liberal



[email protected]



Judith MOYLAN - Liberal



[email protected]



John MURPHY - Labor



[email protected]



Shayne NEUMANN - Labor



[email protected]



Paul NEVILLE - Nationals



[email protected]



Kenneth O’DOWD - Nationals



ken.o'[email protected]



Kelly O’DWYER - Liberal



[email protected]



Deborah O’NEILL - Labor



deborah.o'[email protected]



Julie OWENS - Labor



[email protected]



Jane PRENTICE - Liberal



[email protected]



Christopher PYNE - Liberal



[email protected]



Rowan RAMSEY - Liberal



[email protected]



Don RANDALL - Liberal



[email protected]



Bernie RIPOLL - Labor



[email protected]



Andrew ROBB - Liberal



[email protected]



Stuart ROBERT - Liberal



[email protected]



Michelle ROWLAND - Labor



[email protected]



Wyatt ROY - Liberal



[email protected]



Kevin RUDD - Labor



[email protected]



Philip RUDDOCK - Liberal



[email protected]



Albert SCHULTZ - Liberal



[email protected]



Bruce SCOTT - Nationals



[email protected]



Patrick SECKER - Liberal

[email protected]



Tony SMITH - Liberal



[email protected]



Alexander SOMLYAY - Liberal



[email protected]



Andrew SOUTHCOTT - Liberal



[email protected]



Sharman STONE - Liberal



[email protected]



Wayne SWAN - Labor



[email protected]



Mike SYMON - Labor



[email protected]



Daniel TEHAN - Liberal



[email protected]



Kelvin THOMSON - Labor



[email protected]



Warren TRUSS - Nationals



[email protected]



Alan TUDGE - Liberal



[email protected]



Malcolm TURNBULL - Liberal



[email protected]



Maria VAMVAKINOU - Labor



[email protected]



Albertus VAN MANEN - Liberal



[email protected]



Ross VASTA – Liberal



Ross.[email protected]



Malcolm WASHER - Liberal



[email protected]



Antony WINDSOR - Independent



[email protected]



Kenneth WYATT - Liberal



[email protected]



Antonio ZAPPIA - Labor



[email protected]



 



Did not vote



Anna BURKE – Labor (Deputy Speaker - could not vote)



Michael DANBY – Labor



Laurie FERGUSON – Labor (on business overseas)



Martin FERGUSON – Labor



Barry HAASE – Liberal (on business overseas)



Andrew LEIGH – Labor (on paternity leave)



Rob MITCHELL – Labor



Brendon O’CONNOR – Labor (compassionate leave)



Luke SIMPKINS – Liberal



Peter SLIPPER – Independent

MEDIA RELEASE



Thursday 6 September 2012



The Prime Minister’s decision to withdraw from the Australian Christian Lobby’s national conference is based on inaccurate media reporting and misrepresentation by gay activists.



Australian Christian Lobby Managing Director Jim Wallace said the decision would come as a deep disappointment to Australia’s Christian constituency.



“This is a victory for the relentless campaign of demonization against anyone who would challenge the gay activists’ agenda in the public square.”



Mr Wallace said at no stage did he say that “smoking is healthier than gay marriage”, as reported by some media.



“What I did say is that heterosexual sex and homosexual sex are different and have different health consequences. They should not be packaged the same way as marriage because, as just one of many reasons, they are different.



“If we warn against smoking because it carries health dangers, we should also be warning young people in particular about activity which clearly carries health risks,” Mr Wallace said.



“The experience in places like Massachusetts is that it is very difficult to have this conversation where the lifestyle is held to be the equal of marriage.”



Mr Wallace rejected the characterisation of himself and the ACL as heartless.



“This is a blow to free speech of which there will be even greater pressure if the definition of marriage is changed,” Mr Wallace said.



“It is disappointing that the Prime Minister has acted so hastily on the basis of misreporting and false information from gay activists.”

MEDIA RELEASE



For release: Monday, September 3, 2012



A campaign of demonisation by gay activists against a study critical of gay parenting has been exposed by the clearance of its author of claims his methodology was flawed.



The University of Texas said sociologist  Dr Mark Regnerus had no case of “scientific misconduct” to answer.



Dr Regnerus had been the subject of a vitriolic campaign by activists since his New Family Structures study, published in the peer reviewed journal Social Science Research, found that there were disadvantages to children being raised by same-sex couples on 25 out of 40 measures. The study stated: “children appear most apt to succeed well as adults – on multiple counts and across a variety of domains – when they spend their entire childhood with their married mother and father”.[i]



Activists disputed the validity of his study and called for an inquiry, after which the review panel said no investigation was warranted.



Australian Christian Lobby Managing Director Jim Wallace said the clearing of Dr Regnerus was a win for academic freedom.



“Rather than involving ’scientific misconduct’, this study is one of the best ever done on same-sex parenting, using a large, national probability sampled population, acknowledged even by critics as the ‘gold standard for all social sciences’,” Mr Wallace said.



“This meant it was able to avoid some of the flaws in previous studies, such as self-selection and small sample sizes.”



In the same edition of Social Science Research, Loren Marks published an analysis of previous studies, many of which have been used by organisations such as the American Psychological Association and the Australian Psychological Society to assert that studies do not find any difference between same-sex and opposite-sex parenting.



Mr Wallace said Marks and Regnerus had challenged the common assertion made by gay activists that children parented by same-sex couples did just as well as those raised by their intact biological parents.



Marks analysed 59 studies and found that every one had serious methodological flaws, and failed to use large, random, representative samples of children from same-sex households.



In light of the flaws in previous studies, Regnerus’ study is an important one in the debate about same-sex parenting and same-sex marriage.



Mr Wallace urged Federal MPs and Senators about to resume debate on the four bills in Parliament to redefine marriage to consider the research about same-sex parenting.



“Same-sex marriage implies a right to same-sex parenting but it is obvious from the research that this is a big social experiment that may not be in the best interests of children,” Mr Wallace said.



“The vitriolic attacks by same-sex activists and allegations of misconduct when Regnerus’ study did not agree with them have been proven to be without substance. The dismissal of the case against him is a victory for academic freedom.”



“Debate around this issue should likewise be conducted with respect for those who disagree with the political agenda of gay activists,” Mr Wallace said.

MEDIA RELEASE



Wednesday, 29 August, 2012



The Green-Labor same-sex marriage bill tabled in the Tasmanian Parliament yesterday does not provide so called ‘marriage equality’, it creates an entirely different legal arrangement called ‘same-sex marriage’.



The Australian Christian Lobby said the Greens, Labor and Tasmanian gay activists were playing cruel politics with the hopes of the very small number of same-sex attracted Australians who might want to get ‘married’.



“What was tabled yesterday is not marriage, it is an entirely different legal concoction,” ACL’s Tasmanian Director Mark Brown said.



“The four bills in the Federal Parliament sought to change the definition of marriage but the Tasmanian bill creates a type of marriage apartheid with its own same-sex marriage celebrants who are different to real marriage celebrants.



“This is most likely because there are obvious constitutional issues with a State trying to legislate in an area of Commonwealth responsibility.”



Mr Brown said the tabling of this bill showed that the agenda of the Green-Labor Government and Tasmanian gay activists was not ‘marriage equality’ in Tasmania, it was about keeping alive the same-sex marriage campaign in order to put pressure on the Federal Parliament.



“This bill has been rushed seemingly to coincide with the four marriage bills being debated in the Federal Parliament, which have already made a farce of it and are most likely heading for defeat.



“It is a shame that the Parliament of Tasmania is being cynically manipulated in this way,” Mr Brown said.

MEDIA RELEASE



Tuesday, 28 August, 2012



The same-sex marriage legislation being tabled today in Tasmania, as well as surrogacy laws due to be debated this week, are both radical pieces of social legislation that should be rejected by the Tasmanian Parliament.



According to the Australian Christian Lobby’s Tasmanian Director Mark Brown, it is absurd for Tasmania to be going alone on the issue of same-sex marriage when it is clearly a federal issue.



“The last thing Australia needs is conflicting marriage laws throughout the nation,” Mr Brown said.



“Clearly, the Tasmanian Labor party is not in control of the Parliament if it is allowing the Greens and their loyal activists to control its agenda as part of a wider campaign to pressure on the Federal Government to redefine marriage.



“These are not issues to be taken lightly; it is not in the best interest of children to be deliberately severed from their biological parents – something which surrogacy and same-sex marriage paves the way for,” Mr Brown said.



“The Tasmanian parliament has a responsibility to protect the rights of children to their biological mother and father wherever possible rather than succumb solely to the desires of adults,” Mr Brown said.

MEDIA RELEASE



Friday, 24 August, 2012



The fourth same-sex marriage bill to be tabled is a farcical attempt by Green-Labor politicians to give false prominence to an issue they know doesn’t have Parliamentary support, according to the Australian Christian Lobby.



The bill follows an identical private member’s bill by Labor’s Stephen Jones, and similar bills by Adam Bandt and Andrew Wilkie in the lower house, and a further bill by Greens’ Senator Sarah Hanson-Young in the Senate.



“The longer this drags on, the more farcical it becomes,” ACL Managing Director Jim Wallace said today.



“What an insult to MPs that activist have loaded the Parliament with four bills, and that parliamentarians would become complicit in such an obvious waste of Parliamentary time.



“All this follows three Parliamentary inquiries in the past two years, none of which presented evidence of any discrimination against same-sex couples,” Mr Wallace said.



”Labor should think about the damage this is doing to their brand and put some distance between themselves and this shameful Greens-inspired activism,” Mr Wallace said.

MEDIA RELEASE



For Release: Sunday August 19, 2012



The Australian Christian Lobby has renewed its call for a vote in the Federal Parliament to resolve the long-running same-sex marriage debate.



ACL Managing Director Jim Wallace said the debate had dragged on for years through three Parliamentary inquiries and there were now three bills before the Parliament.



“I think everyone is tired of this debate. MPs know it doesn’t rate in their electorates.



“Last week Labor stared down the Greens on border protection. This week the Parliament should stare them down on protecting the Marriage Act, as both Labor and Coalition promised to do before the 2010 election.



“It is clear that the Greens and gay activists do not want to accept the likely outcome of the democratic process and are continuing to stall for time.”



With a relatively light legislative program, this week would be ideal to resolve this issue and move on, Mr Wallace said.



 

ACL's Dan Flynn's speech begins at the 58 minute part in the above video.



[caption id="attachment_20626" align="alignright" width="300" caption="The Negative Team - Photo Courtesy of Monash University"][/caption]



On Wednesday the 1st of August, the ACL’s Victorian State Director Dan Flynn participated in the Annual Monash University Pro-Vice Chancellor’s Public Debate to more than 150 people. The topic was on same-sex marriage.



Mr Flynn was on the negative team to answer the question “Should same-sex marriage be legalised?” He was joined by debater Gemma Buckley and Prof. Nicholas Tonti-Filippini of the John Paul II Institute for Marriage and Family.



The affirmative team consisting of Sue Pennicuik MLC,  A/Professor Paula Gerber and Ms Madeline Schultz argued among other things that since 9 out of 192 countries having legalised same-sex marriage (SSM) Australia was “falling behind”. They further argued that SSM was a human right that should be afforded to gay couples.



Gemma Buckley, first negative, took the position that marriage would confer no benefits to gay couples and that there was no discrimination remaining against them.



Prof.  Tonti-Filippini contended that marriage was a biological institution involving mutual and unilateral obligations of motherhood and fatherhood that have a biological origin.



He said that this process of redefinition of parenthood would be a cause of great injustice to children denying them the right to know, to have access to and be nurtured by their biological parents, especially fathers but also mothers.



“We are in danger of creating another stolen generation,” he told the audience.



[caption id="attachment_20627" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="ACL Vic Director Dan Flynn - Photo Courtesy of Monash University"][/caption]



Mr Flynn stated that the power of marriage comes from a tradition that emphasizes permanence through monogamy and commitment for life.



He contended that legalising SSM is likely to reduce the commitment to permanence in the institution because the male gay culture is not a monogamous culture and gay activists have contributed to a view of marriage that is not so much about “till death us do part” but for as long as both parties find satisfaction in it.



Mr Flynn went on to develop the “grand bargain” (as coined by Prof. Robert George of Princeton University) being offered by revisionists, namely:



“We will accept your redefinition of marriage. You will respect our right to act on our conscience without penalty...”



Mr Flynn said that this bargain will never be honoured by revisionists except in the short term for tactical reasons to achieve marriage redefinition.



After detailing curtailments on civil liberties and freedom of conscience that will flow from redefinition of marriage, Mr Flynn pointed out that support for SSM has fallen from 62% to 50% from February to May this year and that 73% of people believe children are best with their biological parents.



Mr Flynn said that discrimination was removed against same-sex couples when the government changed laws in 2008.



The debate was followed by extensive question and answer session.



When a member of the audience challenged the importance of biological parentage to a child, Mr Flynn said that Elton John thought it mattered when he said that his son Zachery “will be heartbroken when he finds out he hasn’t got a mother”.

MEDIA RELEASE



Tuesday, August 14th, 2012



The Australian Christian Lobby is privileged to have the Prime Minister speak at its National Conference but has expressed disappointment at the ongoing campaign of demonisation from the homosexual lobby of anyone who does not line up with its agenda.



ACL Managing Director Jim Wallace rejected suggestions that the Prime Minister should not participate in the conference on Saturday the 6th of October and said it was natural that she would want to speak to Australia’s Christian constituency, which is a large one by any political standards.



“The Prime Minister’s engagement is part of the political process and Australian Christians represented in the community should have a right to expect that the PM would want to address them,” Mr Wallace said.



Mr Wallace said the ACL has a habit of alternately inviting one of the leaders of the major parties as a political guest for each National Conference.



“The theme of this year’s conference is on Religious Freedom in a Secular Democracy and we look forward to hearing from the Prime Minister on this important value in society,” he said.



Mr Wallace rejected the assertion that people are extremist because they believe in marriage between a man and a woman.



“Today’s attack on ACL by gay activists is typical of the relentless demonisation of anyone from Gloria Jean’s to the Salvation Army and Chick-fil-A in the United States who support or are perceived to support marriage remaining between a man and a woman.”



Mr Wallace also rejected suggestions that the ACL has not advocated for eradication of poverty or homelessness.



“The ACL is on the record for supporting mandatory pre-commitment technology for pokie machines, refugee reform and meeting the millennium development goals which help address these issues in public policy,” he said.