How can we build stronger marriages and families, and uphold the sanctity of human life from conception to natural death?
by Dr John Whitehall In August 2019, a submission was made to Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt requesting an independent parliamentary inquiry into the management of childhood gender dysphoria. The submission emphasised the surge in the number of young people presenting to “gender clinics” in major hospitals in Australia, (particularly Melbourne’s Royal Children’s Hospital), the…
by Jeffry Babb Dr Joe Santamaria was an Australian of migrant background. For millennia people had eked out a precarious existence on the margins of the Mediterranean Sea, sustained by fishing, the olive tree, the grape vine and the goat. In the late 19th century, people began to emigrate. Many on the margins were islanders,…
In May a new outreach centre for women on the streets opened in East Perth. AFA WA president Warwick D’Silva spoke to one of the organisers, Johanna Banks, about what the Lifehouse is and how it will help women living on the streets. WHAT IS THE LIFEHOUSE? The Lifehouse is a drop-in centre for homeless…
by Anne Lastman In the News Weekly of April 18, 2020, Terri Kelleher asked, “Do we really need to ask what is a woman?” I’d like to respond to that question. Woman in her design is the secret of God. How prophetic has been the clarion call to women to rise up and give honour…
by Staff Writer My own homeschooling journey began a quarter of a century ago. I was a young mum, with a gifted first born, a preschooler, a toddler and a newborn. I endured judgement and ridicule, especially from interaction with various nurses as I delivered and established the feeding of baby number four. However, the…
by Staff Writer Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s announcement of a stimulus package of $750 for eligible Australians has been met with criticism – most vocal is the cry that “dole bludgers” do not deserve another handout. “What about the people who actually work hard?” “Why give it to people who will spend it on cheap…
Covid19 has shown us that we are running low on ‘social capital’ by Staff Writer Among memes, elbow bumping and toilet paper stockpiling, covid19 has led our society to ask: Should we send the kids home from school? The simple answer is “yes”. School closure will most likely decrease the spread of the virus. It…
by Terri M. Kelleher Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull is a mum of four and women’s rights activist from Britain. Going by the name Posie Parker, she has been vigorously attacked, called a transphobe and removed from Facebook for expressing her view that transwomen are not women and asking the question, “What is a Woman?” Keen-Minshull had billboards…
As the covid19 pandemic cripples the world economy and causes unprecedented social dislocation and disruption, opportunistic bureaucrats and politicians are using the crisis to ram through pet policies. Freedoms are being removed; new laws being introduced with little or no debate; and officials make up their own rules imposing them on citizens without any mandate.…
by Dr Gordon Harvieux Saint Raphael’s Guild of the Catholic Medical Association is a collection of varied health-care professionals based in Duluth, Minnesota, in the United States, and we recently met to discuss the transgender movement. At that meeting, we viewed a talk on YouTube that Dr Quentin Van Meter had given to the Australian…
by Mei Ling The T.C. Beirne School of Law at the University of Queensland was established by a £20,000 donation from Thomas Charles Beirne, a devout Catholic businessman and Papal Knight who was warden of the University from 1928 to 1941. The vast tract of beautiful riverside land on which the university sits in St…
by Bernard Moran New Zealand’s Parliament by 68 votes to 51, on the night of March 18, passed a replica of Victoria’s 2008 Abortion Law Reform Act. And, as happened in Victoria, all amendments were voted down. Unknown to the public and most of the NZ media, the proponents of the Abortion Legislation Bill were…
by Chris McCormack Federal inquiry has recommended age verification to access online porn 44 per cent of 9–16 year olds encountered sexual images in the last month Violence against women, murder and rape linked to pornography The federal inquiry into age verification for online wagering and pornography has released its report, entitled “Protecting the age…
by Anne Lastman Recently Pope Francis called on the Church “to care for the elderly, going to them with a smile on your face and the Gospel in your hands”. He noted that the world is facing a significant demographic change, with fewer young people and a large increase in the number of elderly. He…
by Terri M. Kelleher “In contradiction of evolutionary history and millennia of human observations, highly esteemed scientific periodicals are running articles undermining the observable reality of biological sex.” So it says on the website of Project Nettie, founded by British developmental biologist Dr Emma Hilton and New Zealand feminist Jenny Whyte. Project Nettie is “an…
Queensland Senator Amanda Stoker, described by Bernard Lane in The Australian as “a free speech champion and rising star of conservative politics”, has taken a stand against the transgender activist agenda. Senator Stoker (pictured) says: “The transgender agenda demands that everyday Australians reject objective truth … It forces us to pretend that biology is not…
While the Queensland and Victorian governments are planning to ban counselling that would assist gender-confused people to accept their biological sexual identity, in Britain, a landmark case is being taken against the UK National Health Service (NHS) prescribing “experimental” puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones. Queensland and Victoria are conducting inquiries into legislation to criminalise…
Contemporary society seems to have lost the understanding and the meaning of conjugal honour or even the will or knowledge of how to protect conjugal honour. Why? Perhaps many reasons can be cited for this loss of knowledge but, first, what is “conjugal honour”? My understanding of conjugal honour is that union between husband and…
Across the Western world the adoption of transgender laws has progressed at an astounding pace over the last few years. Transgender marriage laws (usually referred to as same-sex marriage laws), anti-discrimination laws, birth and marriage registration laws, have given not only legal recognition but protected status to self-chosen gender identity over biological sexual identity: that…
California Court orders investigative journalists exposing aborted-baby trade to pay $US2.3 million Judge linked to Planned Parenthood repeatedly suppressed evidence from defence A California court has found David Daleiden, the head of the Centre for Medical Progress (CMP), and others involved in exposing Planned Parenthood’s organ harvesting of aborted babies in 2015, guilty of…
This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Convention of the Rights of the Child (CRC). The anniversary was marked by a three-day conference in Geneva in November. The United Nations General Assembly adopted the CRC in November 1989 and it came into force on September 2, 1990. Australia ratified the Convention in December 1990,…
The Interim Report of the Aged Care Royal Commission, which was released at the end of October, is both an indictment of our society’s treatment of the aged and infirm, and a call to arms to fix the deep deficiencies revealed in the course of the royal commission’s investigations. There have been many complaints about…
There is concern about the effects of the use of testosterone and other cross-sex hormones on the health of elite athletes; and yet this is what is being fed to children and young people to transition gender.” So writes Dr Dianna Kenny PhD, Professor of psychology and a consulting psychologist, in a recent paper on…
The annual March for the Babies, held each year close to the anniversary of the passing of the 2008 Victorian abortion law, one of the worst in the Western world, took place this year on October 12. Victoria’s abortion law allows abortion up to the very moment preceding birth, and tramples the conscience rights of…
Because of the lack of respect for life at its genesis, there is now a global push for legalisation of the premature disposal of life at its end: euthanasia and assisted suicide. Photo: Gert Stockmans Euthanasia simply means an earlier death than would come in the natural course of events. Its proponents would…
Rarely is the progressive bias of the mainstream media and the major political parties more flagrantly on display than in discussions of “reproductive rights”. On this issue in particular the arguments in favour of more permissive laws are conspicuously thin, amounting to little more than the parroting of a handful of clichés. Anyone who recognises…
The ongoing migration boost to Australia’s population has masked troubling social indicators – a marked decline in marriage, family formation and fertility. There was an 18 per cent decline in women getting married in their prime child-bearing years (20-34) in the 10 years to 2016; the median age of women marrying increased from around 22…
For as long as most of us can remember, we have been told that the world is overpopulated. But, within our children’s lifetime, the world population will peak, and then begin to fall. What happens to each of us as we age is now imminent at the global level. Estimates vary but, according to the…
Every year hundreds upon hundreds of people die in pain despite the best of palliative care. Both professionals and loved ones go to great lengths to ensure a natural death. These are the unsung heroes for whom the alternative – assisted suicide – is unthinkable. We are meant to die according to the laws of…
The West Australian Association of Heads of Churches formulated the following Open Letter, which was emailed to all WA MPs on August 28, 2019. An open letter To: The Hon Mark McGowan, Premier, and Members of Parliament of Western Australia regarding the Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill 2019 From: WA Faith Community Leaders August 28,…
As I listen to the debate surrounding the NSW Reproductive Health Care Bill 2019, I am horrified that we are seeing a repeat of the changes in 2008 to the Victorian law and how they were orchestrated by a handful of female politicians who were also able to convince some of their male colleagues that…
Would the New South Wales abortion bill (the Reproductive Health Care Bill 2019) allow a woman’s violent domestic partner to request an abortion for her? Would it allow the father of a girl who is the victim of incest to request that an abortion be performed on her? Would it allow a pedophile to request…
The Commonwealth Government is right to order an inquiry into the safety and ethics of transgenderism. Across Australia, the number of young people undergoing radical and often irreversible hormonal treatment and radical surgery is skyrocketing. Given the promotion of gender theory, illustrated by the Marxist-inspired Safe Schools program that’s been operating over the last five…
If Prime Minister Scott Morrison is “mystified” at Cricket Australia’s “heavy handed”, “sledgehammer” policies supporting men who identify as women playing in the women’s competition, he should turn his attention to the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) and the federal Sex Discrimination Act that together are driving these policies. Cricket Australia policy follows the recent…
With the Reproductive Health Care Reform Bill 2019 (the Bill) being introduced into the New South Wales Parliament, abortion is back on the political agenda. Transport Minister Andrew Constance demonstrates his “appalled” expression. Currently in NSW, abortion is generally regarded as lawful if performed to prevent serious danger to the woman’s mental or physical health,…
Four years ago, I wrote about my decision to live as a woman in The New York Times, writing that I had wanted to live “authentically as the woman that I have always been” and had “effectively traded my white male privilege to become one of America’s most hated minorities”. Three years ago, I decided…
With the Reproductive Health Care Reform Bill 2019 (the Bill) being introduced into the New South Wales Parliament, abortion is back on the political agenda. NSW Transport Minister Andrew Constance demonstrates his “appalled” expression. Currently in NSW, abortion is generally regarded as lawful if performed to prevent serious danger to the woman’s mental or physical…
The Vatican Congregation for Catholic Education recently released an important statement on gender theory in education. On the same topic, the Victorian Catholic Education Commission has developed policies on sex and gender issues. Entitled Identity and Growth: A Perspective for Catholic Schools, it comprises four documents. The first document, the Catholic Foundation Statement, has clear…
In Australia’s beautiful Garden State, on June 19, 2019, voluntary assisted dying (VAD) came into operation. Two years ago, VAD was narrowly approved by a conscience vote in Victoria’s State Parliament, with the support of Premier Daniel Andrews. “Assisted dying” usually means palliative care, which is what all people suffering the pain of terminal illness…
Anne Lastman reflects on sexual complementarity in light of the Vatican statement on gender, “Male and Female He Created Them”. “Acknowledged in its fullness, this is the hour in which women acquire in the world an influence, an effect and a power never hitherto achieved. That is why, at this moment when the human race…
Worlds’ wealthiest “donating” billions to global abortion industry Western nations where abortion is illegal have low maternal mortality rates Melinda Gates conflates “female empowerment” with universal access to contraception Billionaires can choose to use their wealth for good or evil, but some of the wealthiest on the planet prefer the latter. In May, ABC’s…
On June 10, 2019, the Vatican issued a new document to provide Catholic educators guidance on dealing with gender issues. The document is entitled, “Male and Female He Created Them: Towards a Path of Dialogue on the Question of Gender Theory in Education”. Despite its sometimes rather archaic, theological and philosophical language, which can make…
In the second part of this two-part series examining feminist claims for gender equality, Michael Ord considers family structural relations, including the special needs of women and the distinctions of men and women, and warns that feminist activism is taking society to a critical crossroad. Finally, he reflects on what feminism should be. Does society…
Christians are under attack. What do we do? The Benedict Option outlines how we can remain faithful in a post-Christian world Dreher sees networks of professionals and the faithful as key Christians and others who have not abandoned certain truths are increasingly under attack in the media, workplace and schools. In this context, a…
Professor Allan C. Carlson delivered this address at the Saturday evening dinner of the National Civic Council’s 2019 Annual National Conference. The Annual Conference was held in Melbourne over the weekend of February 1–3, 2019. Professor Carlson’s address on that same morning appeared in the March 9, 2019, edition of News Weekly. This address points…
On Tuesday May 14 a crowd of over 2,000 from all generations gathered outside Parliament House to mourn the loss of 173, 000 unborn children 21 years since abortion laws were passed in Western Australia. The rally was organised by the Coalition for the Defence of Human Life, which includes the NCC and the AFA.…
Bishop Peter J. Elliott delivered the following article as a speech at the National Civic Council’s Annual Conference in Melbourne last February. In it, he outlines a two-part strategy for families to adopt to ride out and thrive amid the tempest of the Sexual Revolution as that revolution gathers fury against Christianity and the family…
Victorian doctors and health practitioners are being prepared for the implementation of assisted suicide/euthanasia. A VAD Implementation Conference was held in Melbourne on May 8–10. There were workshops on the first day for voluntary assisted dying training for medical practitioners and a voluntary assisted dying workshop for health practitioners and allied health professionals to train…
In 1965, legendary American conservative publisher, author and television personality William F. Buckley Jr surprised the world by running for the mayoralty of New York City. It was described as a “quixotic” campaign and drew forth a curious response from Buckley when he was asked: “What is the first thing you will do if you…
Liberal Speaker Sue Hickey helped Labor, Greens get laws through Parents can leave newborn’s sex blank on birth certificates Liberal Government has promised to repeal the laws 70 per cent of Tasmanians opposed the changes Under radical changes to Tasmanian laws, birth certificates will be able to recognise a person as non-binary (other than…
As part of their inexorable push to the extreme left, many Democrats in the United States are now actively supporting late-term abortions and even infanticide. Donald Trump was mocked when he warned about this during the 2016 presidential campaign. Since becoming President, Mr Trump has: (a) cut all American aid to foreign organisations that provide…
Archbishop of Hobart Julian Porteous delivered the following paper at the National Civic Council’s 2019 Annual National Conference, which was held in Melbourne over the weekend of February 1–3, 2019. Archbishop Porteous recaps the dire state of marriage and family in Australia, both socially and legislatively, and reminds us that reviving these fundamental social institutions…
After the Victorian ALP legalised abortion till birth in 2008, late-term abortions increased by 600 per cent at the Melbourne Royal Women’s Hospital The ALP treats the killing of a baby in the womb as of no more significance than getting a hip replacement The Federal ALP’s…
Disabled women, single mothers, survivors of the sex trade and domestic violence were among the party threatened by activists Trans activists and sex-trade lobby protesters seem to have no other purpose than to silence women who speak out Friday March 8 was the Melbourne International Women’s Day (IWD) March. A global protest was planned…
In the winter of 1947 Jack Seely, the first Baron Mottistone, was depressed. Jack Seely, the first Baron Mottistone A second world war had ended less than two years ago with Britain again victorious, albeit impoverished, and his own life was drawing to a close, too, he suspected. No doubt then the tributes would flow…
“Indeed, the true friends of the people are neither revolutionaries, nor innovators: they are traditionalists.” St Pope Pius X, in Notre Charge Apostolique (“Our Apostolic Mandate”, 1910) Events of recent times, particularly Brexit and Trump, indicate a challenge to the established order of business, at least in the realm of political and economic policy. There…
On the Saturday morning of the National Civic Council’s 2019 Annual National Conference, Professor Allan C. Carlson delivered the keynote address. The Annual Conference was held in Melbourne over the weekend of February 1–3, 2019. Professor Carlson’s address on that same evening will appear in the next edition of News Weekly. In that address he…
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has released a media statement relating to so-called “gay conversion therapy”, promising to outlaw therapies offered to people with unwanted same-sex attraction. This sets off my antennae as I am a male who throughout his entire childhood and early adulthood believed himself to have been “born gay”. As a contented gay…
Last September, on a Sunday afternoon, my wife and I were walking through “Speakers Corner” in Hyde Park, London. I was amazed by the number of men who were there passionately trying to convince the masses of people why their ideas were good and true. My wife directed my attention to a man holding a…
“Tail-docking a dog would be illegal, putting a lobster in boiling water would be illegal, but it will be legal to abort a six-month-old child if this [Andrews Labor, 2008] bill passes.” Mathew Guy MP (2008) For the advocates of abortion on demand for non-medical reasons, or feticide (the intentional and unjust killing of an unborn baby), the issue…
The challenge to long-held social norms has been multi-pronged. Movements of the 1960s such as pro-choice, women’s rights feminism began a change in society that has altered our understandings and beliefs. The feminist movement acted with the impossible aim of changing the very nature of woman. Thus we had the abortion-on-demand movement, which began in…
chimera noun 1. (In Greek mythology) a fire-breathing female monster with a lion’s head, a goat’s body, and a serpent’s tail. 2. A thing which is hoped for but is illusory or impossible to achieve. Synonyms: illusion, fantasy, delusion, dream, fancy, figment of the imagination, will-o’-the-wisp, phantom, mirage; ignis fatuus As a developed Western…
Australia faces a broad range of challenges in 2019 and beyond. The political challenges reflect deeper conflicts fracturing the nation’s cultural cohesion. The federal election will dominate politics in the first half of the year. After three years of divisions in the Liberals, the Labor Party is riding high in the polls. GetUp has announced…
For nearly 40 years Australia has allowed the use of assisted reproductive technology (ART), in-vitro fertilisation (IVF), and embryo transfer (ET) to help heterosexual couples overcome infertility to have their own biologically related child. Around 15 years ago, the demand for children from same-sex couples and from single people led to fertility clinics using third-party…
It is often said, quite correctly, that Taiwan is one of the most socially liberal societies in Asia, but this ignores the genuine alarm that the rapid advance of the homosexual agenda is causing in the country. For instance, the referendum on Saturday November 24 last confirmed the status quo that, under the Civil Code,…
Emile Ratelband is a 49-year-old Dutchman trapped in the body of a 69-year-old Dutchman (of the same name). Emil Ratelband: as honest as the day is long: 22 hours. At least, that is what he tells us, the all-believing public. Ratelband says that he feels 20 years younger than he is and that doctors have…
It used to be that a disruptive boy could face discipline or be expelled from school for repeatedly putting girls at risk by entering the girls change rooms or toilets. Now, if the Federal Government, Labor and the Greens remove exemptions for faith-based schools from the federal Sex Discrimination Act, principals and teachers may face…
On October 12, 2018, Patrick J. Byrne, national president of the National Civic Council, spoke at an NCC dinner in Sydney. In that speech, Patrick outlined a strategy by which to renew the energies and courage of supporters to oppose head on the ascendant ideologies that seem to be pushing our society towards dissolution. Where…
Former national ALP leader and now political pundit Mark Latham addressed an NCC dinner in Sydney on October 12. Mark was fully aware of how unlikely it would have been even in recent times for a past leader of the ALP to address an NCC function. The text of his speech follows. Click for the…
On Wednesday October 17, 2018, Queensland became the second Australian state to legalise open-slather abortion and simultaneously remove the conscientious objection of medical practitioners to opt out of referrals for the lethal procedure in an emotional and often personal debate that succeeded 50 votes to 41. Other than a gestational limit two weeks earlier and…
At the beginning of 2015, the Victorian ALP Government rightly removed the Coalition’s “move on” laws from the statute book. Rightly so, as the laws were intended really to prevent unions protesting. The laws were seen as an unfair restriction on free speech. At the time, Attorney-General Martin Pakula proclaimed: “Victoria doesn’t need Bjelke-Petersen-style laws…
Why? In the UK, since 2009, there has been an alarming increase in the number of children seeking gender transitioning treatment, indicating a 4000 per cent increase over that time. This has resulted in UK Conservative MP Penny Mordaunt calling for a parliamentary inquiry into the reasons why. Just as in the UK, Australia also…
During the Wentworth by-election campaign, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced his intention to remove protections for the freedoms of faith-based schools to select students in relation to a student’s sexual orientation, that is, their heterosexual or gay or lesbian sexual orientation. Then, days before the ballot, the Greens with Labor’s support moved to ratchet up…
It was highly revealing that The Sydney Morning Herald reported on the forced resignation of the ABC chairman under the heading “Politics”, given that the ABC is an organisation whose charter requires it to be independent, accurate and impartial. Divisions on the boards of corporations occur frequently, and it is not surprising that the ABC…
In October 2008, the Victorian Parliament passed legislation to remove abortion from the Crimes Act after roughly 40 years of campaigning from militant radical feminists. Reflecting on that legislation, DLP MP Peter Kavanagh remarked: “It’s hard to imagine a worse bill and a worse model, and indeed that’s partly why it was passed here; to…
Lord, You have joined an innocent heart to a penitent’s sorrow.” Life of St Aloysius Gonzaga, Office of Readings, June 21 Grief is the human response to the traumatic loss of someone or something very important to the life and wellbeing of the individual. It is the psyche’s attempt at dealing with a separation…
On Wednesday August 22, yet another abortion bill was tabled in Queensland Parliament. It proposes to allow abortion until 22 weeks of gestation for any reason whatsoever (section 5, Termination of Pregnancy Bill 2018), and abortion after that up to full term if two medical practitioners agree it is necessary for the woman’s “current and…
There was something markedly different about Brisbane’s second March for Life of 2018 – different from any other pro-life march throughout Australia as far back as a millennial such as this writer can remember. In years gone by, march organisers would be happy to receive any mainstream media coverage whatsoever; if they were so lucky,…
“Transphobia has a body count.” So screamed the protesters who disrupted the address in Melbourne of international guest speaker Dr Quentin Van Meter as they were removed from the venue. In Perth the University of Western Australia cancelled the lecture theatre booked for Dr Van Meter’s address because of opposition. Dr Van Meter…
In today’s world, it is nigh impossible to conduct one’s personal or professional life without resorting to electronic means. E-banking is seamlessly integrated into most businesses; phone-banking apps track exactly how you spend your money, categorising spending into “shopping”, “groceries”, “eating out”, “utilities” and so on, ostensibly to help you budget better. My fiancé found…
ON OPS: Lessons and Challenges for the Australian Army since East Timor by Tom Frame and Albert Palazzo (eds) NewSouth Publishing, Sydney Paperback: 344 pages Price: AUD$39.99 Reviewed by Jeffry Babb In the language of management-speak, the Australian Defence Force (ADF) has created a new paradigm. In a situation where no obvious threat to…
Margaret Somerville is Professor of Bioethics in the School of Medicine at the University of Notre Dame Australia in Sydney and was the founding director of the Centre for Medicine, Ethics and Law at McGill University in Toronto, Canada. Professor Somerville reviews the Irish referendum and wonders whether some compromise can be achieved to save…
The Federal ALP National Platform Consultation Draft paints a picture of a draconian government if elected, in many areas mirroring the policies of the Greens. The ALP wants to take an additional 450 gigalitres of water (approximately the volume of Sydney harbour) from farmers in the Murray-Darling Basin each year and send it down the…
Two hundred years after his birth, the legacy of Karl Marx is a brutal social experiment under communist rule in the East, and in the West a cultural revolution whose effects are still being worked through today. Si monumentum requiris, circumspice. (If you seek his monument, look around.) Karl Marx was born in Trier on…
His Holiness Pope Francis has for some years been persecuted unmercifully and called many names and titles (false prophet, anti-Christ) by supposedly “good Catholics”, which should make us all hang our heads in shame. “Our defence of the innocent unborn, for example, needs to be clear, firm and passionate, for at stake is the dignity…
Former Prime Minister John Howard has condemned claims that family tax benefits (FTBs) are “middle-class welfare”, lambasting both the Coalition and Labor governments for cutting the $19 billion-a-year payments to families with children. A report in The Australian said Mr Howard was “unhappy” about cuts to family payments that had withdrawn assistance to stay-at-home parents…
As the Queensland Government moves to allow men to self-identify as women, 300 angry women have quit the British Labour Party over guaranteeing transgender male-to-females on the party’s All-Women Shortlist. UK Labour’s All-Women Shortlist is the equivalent of the Australian Labor Party’s affirmative action policy to having women preselected in 40 per cent of winnable…
“Sex” as a classificatory system for human beings (at least) as defined by the religious tradition from Sinai consists of male and female and a category traditionally known as the hermaphrodite and nowadays called “intersex”. What are ultimately determinative are the actual reproductive organs and genitalia. The “intersex” person is one with reproductive organs and…
People should have freedom of choice in the counselling or medical advice or treatment they seek. In relation to same-sex attraction or gender identity or gender transitioning, as with any other medical or health issues, all options should be open to them, including counselling out of same-sex attraction or gender transitioning if they so choose.…
Recently, over several days in March (17–22), I had the pleasure of attending the Abortion Rethink Summit in Queensland. It promised to be a different but good conference. I was invited to speak first at the conference and later at Brisbane’s Parliament House to politicians on Tuesday March 22. I say it promised to be…
Men/boys can self-identify as women/girls If you can change your sex, can you change your age, race? In the name of “diversity”, “uniformity” imposed on everyone More rights threatened than under same-sex marriage The Queensland Government of Annastacia Palaszczuk is proposing to change birth certificates to allow people to register as Male, Female, Indeterminate, Unspecified…
Men/boys can self-identify as women/girls If you can change your sex, can you change your age, race? In the name of “diversity”, “uniformity” imposed on everyone More rights threatened than under same-sex marriage The Queensland Government of Annastacia Palaszczuk is proposing to change birth certificates to allow people to register as Male, Female, Indeterminate, Unspecified…
Exceedingly rich white men (and women) who invest in biomedical companies are funding myriad transgender organisations whose agenda will make them gobs of money. Author Jennifer Bilek is an artist, environmental activist, writer, and an engaged citizen. As an environmental activist who was deplatformed from a speaking venue by transactivists, in 2013 I developed curiosity…
The Children Legislation Amendment (Sharing of Information) Act amounts to state overreach – big government – and is contrary to the values of freedom and independence of the individual and family from excessive state control. Introduced into the Victorian Parliament only on 13 December, 2017, the last sitting day of the year, the Children Legislation…
Gender dysphoria is a serious mental health issue. By contrast, transgenderism is a belief system that increasingly looks like a cultish religion – a modern-day Gnosticism that denies physical reality in favour of deceived perceptions – being forced on the public by the state. Gnostic adepts have seen through the surfaceof things to the true…
If minors can decide to have hormone sex transitioning treatments without Family Court approval, are children also capable of making their own decision to become child brides or child soldiers? In a landmark decision on November 30, 2017, a Full Bench of the Family Court ruled that Court approval was no longer needed for young…
A Northern Territory discussion paper proposes redefining the human person by their fluid gender identity and sexual orientation, while removing the biological definitions of man and woman from the Territory Anti-Discrimination Act. Binary is out of fashion. The discussion paper for “Modernising the Anti-Discrimination Act” (ADA), issued by the Territory Attorney-General’s Department, says that the…
ABBOTT’S RIGHT: The Conservative Tradition from Menzies to Abbott by Damien Freeman Melbourne University Press, Carlton Paperback: 188 pages Price: AUD$27.99 Reviewed by Michael Quinlan Dr Damien Freeman is a visiting scholar at the PM Glynn Institute, Australian Catholic University. He studied classical Hebrew and Aramaic, philosophy, and law at the University of…
This essay is adapted from an address delivered to an international conference on the family in Manila in March 1999. It first appeared in its present form in The Natural Family (Vol. 30, No. 3, 2017), the journal of the International Organisation for the Family, Religion & Society, of which Allan C. Carlson is editor.…
Next time you hear a parent denigrate or make claims of abuse against an ex-partner with whom they had children and, at one time, a loving relationship, think again. Be careful not always to accept these kinds of stories at face value. Emotionally abusive parents often play the victim; they’re often very believable and good…
In 2013, the federal Sex Discrimination Act (SDA) was radically amended. The Sex Discrimination Amendment (Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Intersex Status) Bill 2013 was to give effect to the then Labor government’s commitment to introduce new protections against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. It also introduced a separate ground…
The following is an extract from Patrick J. Byrne’s forthcoming book (Wilkinson Publishing) on transgenderism and the consequences normalising it and writing it into law will have on marriage, education and culture. It will be essential reading as we try to understand what is at stake if we redefine marriage as between “two persons”. At…
The Australian public is being endlessly warned about the danger of bullying, distortions and vilification that may attend the postal vote on redefining marriage. Yet, has it occurred to anyone else that most – if not all – of the bullying, distortions and vilification seem to be coming from the “Yes” campaign? The advertisement from…
Reliable studies indicate that children often adapt better to their parents’ divorce if they are allowed to have a continuing contact with their non-custodial parents. Indeed, a recurring theme in the field of child psychoanalysis is that children of divorced parents often desire to develop a meaningful relationship with their non-custodial parents. Three things should…
What hope is there for a fair and honest discussion on same-sex marriage when the president of the Law Society of NSW issues a joint press release on the subject that is false and misleading? According to the press release dated August 19, 2017, the legal and medical professions in NSW have united in support…
Following the failure of the Senate to support a plebiscite on marriage, the Federal Government has announced that it will conduct a national ballot on the issue, conducted by the Bureau of Statistics. Perhaps not surprisingly, those who opposed a plebiscite or referendum on the issue have announced that they will challenge the Government’s decision…
An Australian mother’s video clip exposing what the “Safe Schools” program is teaching her children has gone viral, while in Britain, schools are being threatened with closure if they don’t teach about gender reassignment. A Melbourne mother’s video has been viewed over 3.5 million times on Facebook and shared over 54,000 times, revealing what her…
Recently, Edmund Rice Education Australia (EREA) issued three scoping documents that form a proposal to develop a whole of school approach to “transgender” sex education for its schools. EREA governs 52 Catholic schools and has 34 associate schools across Australia. EREA has released three documents, Live Life to the Full: Resources for Principals, School Leaders &…
Childhood gender dysphoria is reaching epidemic proportions as hundreds of children present every year to special clinics in our children’s hospitals. But is the “disease” real, and is medical intervention helpful? Proponents attest that 1 per cent of children suffer from contradiction between their physical and imagined sex. The so-called Safe Schools program even claims…
For the second year running, before the meeting of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW 61. See the report in News Weekly, May 6, 2017), a Youth Forum was held. This year about 750 young people (mostly young women) gathered on March 11–12 at the United Nations in New York to produce the…
Is the above headline really appropriate, or does it suggest a darker background to the light and airy stories that the media feeds to us on this issue. The darker background, which should be the foreground, is the subject of Walt Heyer’s activity as a former transsexual male-to-female who has de-transitioned back to being male.…
The pursuit of rainbow politics is proving to be a thorn in the side for Target stores in America. Since April 19, 2016, when the chain announced it would allow transgender customers and employees to use change rooms and bathrooms corresponding to their gender identity rather than to their biological sex,[1] its share price has…
On Easter Sunday ABC News reported that the NSW Coalition Government was replacing the controversial Safe Schools program (SSP) with a new broader anti-bullying strategy when federal funding runs out in June. Education Minister Rob Stokes made clear that NSW public schools would continue to provide support for LGBT students: schools will be a safe…
On the week scheduled for the big debate, knowing he didn’t have the numbers, the Independent Member for Cairns, Rob Pyne, withdrew his two bills from the Queensland Parliament which sought to decriminalise abortion right up to full term, compel professionals to assist in some abortions and supress free speech anywhere near an abortion clinic.…
THE DEMON IN DEMOCRACY: Totalitarian Temptations in Free Societies by Ryszard Legutko Encounter Books, NY Hardcover: 200 pages Price: AUD $34.99 Reviewed by Brian Coman In 1989, Francis Fukuyama published his famous essay entitled The End of History. Here he argued that, with the break-up of the Soviet Empire (then just beginning), the political…
Malcolm Turnbull’s bold decision to reform the Racial Discrimination Act to make it less subjective and more robust and effective has been labeled as another burden he will have to take to the next election that will deny him votes. Bill Shorten’s Labor thinks it is on a winner on section 18C of the act,…
Late last year the West Australian Parliament passed laws regarding domestic violence which pose an insidious threat to fundamental rights of citizens in that state. Previous laws ensured that if a person alleged that violence had occurred she would usually be issued with a restraining order without any evidence to support that claim. The new…
After a year-long rainbow alliance campaign for a parliamentary vote on same-sex marriage, the Federal Government’s policy is still for a plebiscite, while Labor has shifted onto other issues. Despite the Senate blocking a people’s vote on the issue late last year, Malcolm Turnbull has confirmed that a plebiscite remains his Government’s policy. Mr Turnbull…
The number of autistic kids is skyrocketing. The number of transgender kids is skyrocketing. Is there a link? Yes, said a controversial Canadian expert on transgender issues on a BBC documentary in January. Kenneth Zucker is a distinguished figure in the field of the psychology of sexual behaviour. He is the editor of the Archives…
As part of its response to the recommendations of Betrayal of Trust, the report of the Parliamentary Inquiry into the Handling of Child Abuse by Religious and other Non-Government Organisations, the Victorian Government has introduced mandatory Child Safe Standards for all institutions, organisations, groups, and clubs that provide services for children. Schools obviously have to…
The Victorian Liberal State Council has unanimously voted to axe the extreme Safe Schools program if they win the next state election in 2018. At a packed State Council in Ballarat, on Saturday November 19, Opposition Leader Matthew Guy announced that the Liberals would get rid of the Safe Schools program in Victorian schools if…
“I’ve put the gun down now!” were the words of a young man to the pregnancy crisis phone counselor. He had been involved in three abortions and thought himself unaffected until one girl carried to term and delivered. Holding a gun to his head, he phoned a pregnancy crisis centre. With extraordinary good fortune, the…
Many years ago, British neurologist Oliver Sacks, a man with a flair for subtle observations and the clear prose to describe them, wrote a book about strange cases of mental confusion he had encountered. Its title seizes your attention instantly: The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat. The title was no joke, nor…
In the first week of Federal Parliament, Opposition Leader Bill Shorten introduced his own bill for a federal parliamentary vote on same-sex marriage, to defeat the Government’s promised plebiscite, which would engage the entire adult population. The Shorten bill, if adopted by Parliament, would amend the Marriage Act, “to allow couples to marry, and to…
THE GLOBAL SEXUAL REVOLUTION by Gabriele Kuby Life Site, Kettering, Ohio Paperback: 283 pages Price: AUD$51.75 Reviewed by John Young A new dictatorship is rapidly spreading, particularly in the Western world. If successful, it will destroy not only Christian civilisation but all civilisation. This book examines that threat. It is essentially a…
1966: The Year the Decade Exploded by Jon Savage Faber & Faber, London Hardcover: 620 pagesPrice: AUD$49.99 Reviewed by Jeffry Babb Exactly 50 years on, what can we say about 1966? The so-called “Swinging Sixties” were a time of almost unimaginable prosperity, spread uniformly across the Western world. Economists would argue that…
There is barely any example of gender-identity politics starker, or more reckless, than Rodney Croome’s use of LGBTI youth in his campaign to redefine marriage. An article published by the veteran gay-rights campaigner in The Age on Tuesday (August 23), argued that the marriage plebiscite should be cancelled because apparently it would inevitably lead to…
The announcement that the Olympics will accept transgender athletes is set to raise a host of issues, particularly in contact sports, including the Australian Football League (AFL). But first the Olympics. Since 2004 male-to-female transgender athletes have been allowed in the Olympics after surgery and two years of hormone therapy. But they will be allowed…
The British Conservative Government under mock-Tory David Cameron is either actively promoting or supinely condoning transsexualism in schools and prisons, with concepts of clear differentiation between the sexes being labeled as bigotry. Prisons and schools get the same treatment. The mind boggles at what would happen under a Labour Government – but perhaps some of…
Before the year 2000, no U.S. state recognised same-sex marriage. By 2015, it was legal throughout the U.S. and most of Western Europe. Before 2015 most Americans knew nothing about transgender issues. Within a year these issues were on the front pages of newspapers every day. The pace of change in the sexual revolution is not…
The Infant Viability Bill was debated in the Victorian upper house on Wednesday, May 25, 2016. Rachel Carling-Jenkins, left, and Brad Mattes, right. The bill was to provide for holistic care and support, and referral to support and counselling services for women, and that abortion would be prohibited from 24 weeks. Where there was a…
In an embarrassing display of rainbow politics, Brisbane’s glorified roadworks board (aka the city council) passed a motion on May 17 supporting a change to Commonwealth marriage law that would include same-gender couples, polygamy (multiple wives), polyandry (multiple husbands) and any combination of adult groupings. The motion put by Lord Mayor Graham Quirk read: “The…
We have seen enough of the results of the 50-year assault on marriage to be sure that certain behavioural patterns, though “expressed in custom and reinforced by ritual”, are hard-wired and are for our good: that is, marriage works, especially for children. Lucy Sullivan writes. Part Two of two parts Marriage, family, generations are social patterns analogous …
The decision of the Australia Council – the Australian Government’s autonomous arts funding body – to refuse funding for the literary pages (poetry, short stories, essays and book reviews) of liberal-conservative magazine Quadrant is probably the most disgraceful and indefensible in the history of Australian arts administration. Who’ll bid five bob for this extremely rare,…
As News Weekly went to press, Rachel Carling-Jenkins’ Infant Viability Bill was due to be debated in the Victorian Parliament. Leon Voesenek offers a glimpse at who it is all about. My life began in Mum’s Fallopian tube. Here Dad’s sperm and Mum’s egg met and fused resulting in a one-celled being called zygote, with…
On Tuesday May 10 former Labor MLA for Cairns, now independent, Rob Pyne, tabled a bill to wipe abortion from the criminal code. Queensland independent Rob Pyne Yet new independent opinion polling commissioned by the Australian Family Association in response to Mr Pyne’s bill shows that more voters are opposed to decriminalisation of abortion in…
Part One in this series of articles examined how queer theory is predicated on the notion of the child as agent, capable of making its own decisions. Part Two of these articles examines other controversial aspects of the theory. Patrick J. Byrne writes. Another controversial aspect of queer theory is transgendering – not just cross-dressing,…
Further to what we saw in the last edition (News Weekly, May 7, 2016), research is also uncovering fascinating information that is counterintuitive to the 21st-century mind. Science shows the differences start at the top and go all the way down. Given that cultures are different and that male and female differences are demonstrated to…
Queer gender theory is at the core of the Safe Schools Coalition Australia program, says Monash University feminist writer Laura McNally. Many genders: but only one reality. McNally says that if this term is unfamiliar, there is a good reason: “Queer theory is a highly contested and relatively recent development in the sociology academy. “Queer…
The social science on same-sex households with children isn’t settled. It’s just plain unsettling. Go to the source. A new study of six-to-17-year-old children of female same-sex households has been rushed to publication and is now making the rounds at the typical outlets, which are proclaiming that now the social science here is truly, genuinely,…
Domestic violence used by women against men is a phenomenon that has received little attention within the media, academia and the political elite. Despite this lack of attention, for nearly four decades the best research indicates that men are also frequently the targets of domestic violence. And yet, the media and our political/judicial elite often…
We are told the Safe Schools Coalition Australia (SSCA) program is to prevent bullying of GLBT students. It was certainly sold as an anti-bullying program. Staff from the Australian Research Centre into Sex Health and Society (ARCSHS) at La Trobe University in Melbourne, which produced the Safe Schools program, identified the safety theme (that is,…
The Australian Family Association (AFA) appeared before a hearing of the NSW Committee of Inquiry into the Sexualisation of Children and Young People in Sydney on April 7. To access the AFA submission, go to the parliamentary website. The AFA submitted that the Safe Schools Coalition program (SSCA) is embedding the sexualisation of children and…
One of the key elements of contemporary sex education, and of the Safe Schools Coalition’s anti-bullying program, is that young people should be encouraged to explore their gender identity, and that schools and society must accept and celebrate “gender diversity”. What do these innocent-sounding words mean? Fundamentally, it means that boys who imagine they want…
The Safe Schools Coalition Australia (SSCA) program essentially is a deconstruction of the natural family. Scarleteen: Libertarianism of the body. SSCA deconstructs the family by presenting all forms of sexual relationships – gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender as well as heterosexual – as the same. Students are encouraged to question their sexual orientation and gender identity…
Since the Canadian Supreme Court overturned the protections in law that prohibited both assisted suicide and euthanasia in February 2015, Canada has been in free fall. Quebec went on to create its own permissive regime, which was suspended and then re-instated by the courts. No consensus has risen yet on the form of national legislation…
The Safe Schools Coalition Australia (SSCA) program hit the headlines in The Australian newspaper on February 13: “Sexual politics in the classroom”. Where have your kids been surfing today? National Correspondent Natasha Bita reported: “Ostensibly an anti-bullying program, it takes a politically correct approach to sex education. Teachers are told it is “heterosexist” to refer…
I am Cathy Ruse, with the Family Research Council. I’m a Catholic Christian, and that means it’s impossible for me to believe that marriage is anything other than the union of a man and a woman. No law and no judge will ever make me change that belief. Cathy Ruse I’m a mother, and as…
On December 5, 2015, Dr Augusto Zimmermann, spoke on the topic, “Same-sex marriage and the church of the future” at a conference at the New Life City Church, Kewdale, Western Australia. The following is a slightly abridged version of Dr Zimmermann’s talk. Dr David van Gend believes the process rewards political harassment. Same-sex marriage…
Today’s proponents of euthanasia fail to apprehend that the proposal has passed its use-by date. The problem in the practice of medicine that resulted from its increasing power to prolong the life of the intrinsically failed or failing human body has been resolved, and in a manner that incorporates both the traditional ethic that eschews…
The Victorian Parliament has made acts of charity criminal acts. Last November a big majority in both the lower and upper houses voted effectively to end the ability of pro-lifers to offer help to women entering abortion facilities. The Orwellian entitled bill, the Public Health (Safe Access) Amendment Bill, creates 150-metre zones around facilities that…
Sweden has youth with poor mental health and poor school results, and stressed parents with weak parenting skills. Why? Is there a causal relationship between the negative outcomes and the introduction of public affordable daycare initiated 40 years ago? If so, there would be every reason to warn other nations contemplating the model until a…
After a complaint against the Catholic Archbishop of Hobart was lodged with the Tasmanian Anti-Discrimination Commissioner, the Australian Family Association launched a change.org petition to protect freedom of speech. The complaint against Hobart’s Archbishop Julian Porteous and the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference (ACBC) came from Martine Delaney, a transgender activist and Tasmania Greens candidate. Delaney…
The issues of family planning and same-sex marriage get a lot of attention, both in the media and in political circles. But while airports light up in rainbow colours and people leave Tony Abbott flowers, the people who will truly suffer from the destabilisation of the family do not even have a vote. Most haven’t…
Sweden is a pioneer in public, tax-subsidised, out-of-home daycare. In 1975, the Swedish government made public daycare available and affordable to all. Daycare expanded greatly during the 1980s and was made even cheaper in 2002 when a maximum fee (maxtaxa) was introduced. No matter how many children, no matter how many hours they spend in…
In May 2015 Paul Russell of HOPE, an Australian coalition opposing euthanasia and assisted suicide, invited me to come to Adelaide to speak about my experiences with the Belgian euthanasia law. It is now well known that my physically healthy mother was killed by a lethal injection given by Flemish euthanasia practitioner Dr Wim Distelmans.…
The Australian Health Practitioners Regulation Agency, the Medical Board, moved on October 26 to curtail the suicide advocacy of Dr Philip Nitschke by placing an unprecedented 25 restrictions upon his licence to practice medicine. Nitschke in happier days, making his sales pitch. This action is the culmination of a dozen complaints the agency had received,…
Kevin Andrews MP gave the 2015 Warrane Lecture on October 7, 2015. Mr Andrews has been the member for Menzies since 1991 and was a minister in the Howard government, and was, until the recent leadership spill, Minister for Defence in the Abbott government. This is an edited version of his speech. The entire speech…
Poor women in India are being paid to produce children for wealthy Westerners. In some cases, they are impregnated with two human embryos, with the second baby destined for the black market. Family Court Chief Justice Diana Bryant, left, and Federal Circuit Court Chief Judge John Pascoe. Commissioning couples from the United States and…
From individuals, to families, to the general population at large, marriage is essential to society. A committed marriage provides the best arrangement for the wellbeing of both spouses and children. Marriage provides a more stable environment for personal growth and development than any other living arrangement. Indicator after indicator shows that marriage optimises the possibilities for…
In “Child-support program under the microscope” (News Weekly, October 10), Michael Ord reviewed the submissions to the Commonwealth House of Representatives Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs inquiry into the Child Support Program and raised questions about government and stakeholder involvement with separated families. In this second part, he considers the committee’s report,…
There is no stopping the cultural left’s political correctness (PC) movement. The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination wants to ban one of the Netherland’s long-cherished children’s characters, Black Pete. Tintin: imperialist. Black Pete, a figure with a black face and a gold earing, accompanies St Nicholas at Christmas time handing out…
The Senate committee inquiring into the matter of a popular vote on redefining marriage has come down against allowing the Australian people a say on the matter. Dissenting senators Ian Macdonald and Linda Reynolds The committee recommended in its report tabled on September 15 instead that “a bill to amend the definition of marriage in…
The Commonwealth House of Representatives Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs recently tabled the report on its inquiry into the Child Support Program (CSP). This article is the first of a two-part review that will consider submissions to the inquiry, the committee response and recommendations, and their ramifications. Michael Ord reports. The aim…
The individualism required by a society of autonomy shuts down love, dependence, and self-sacrifice. To extinguish grief, we are told, we must extinguish the grieving. Economics Nobel laureate Amartya Sen On Friday, September 11, the UK’s House of Commons considered and voted down an Assisted Dying Bill. It was its first vote on voluntary euthanasia…
There is no research to show that legalising same-sex marriage would reduce the GLBT suicide rate. It would appear to be based on an ideological assumption rather than on hard evidence. The current Senate Committee inquiry into a popular vote on same-sex marriage has heard stern warnings against holding a plebiscite or popular vote because…
Months of preparation culminated in a rally to “Witness to Marriage”, one of many to be held throughout Australia in these months in support of traditional marriage. It was held at the Victory Life Centre in Osborne Park, WA, on Saturday August 1, 2015. Archbishop Emeritus Barry Hickey Among those in attendance at the 500-strong…
I had heard it described as the “clash of the titans” and other similarly grand claims evocative of mythical or gladiatorial contests of one kind or another. Catholic Archbishop of Sydney Anthony Fisher, left, and Professor Peter Singer But for those who have known or observed Sydney Archbishop Anthony Fisher and Professor Peter Singer…
Is the chief intention of the man of the household – the flourishing of relationships, especially spousal and parental – essentially tied to work in the home? This is a central issue about which we should be concerned. A husband and wife of the Middle Ages at work on their cabinetry workshop. The work of…
There were howls of protest from the same-sex marriage lobby when Sydney’s Daily Telegraph recently reported parents objecting to a documentary on gay families being compulsory viewing in a Sydney high school. You will conform. Senator Penny Wong tweeted that this was “bullying”, automatically classing as bullies parents wanting to teach a different value system…
A recent undercover operation by an anti-abortion group has cast light on some of the gruesome details behind abortion clinics’ cooperation with biotech companies in the supply of aborted foetal remains for research purposes. Saturn devours his children The story is as grotesque as you might imagine. In one video, the Planned Parenthood senior director…
In the face of woeful marriage statistics, appalling portrayals of marriage in the arts and entertainment, and mounting negative political and legal pressures, defenders of marriage find themselves falling back, fighting simply to salvage the freedom to articulate, yea even to live, basic aspects of traditional marriage. It might seem that this is a time…
Canadians have faced disciplinary action, termination of employment or prosecution by government tribunals since same-sex marriage was legalised in 2005 and protected attribute status was granted to sexual orientation and gender identity in anti-discrimination laws.1,2 Since being made legal, same-sex marriage has been treated identically to traditional marriage in law and public life. A corollary…
Once a year we are reminded that countries around the world occupy different time zones: when New Year strikes in New Zealand, then Australia’s east coast, then Japan and our west coast, China, India, the Middle East, Europe, Britain, then the U.S. and Canada trailing behind. Dawn Stefanowicz spoke to News Weekly. In a moral and…
Justice Anthony Kennedy’s decision in Obergefell v Hodges is anchored in the liberty to “define and express” one’s identity. But this view of man is not as exalted as it seems. According to Kennedy, self-defined man, if he’s unmarried, remains tragically lonely and, without state recognition, might even doubt his own dignity. Conjured as it…
There’s been a strange turn of opinions about fatherhood – at least in recent public debates. Decades of research have now documented the tremendous challenges children face when they grow up without their fathers. But you would never know it by looking at some of the recent public arguments for “genderless parenting”. So, what do…
Forty years ago, the Australian Parliament carried by the narrowest margin a law which fundamentally changed the nature of marriage in Australia. The Family Law Act was deeply divisive at the time because it fundamentally changed the nature of marriage from one which was intended to last for life, to one which could be terminated…
Parents have the natural right to be with their own children, unless they are guilty of some egregious act…. Stealing children from their own parents has historically been considered one of the most inhuman acts of tyrannical dictators…. Slave owners sold the children of their own slaves to other men. Today we are appalled by…
The suicide death late last year of an elderly Victorian woman is being used by euthanasia advocates to push their agenda. The suicide on November 26, 2014, of 86-year-old Dorothy Hookey, a resident of Spring Gully, near Bendigo in country Victoria, was recently reported in the Melbourne daily newspaper, The Age. Director of HOPE, Paul…
The British Daily Mail has published a shocking exposé by journalist Susan Reid on the euthanasia culture run wild in Holland — the country of Anne Frank and Edith Stein — which lost thousands of its Jewish citizens to the Nazis’ death factories in World War II. Apart from Nazi Germany, Holland was the first…
If Jason Bourne of the Bourne movie trilogy had to write a thesis before graduating from the CIA’s training camp for assassins, then the following could imaginably have been his. Melbourne underworld identity, the late Carl Williams It is high time assassinations were legalised. Week after week we learn of shootings, knifings, bashings, many of…
Three hundred faith leaders and scholars from around the world gave former Chief Rabbi of the Commonwealth, Lord Jonathan Sacks, a standing ovation for a speech in defence of marriage that he delivered at a recent Vatican-convened colloquium in Rome. Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks The three-day international colloquium on “The Complementarity of Man and Woman”…
Western Australia is about to become the focal point of the same-sex marriage debate in Australia, with the Same-Sex Marriage Bill 2013 potentially due for debate in the WA Legislative Council before the end of the year. This was introduced in December 2013 as a Private Member’s Bill by Greens MLC, the Hon. Lynn MacLaren.…
Canadian single-income two-parent families with dependent children will be better off after a multi-billion dollar package of tax breaks and increased child benefits was announced last month by the Conservative government of Stephen Harper. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper Parents with children younger than 18 can now split their incomes for tax purposes up to…
After a long string of court victories, the American campaign to redefine marriage has lost a major case in the powerful U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit. The decision will have far-reaching consequences. Judge Jeffrey Sutton At recent referenda in the states of Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee, clear majorities of voters supported…
American family activist and history professor, Dr Allan Carlson, delivered the following paper at the Moscow Demographic Summit: Family and the Future of Humankind, held during June 29-30, 2011, at the Russian State Social University. It was originally published in the American online journal www.FrontPorchRepublic.com. Dr Allan Carlson One of the lives claimed in the…
Income tax rules are seldom a topic of discussion around the dinner table, even though most Australian families are adversely affected by them. This is because the Australian Tax Office takes pay-as-you-go (PAYG) tax instalments from your wage, with no consideration of whether or not a spouse and any number of children may also be…
INVENTING THE INDIVIDUAL: The Origins of Western Liberalism by Larry Siedentop (UK: Allen Lane / Penguin) Hardcover: 448 pages ISBN: 9780713996449 Price: AUD$39.95 Reviewed by Bill James There are some allegedly self-evident things which modern Westerners take for granted themselves, and assume have always been taken for granted by everyone else. These…
Dr Philip Nitschke and his pro-euthanasia group Exit International have been widely condemned in the aftermath of the suicides of two psychologically troubled men, Nigel Brayley, 45, of Perth, and Joe Waterman, 25, of Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula. ABC television’s 7:30 Report of July 3 reported: “Dr Nitschke is being accused of moving into uncharted territory…
A Melbourne doctor has publicly admitted that he prescribed a potentially lethal barbiturate, Nembutal, to a terminally-ill cancer sufferer nine years ago. Nembutal — known by euthanasia advocates as the “peaceful pill” — is also used by veterinary doctors to end the lives of dogs, cats and larger animals. After making his admission, Dr Rodney…
There is at least a prima facie case that the ALP, as a political collective, is mad. Despite the left-wing mainstream media’s more manic utterances, the controversial WA Labor Senator-elect Joe Bullock is neither an arch conservative nor a dinosaur. He is a traditionalist with mainstream views and a lifetime of service to Australia’s largest…
The pro-euthanasia lobby often promotes — or, at the very least, piggybacks upon — media reports of people facing difficult prognoses who want to end their lives rather than face the prospect of deterioration and all the difficulty that such an outcome may visit upon them. Such persons often become, for a short while, celebrities…
“Just now I held up the fingers of my hand to you. You saw five fingers. Do you remember that?” “Yes.” O’Brien held up the fingers of his left hand, with the thumb concealed. “There are five fingers there. Do you see five fingers?” “Yes.” And he did see them, for a fleeting instant, before…
The “no-fault” divorce revolution that spread across the Western world was led in the 1970s by members of the cultural, academic, legal and political elites, in particular by radical feminists who made the case for easy divorce as a means of women’s liberation. By declaring marriage to be an oppressive institution, they demanded “no fault”…
The Coalition lost its chance to win the Queensland federal seat of Griffith in a recent by-election, because the Liberal National Party (LNP) candidate Bill Glasson maintained his controversial support for “gay” marriage, according to the Australian Family Association. The Griffith by-election was held on February 8 following the resignation from parliament of former Labor…
The basic story of Liam Magill and the paternity fraud of which he was, and is, a victim is already quite well-known, locally and internationally, as two minutes of Googling on the Internet will show. It is the story of a member of the agreed loser-class, the class comprising perhaps 95 per cent of men…
ROTSELAAR, BELGIUM — I believe that before the Canadian province of Quebec passes its own legislation to legalise euthanasia, it needs to take a good look at Belgium, which recently took legal steps to extend euthanasia to children. After all, my country has more than 10 years of experience. In 2002, when euthanasia was legalised,…
It was overwhelmingly Christians two centuries ago who worked to abolish slavery around the world. Because of the tireless efforts of abolitionists like William Wilberforce, most of the world no longer has to deal with this horrific sin against humanity. However, there are still at least two forms of slavery being practised. Tragically, slavery in…
Founder and director of the pro-euthanasia group Exit International, Dr Philip Nitschke, can’t seem to let a euthanasia debate go by without seizing the headlines. As the South Australian parliament winds down for the year, and with only two possible days for debate of Independent MP Dr Bob Such’s Ending Life with Dignity Bill, Nitschke…
After 10 hours of gruelling and emotionally-charged debate, the latest euthanasia and assisted suicide bill in Tasmania was defeated 13 votes to 11 in the state parliament’s lower house on the evening of Thursday, October 17. The Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill 2013 had been foreshadowed for more than two years. It had been the subject…
Australia’s same-sex marriage lobby is using state and territory bills in an attempt to manoeuvre the federal Coalition government towards granting a so-called “conscience vote” on changing Australia’s Marriage Act. This year alone there have been three such bills — in South Australia, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory. These moves are really…
Plenty of people today have a global positioning system (GPS). This has made the job of getting from one place to another much easier. Of course, these devices are not always foolproof; but generally they are a great help in keeping us on course and getting us to our desired destinations. Without a GPS, or…
Same-sex marriage fundamentally changes not only the legal definition of marriage, but all the social, educational, economic, legal and religious institutions that service and support marriage, family and children. Yet, the lobby pushing for redefining marriage argues that same-sex marriage does no harm to anyone else, so it should be legalised. In the Australian Capital…
“Violence against persons with disabilities is a frequently unrecognised and under-reported problem that has reached epidemic proportions in the United States” — from the website of the Disabled Persons Protection Commission, Commonwealth of Massachusetts. A recently published landmark report I received, entitled Abuse of People with Disabilities: Victims and Their Families Speak Out, didn’t fit…
Most attention on the make-up of the first Abbott ministry dwelt on the “surprise” lack of women in the Cabinet, suggesting that the new government’s honeymoon period will be both extremely short-lived and that it will not be getting any breaks from the media during its first term. Anything that does not sit well with…
The cult of the colossal means kowtowing before the merely “big” — which is thus adequately legitimised as the better and more valuable. It means contempt for what is outwardly small but inwardly great; it is the cult of power and unity, the predilection for the superlative in all spheres of cultural life, yes, even…
A leaflet campaign across a number of east coast electorates defending marriage and children’s rights, organised by supporters of the Australian Family Association (AFA), attracted a strong media interest during the federal election. The AFA has had a long-standing public policy supporting marriage, which is defined in Australian law as the union of one man…
You’ve got to hand it to euthanasia campaigner Dr Philip Nitschke for telling it like it really is. Australia’s state-based euthanasia lobby groups, and the state-based MPs who support them, traditionally argue for limited legislation with so-called safeguards. Dr Nitschke, however, has consistently called for the legalisation of virtually unrestricted euthanasia — save only for…
Once, euthanasia advocacy was supposed to be chiefly concerned about sparing people unnecessary pain and discomfort towards the end of their lives. Pain is really not the issue any longer, if it ever really was. Palliative medicine has developed, particularly in recent years, to a point where virtually all pain can be dealt with. If…
There are plenty of criticisms of, and objections to, the pro-life position. I have dealt with many of them over the years, and I find them easily answerable. A close look at these objections usually shows they are without much value and generally based on fallacious and errant thinking. Here I wish to raise two…
The present political uproar over abortion law in Ireland — one of only three Western European nations, together with Poland and Malta, which continue to ban the practice — seems to have arrived with ferocity. The warning signs, however, are decades-old. Ireland has been abortion-free for as long as anyone can remember. The illegality of…
THE CONSERVATIVE FOUNDATIONS OF THE LIBERAL ORDER: Defending Democracy against Its Modern Enemies and Immoderate Friends by Daniel J. Mahoney (Wilmington, Delaware: ISI Books) Hardcover: 240 pages ISBN: 9781935191001 RRP: AUD$53.90 Reviewed by Trevor Shelley In The Spirit of Liberalism (1978), Harvey C. Mansfield, Jr, professor of government at Harvard University, distinguished between…
Atheist philosopher Bertrand Russell said, “It is through children alone that sexual relations become of importance to society and worthy to be taken cognisance of by a legal institution.” The legal institution of marriage is, as French anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss puts it, “a social institution with a biological foundation”. Our marriage laws and customs exist…
Margaret Court wrote the following letter to The Australian (May 23, 2013) on Kevin Rudd’s recent change of mind on same-sex marriage. To be swayed by a conversation over coffee and change your mind from what you once believed to be the correct moral and ethical position about marriage — as that covenant between a…
Marilyn Lake’s positions and awards Tasmanian-born Professor Marilyn Lake holds a personal chair in the school of history at Melbourne’s La Trobe University, where she was appointed founding director of women’s studies in 1988. She has also held a number of visiting professorial fellowships, including at Stockholm University, the University of Sydney, the University of…
A bill being debated in a Senate inquiry on gender-selection abortion is most timely given the headline in Melbourne’s Sunday Herald Sun (April 28, 2013). It reads: “Couple abort girl because they wanted a boy”. Definition of barbarism: killing a human being simply because selfish adults wanted one of a different sex. Victorian DLP Senator…
Sometimes we appear to be living in a mixed-up world, especially in the way that people think about abortion. If I donate blood to the Red Cross, I can save the life of an unborn child. But if I offer to help a woman who may be having an abortion, I am accused of harassment.…
Two changes are needed for the taxation and family benefits system to improve efficiency and achieve equity between families. The first step is to replace the current complicated family tax benefit payment schemes with a single lump-sum payment per child. All existing family allowances, childcare subsidies, maternity allowances and other concessions for children in the…
So who is responsible for the most deaths ever? The communists? The Nazis? Armies at war? None of these. We now have the rough figures on the cause of the most deaths, and it is not from soldiers, dictators or criminals, but from doctors and those involved in the medical services. Abortion, it appears, is…
Following the South Australian branch of the Australian Medical Association’s recent rejection of the Hon. Dr Bob Such MP’s Ending Life with Dignity Bill in SA, the Tasmanian AMA last month rejected the Voluntary Assisted Dying proposal of Tasmanian Labor Premier Lara Giddings and Greens leader Nick McKim MP. The Hobart Mercury (March 16) cast…
The program for next month’s World Congress of Families (WCF) in Sydney shows that the congress will bring together many of the best thinkers and writers on the natural family, along with leading practitioners and family organisations from Australia and the rest of the world. The program is available on the congress’s website at www.wcfsydney2013.org.au/program.…
Australia’s leading constitutional lawyer has advised that any attempt by the states to legalise same-sex marriage would be inconsistent with the federal Marriage Act and inconsistent with the Commonwealth Constitution. David Jackson QC is considered Australia’s leading constitutional lawyer. Recently, he was asked for a legal opinion by the NSW Department of Attorney-General and Justice…
Western Australian law academic Augusto Zimmermann assesses the destructive impact of radical feminism on Western society, in the following edited extract from a chapter of his widely acclaimed new book, Western Legal Theory: Theory, Concepts and Perspectives (Sydney: LexisNexis Butterworths, 2013). Although the term “feminism” was not coined until the late 19th century, the belief…
A 13-month-old baby was crushed to death under a vehicle containing Chinese government family-planning officials in Dongshantou Village near Wenzhou City, Zhejiang Province, in early February. Eleven officials were attempting to collect a fine from a couple who had allegedly violated China’s one-child policy. According to a China Daily report, the discussion became heated between…
Victorian DLP Senator John Madigan is trying to ensure the issue of abortion is not overlooked by political parties ahead of this year’s federal election. He is introducing a bill to ban Medicare funding for abortions used for sex selection. He explained to The Australian newspaper: “The bill aims to stop Medicare funding for abortions…
Plans are now well advanced for next May’s World Congress of Families in Sydney, where around 2,000 people from around Australia are expected to come together with leading family organisations to discuss how to protect and advance the natural family. Details of the congress can be downloaded from the congress website, www.wcfsydney2013.org.au, and from the…
The Australian newspaper has often published diatribes against “middle-class welfare”, especially from its regular commentators, George Megalogenis, Judith Sloane and various employees of the Institute of Public Affairs (IPA). Many regular readers will no doubt find themselves in agreement with these commentators’ characterisation of “middle-class welfare”, nodding and muttering all the way through. “Why should…
The closing months of 2012 saw a massive media barrage from various pro-euthanasia sources, particularly in the eastern states. The intensity and frequency of calls across the media for voluntary euthanasia and assisted suicide, ranging from personal testimonies to the latest polling results, cannot have been accidental. Those pushing for change are nothing if not…
Recently, I was discussing suicide with a new acquaintance. He was surprisingly open about his views, which, as it happened, largely coincided with my own. The conversation then turned to the question of assisted suicide. I proffered the opinion that, if someone was, say, standing on a precipice and about to leap to their death,…
The Tasmanian Labor government, led by Premier Lara Giddings, has long been pushing for legislation for state-based same-sex marriage. The problem is that any such legislation would be subject to disallowance by the High Court were a challenge to be mounted. The Australian constitution explicitly provides the Commonwealth parliament with the authority to “make laws…
With the strong support of the Greens, Labor governments in Tasmania, South Australia and now the Australian Capital Teritory are pushing to get legislation through at state and territory level, as a means of bypassing the federal parliament where it seems that a majority of MPs and senators will reject same-sex “marriage”. The unpopular Labor…
Two American lawyers, who have helped devise groundbreaking pro-life legislation in their country, toured Australia and New Zealand in August to promote their pioneering approach to saving the unborn. Nikolas T. Nikas and Dorinda C. Bordlee, president and vice-president respectively of the US-based pro-life legal organisation Bioethics Defense Fund (BDF), played a key role in…
Despite economic woes besetting their country, pro-family groups in Spain — headed by Ignacio Arsuaga Rato, founder of a pro-life human rights movement HazteOir.org (roughly translates as “Make you hear”) — organised an inspiring World Congress of Families VI in Madrid, May 25-27. Not only did delegates hear a veritable feast of pro-life and pro-marriage…
GREEN PHILOSOPHY: How to Think Seriously About the Planet by Roger Scruton (London: Atlantic Books) Hardcover: 464 pages ISBN: 9781848870765 RRP: AUD$65.95 Reviewed by Brian J. Coman These days, it is usual for us to associate the term “green philosophy” with “green” politics. Furthermore, we are accustomed to those strict demarcations whereby conservative…
The Crusades are “topical and highly sensitive, given the recent tensions in the Middle East — and the world at large (e.g., the terrorist threat posed by some fundamentalist religious and political factions)”.[1] This is a warning issued to Year 8 Humanities/ Studies of Society and Environment (SOSE) teachers by John Wiley & Sons Australia…
Defenders of marriage must face some hard facts or they are going to lose their fight — and with it, quite possibly, their religious freedom as well. Considerable nonsense has been written by some opponents of same-sex marriage, while some critical truths are not being heard. Confronting the facts can enable us to win not…
My close encounter with feminism was confined to a fortnight during 1982 when I was studying first-year law and a Masters in study avoidance techniques. Gaining credit in the latter, I tucked myself into a cubicle in the University of Queensland’s Duhig Library and listened to hours of cassette recordings of American feminist academics interviewing…
The marriage debate has become so deeply personal and emotional that it can be difficult to approach the issue objectively. The personal dimension of the debate was highlighted at the ALP’s national conference, where ACT Deputy Chief Minister Andrew Barr argued the case for marriage reform on the basis of ending discrimination. “We are not…
On the night of Tuesday, November 22, 2011, at 9:53 pm, the Labor/Greens-controlled Senate passed the “Shared Parenting Rollback” Bill 2011 (Family Law Amendment Bill 2011). Warwick Marsh, head of the Dads4Kids Fatherhood Foundation, said afterwards that the new measures were “nothing more than radical feminist ideologically-based, anti-family legislation that will ensure the destruction of…
I received a phone call a few weeks ago from a 30-year-old dad desperate to be reunited with his 11-month-old son. I had already commenced trying to write my newsletter for the Fatherhood Foundation and really didn’t want to talk to him, but something about his reasoned manner on the phone caught my attention. We…
FROM NEW LEFT TO FACTIONAL LEFT: Fifty Years of Student Activism at Sydney University by Alan Barcan (Melbourne: Australian Scholarly Publishing) Paperback: 250 pages ISBN: 9781921509889 RRP: $44.00 Reviewed by Mervyn F. Bendle In the mid-1970s the New Left in Australia began its “long march through the institutions” to seize power in the…
In her article, “Same-sex marriage agenda to subvert marital fidelity” (News Weekly, August 20, 2011), Babette Francis highlights one of the serious risks that the gay rights agenda poses for traditional marriage and its important role in society. The Greens, exploiting their crucial support for the Gillard minority Labor Government, are likely to continue their…
In addressing the Family Law Legislation Amendment (Family Violence and Other Measures) Bill 2011, I have come to understand how the citizens of Troy must have felt when they were greeted with the gift of a giant wooden horse, because this bill is not what it appears. It is a Trojan horse. Just like the…
The Gillard Government is poised to roll back a number of the “shared parenting” provisions that the Howard Government introduced to the Family Law Act in 2006. These were to ensure that children of divorced couples could, wherever suitable, continue to enjoy a meaningful relationship, and spend significant periods of time, with both their parents.…
In a victory for freedom of speech, association and religion, the new Liberal-National Party government in Victoria has moved to repeal the previous Brumby Labor Government’s changes to the state’s Equal Opportunity Act, which greatly restricted freedom of religion. Last year, the state Labor Government’s attorney-general Rob Hulls initiated a new Equal Opportunity Act, which…
My late husband, Charles Francis, AM, QC, during the course of his legal career acted for defendants in 48 murder trials. He would often be asked by naïve acquaintances: “How can you defend a man you know is guilty?” Charles would reply good-humouredly “Well, I don’t know that he is guilty unless he confesses and…
When one harkens back to Rome one is usually met with consistent comparisons to political ideals, military glory or the decadence and immorality of the upper classes in the late republican and imperial periods. Very rarely, however, is the focus on the economy that made the wealth of the Roman Republic possible in the third…
On New Year’s Day, the Gillard Labor Government’s so-called “paid parental leave” scheme came into force. It has attracted considerable protest from some employers because of the cost and pointless inconvenience to which it will put them. They would protest much more stridently, however, if they realised how the scheme is pre-programmed to evolve. Under…
There are many thousands of studies which have appeared over the past four to five decades showing quite clearly how absolutely important biological mothers and fathers are to the well-being of their children. Study after study has shown that no other factor is more vital to the healthy development of children than having a mum…
Some four decades ago, while few were paying attention, the Western world embarked on the boldest social experiment in its history. With no public discussion of the possible consequences, laws were enacted in virtually every jurisdiction that effectively ended marriage as a legal contract. Today it is not possible to form a binding agreement to…
During the third week in September, heads of state and leaders of the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and other entities, some of them larger and more powerful than many sovereign states, gathered at a United Nations summit in New York to discuss the implementation and interpretation of the so-called Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).…
Families want government support to raise their children as they please, and to have time together over the Sunday roast. However, today, when parents are run off their feet working and looking after their kids, both sides of politics are bent on getting more married women with children into paid work and away from their…
In the old days the enemies of the free and democratic West could resort to violent revolution to overthrow capitalism, democracy and other objects deemed to be deserving of destruction. Social change by the barrel of the gun was a preferred way of radical social upheaval and revolution. Judge Vaughn R. Walker But Marxists and…
There are plenty of reasons why we should not confuse same-sex marriage with the real thing. Marriage is a universal and historical institution which serves tremendous social purposes. It regulates human sexuality, and it procures the well-being of any offspring from the sexual union. Thus it is not a mere private matter, but a vitally…
A special report In Sweden, 81.3 per cent of children are in part-time or full-time day-care. This statistic should serve as a warning of how disastrous for Australian families is paid parental leave (PPL), which discriminates heavily against stay-at-home mothers. In Australia today, only about 30 per cent of babies and toddlers are in day-care.…
As News Weekly goes to press (June 16), the Australian Senate has adjourned debate on the Rudd Government’s proposed paid parental leave scheme. However, comments from Liberal Senator Sue Boyce indicate that the bill will pass the upper house with the support of both Liberal and Labor senators, contrary to concerns expressed by the Prime…
Children will suffer discrimination based on the workforce status of their parents if the Rudd Labor Government’s draft paid parental leave (PPL) bill is enacted. PPL would give families on two full-time incomes an average of $2,000 more per pregnancy than single-income families who get the baby bonus. I, along with a number of like-minded…
A brand new survey of what women really want concerning paid maternity leave is most revealing. Contrary to the usual line that basically all women want a paid career, with perhaps family thrown in on the side, this new Galaxy poll finds overwhelming support for the importance of stay-at-home mothering. Commissioned by the Australian Family…
Recently, federal Opposition leader Tony Abbott unilaterally announced that the federal Coalition, if elected, would implement one of the most extravagant paid parental leave (PPL) schemes in the world. Women in the paid workforce will receive six months’ maternity leave on a government maternity wage at their full pre-leave pay-rate, up to $150,000 per annum…
By a two-to-one margin, Australians want equal parenting payments for all mums with new babies, in place of the discriminatory Rudd and Abbott paid parental leave schemes. Overwhelmingly, 64 per cent of Australians want paid parental leave to be made available to all new mothers, whether they are stay-at-home or paid workforce mothers. The findings…
Australian family law, the Family Law Act and the Family Court all have a lot to answer for. They have regularly and systematically treated fathers with contempt and derision, depriving them of the most basic of human rights, including the right to see their own children after the breakdown of a marriage. A devastating critique…
Sex education programs that encourage children to remain celibate can persuade a significant number to delay sexual activity, according to a landmark study funded by a federal grant from the US government. Only a third of the 6th and 7th grade American students who participated in an abstinence-only program started having sex in the next…
Overwhelmingly, Australians want childcare payments made to all families, and they want all mothers to receive the same amount from the government whey they have a child. Currently, childcare payments are paid only to women with paid jobs who put their children in childcare centres; childcare payments discriminate heavily against mothers who raise their children…
A recent Melbourne newspaper article carried this headline: “Boys lack role models.” The piece began with these words: “A decline in the number of male teachers is being blamed for rising youth violence. Just 28 per cent of state schoolteachers are men, down from 32 per cent 10 years ago. “Youth crime has soared in…
The Surrogacy Bill 2009, passed by the Queensland Parliament, by 45 votes to 36 on February 11, should have been about altruistic surrogacy as a “last resort” for an infertile couple. But no, under that respectable cloak this new act has smuggled in a radical proposal to deprive children of their birthright – their fundamental…
This article is from a presentation by William L. Saunders, Jr, director of the Centre for Human Life and Bioethics, Family Research Council, at the fifth World Congress of Families, held in Amsterdam in August 2009. I would like to focus upon a matter many ordinary people consider to be of primary importance in ordinary…
According to leaks to the media, Australian children less than two years old, whose parents are separated, will be prevented from spending much time with their father. Information from the Australian Institute of Family Studies’ “Shared Parenting Study” – and the report into domestic violence and family law compiled by ex-Family Court judge Richard Chisholm…
This article is from a presentation by William L. Saunders, Jr, director of the Centre for Human Life and Bioethics, Family Research Council, at the fifth World Congress of Families, held in Amsterdam in August 2009. I would like to focus upon a matter many ordinary people consider to be of primary importance in ordinary…
Similar to Labor luminaries Julia Gillard and John Sutton, I also had a working-class upbringing and our family home was dominated by left-wing values. We lived on a housing commission estate in the northern Melbourne suburb of Broadmeadows, Dad was a member of the Australian Communist Party and I was enrolled in the Eureka Youth…
Impassioned calls for same-sex marriage have left some of our MPs perilously prone to well-intentioned confusion. Before they redefine a fundamental institution of human civilisation, our elected representatives would do well to consider why marriage exists at all. Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young has put forward a bill which would redefine the institution of marriage to…
Five hundred people from around Australia gathered in Canberra at the Great Hall of Parliament House on August 13 to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the passage of the Howard Government’s Marriage Amendment Act, designed to uphold the traditional definition of marriage as being between a man and a woman. The Canberra gathering also saw…
Cohabitation before marriage or engagement is a significant risk factor for divorce, and predicts lower marriage quality, according to a new study published in the American Psychological Association’s Journal of Family Psychology. The study serves as a stark wake-up call for young couples at a time when the incidence of pre-marital cohabitation continues to rise.…
Prime targets of pro-abortion ideologues are sidewalk counsellors outside abortion clinics who seek to dissuade women from going ahead with an abortion. David Perrin reports. Killing of the unborn has recently been decriminalised in Victoria, following the example of the Australian Capital Territory and Western Australia. It is expected that in the future other states…
Why have stay-at-home mothers and home-based child-rearing been so consistently undervalued? Distinguished American social commentator and family activist Dr Allan Carlson finds some unexpected answers in history and economics. Contemporary issues surrounding family life, gender roles and child-care usually generate controversy. Accordingly, it is important to remember that the “collision” between home and work –…
The institutions of marriage and family are barely recognisable in Sweden today, writes Bill Muehlenberg. There are plenty of countries in the West which have promoted secular, leftist ideologies and have embraced radical social engineering. And these utopian schemers are quite happy to use the coercive powers of the state to enforce their radical objectives.…
How much more abuse can we take as a culture before society can no longer function or continue, asks Bill Muehlenberg. The dramatic erosion of marriage and the explosion of out-of-control sexuality are not without their devastating consequences. Many acute observers have noted this. In 1968, Will and Ariel Durant warned in their important book…
Citizens in three American states have voted to prevent traditional marriage from being redefined, reports John Elsegood. The greatest threat to marriage and family is the attempt to legalise same-sex marriage, according to Lynn Wardle, law professor from Brigham Young University in Utah. He warned the October national conference of the Australian Family Association in the…
Bill Muehlenberg asks whether paid maternity leave is merely a cynical means to help businesses get their female employees back to paid work as soon as possible. There are two main questions to ask about any paid maternity leave scheme. First, who pays for it? And, second, how long should it extend for? Perhaps most…
US Senator John Edwards has admitted to having an extramarital affair while his wife was dying of cancer. However, what is even more indefensible, writes Bill Muehlenberg, is that many people are prepared to justify his behaviour. For millennia, the institution of marriage was viewed as a solemn covenant, involving strong obligations and commitment. Recently, however,…
A controversial Same-Sex Relationships Bill, designed to afford lesbian de facto partners the same legal status as biological fathers, was passed by the New South Wales Parliament on June 4. On the eve of this vote, Mary-Louise Fowler, NSW president of the Australian Family Association, spoke against the bill at a Dads4kids forum held at…
The Rudd Government speaks incessantly about working families. The recent federal Budget was all about working families. Government policy is aimed at working families. So just who and what exactly are these working families? Bill Muehlenberg reports. Certain terms are simply government code-words, or euphemisms, for politically correct ideologies. That is certainly the case with the…
Denise Mountenay A leading Canadian pro-life activist Denise Mountenay toured Australia recently. Raped at the tender age of 13 many years ago, a young Canadian girl was so filled with self-loathing that she turned to drink, drugs and promiscuity to numb her feelings. At the age of 16 she had her first abortion. Today, however,…
Husbands have no protection from paternity fraud, thanks to legal rulings by the Family Court and High Court, writes Charles Francis QC. At a public function where Sir Owen Dixon, then Chief Justice of our High Court, was present, a guest remarked to him that he must feel very proud to have administered justice for…
Traditionalists denounced as “literacy warriors” THE LITERACY WARS:Why teaching children to read and write is a battleground in Australiaby Ilana Snyder(Sydney: Allan & Unwin)Paperback: 256 pagesRec. price: $32.95 Anyone who presumes to write a book on literacy is tempting fate, because everything they say will be scrutinised with the eye of pedantry. Ilana Snyder, an…
Will existing government family benefits be maintained by the new Rudd Labor Government, or will they be re-allocated to institutionalised child-care? John Morrissey reports. Finance Minister Lindsey Tanner has the unenviable task of having to find more than $10 billion in cuts to the federal Budget. This is argued to be necessary to lessen the…
Australia should brace itself for the group-marriage debate, warns Bill Muehlenberg. Dumb ideas have the propensity to spawn more dumb ideas. Reckless social engineering tends to result in even more radical social changes. Give the radicals an inch and they will demand a light year. Such is the nature of the never-ending radical agenda. Call…
Has the Howard Government really boosted working families’ incomes, asks John Morrissey. Howard Government boosts the working family’s income! This unlikely-sounding scenario is true for single-income families with children and earning low take-home wages. In fact, the $25,000 a year gross wages of a breadwinner with two children and a carer/spouse, is topped up to…
Bill Muehlenberg warns that the battle to preserve marriage in Australia is far from over, as various state Labor governments attempt to establish alternative “relationship registers”. Homosexuals continue to demand special rights. The simple truth, however, is that, as individuals, homosexuals already enjoy all the rights and benefits that others do. It is when the…
Man’s inhumanity to man GENOCIDE: A Historyby William D. Rubinstein(London: Pearson Longman)Hardcover: 336 pagesRec. price: AUD$59.95 The now familiar word, “genocide”, was coined during World War II by Polish-Jewish legal expert, Raphael Lemkin (1900-59), who had earlier investigated barbarities inflicted upon two Middle Eastern Christian minorities: the Turkish massacre of the Armenians during World War…
Think of modern research in human biology as a journey up the slopes of a huge mountain – Mount Improbable. Here, science has mastered all medical ‘problems’ – the human genetic code and every aspect of human physiology. There are limitless possibilities – indefinite prolongation of life, ‘designer’ babies, human-animal hybrids, bionic limbs, and computerised…
A new conservative women’s activist group has arisen on U.S. college campuses, the Network of Enlightened Women (NeW). It is a very different breed to feminist groups marching for “Choice” (abortion rights) or “Diversity” (lesbian rights). NeW activists bake chocolate-chip cookies and protest against campus productions of Eve Ensler’s The Vagina Monologues – a sexually-explicit…
A principal of a Melbourne Islamic school said his sex education classes will not include discussion about “safe sex” because it encourages promiscuity. Islamic schools in Australia have united to ensure that Muslim children reject the “safe sex” message purveyed through most Australian schools, and to ensure that children are taught that sexual activity should…
Non-marital cohabiting couples spend more money on themselves and less on their children than do married couples, a recent US study has found. Though the chattering classes generally view it as a fully acceptable substitute for marriage, non-marital cohabitation offers little to children. For cohabiting parents typically part with so much of their money at…
Men’s groups are disappointed that the Government’s amendments to family law don’t go far enough, writes John Hirst. In June 2003, Prime Minister John Howard declared family law was not working well because too many children were growing up without contact with their fathers. The various men’s groups around the country hoped that finally they…
A Victorian Government human rights committee has misleadingly claimed that an overwhelming majority of Victorians are demanding a charter of rights, says Bill Muehlenberg. The Victorian Human Rights Consultation Committee has recently released its report, Rights, Responsibilities and Respect. This is the outcome of a recent public inquiry into the supposed need for a bill…
Australian family law considers an adolescent of 16 to be fully adult. But if his parents divorce and then abandon him, he has no legal redress, writes Susan Reibel Moore. Under Australian family law, a post-divorce court settlement can often result in the innocent party, often the father, effectively being denied access to his children.…
Sir, Almost 30 years after the enactment of the Family Law Act 1975, Australia has suffered a five-fold disaster: a divorce epidemic; a half stolen generation; fathers dispossessed of their property, children and a large part of their income on an ongoing basis; a lower level of achievement but increased drug abuse and higher crime…
Diagnosing the Bridget Jones syndrome THE MISEDUCATION OF WOMENby James TooleyChicago: Ivan R. Dee. Paperback RRP: A$39.95 This is a book that will no doubt cause many feminists to have angina and fits of apoplexy – especially as it’s written by a man. Many others who read it will find a refreshing counterpoint to feminist…
Businessmen who are caught committing corporate fraud or insider trading are exposed and punished – with fines, jail or both – and rightly so. However, women who commit paternity fraud, i.e. deceive their husbands about the paternity of “their” children, appear to get away with it and seem to have the Victorian Women’s Legal Service…
Dr Kerrie Allen examines what makes women choose to have or not to have children. Australian women are having more babies, according to recent Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data. More than 133,000 were born in the six months to September last year – the biggest six-month total in the past 14 years. This increase…
The “no-fault” principle enshrined in Australia’s Family Law Act has had a devastating impact on the status of marriage and the family, writes Babette Francis. The Federal Government is optimistic that changes to the Child Support Agency and the new Family Relationship Centres will reduce the animosity between divorcing couples. However, just as geologists and…
No-fault divorce has not yet led to no-fault weddings. Marriage services are now very varied, but in one form or another the couple make a commitment to each other. So far there are no services where the couples declare: “I promise you nothing” or “I will leave when I like”. These would be the words…
Children adopted from overseas should be taken into intact families in which both parents are married, says the Australian Family Association (AFA). The House of Representatives is currently conducting an inquiry into the laws governing adoption of children from overseas. In Australia, laws on adoption (including overseas adoption) are state matters, and are influenced by…
Australia’s Dolly magazine, with its “Perve Alerts” followed by condom and pill advice for young teenagers, is not the place you’d expect to find an article promoting virginity. But the November 2004 edition of Dolly showed six “cool” young women aged 16-23 who were all virgins and proud of it. Anna McCoy (17) said: “I…
Dear Mr Latham, You are blamed for the ALP defeat on October 9, but my view is you were seduced by the Greens, gays and gender-feminists, who took advantage of your inexperience. The gays, for instance: did you really believe the Kinsey nonsense that they are 10 per cent of the population, when surveys have…
Australia’s falling birth-rate, the need to protect children from Internet pornography, family law and divorced fathers’ custody rights, and the media’s antagonism to family values were some of the issues discussed at the recent National Conference of the Australian Family Association. The conference, which was held at Melbourne’s Bayview Conference Centre on August 28, featured…
The Marriage Amendment Bill 2004 finally passed the Senate on August 13, by 38 votes to 6, with the Labor Party voting with the Government in favour of the traditional definition of marriage. The Bill upholds “the union of a man and a woman to the exclusion of all others, voluntarily entered into for life.”…
In June 2003, the Supreme Court of Ontario changed the common law definition of marriage to accommodate same-sex couples. News Weekly reported that this finding had grave implications for Australia. The passage of the Marriage Amendment Bill 2004 has forestalled this particular threat to marriage. It will preclude any recognition by Australian officials or judges…
I have just been through the Family Court. I was not a principal in the case; I was appointed by the court to supervise my friend Steve when he saw his children. His wife claimed he was a danger to them. My job was to watch him closely and to end the access and remove…
DAY CARE DECEPTION, by Brian C. RobertsonEncounter Books, Rec price: $33.00 We are currently witnessing a grand social experiment, the results of which are not fully in as yet. But the social science evidence so far is not good. We are allowing an entire generation of babies and young children to be raised by strangers.…
Contemporary feminists deny the vital role mothers play in the healthy development of babies and children. Organisations such as the Australian Institute of Family Studies try hard to pretend that mothers are interchangeable with “stay-at-home Dads” (a species that has never numbered more than a few) or with “community child-care centres” where even small babies…
Sir, The World Congress of the Family has identified some key issues in relation to family breakdowns. Taxation is the main cause of family financial difficulties and that arises from the following: Governments are made up of elected politicians whose main aim is to stay in parliament a long time and get the maximum superannuation…
Verbal engineering, it has been said, usually precedes social engineering. Soften up a people to new definitions of commonly accepted values, and soon they will be softened up to major changes in law and social custom. It is in this context that we are to understand the move by the Prime Minster to strengthen our…
The Australian Family Association-sponsored report by Monash researcher Dr Bob Birrell, showing that a growing underclass of low-income males is behind the decline in marriage and fertility, has received widespread coverage by Australia’s major, and many smaller, media outlets. It has also challenged the dominant idea that Australia’s declining fertility is because of insufficient support…
Dr Wade Horn, Assistant Secretary for Children and Families in the US Department of Health and Human Services, gave an outstanding presentation to the Australian Family Association at the Thomas More Centre in Melbourne on the vital, but neglected, role of fathers in families. This is an edited version of his talk. I must confess…
The Prime Minister’s comments earlier this year about values systems in public schooling have been the catalyst for a long-running debate on private versus public education. As he spoke in general terms, it is not surprising to read comments and examples from individual schools around the country alleging errors in the PM’s thinking. It must…
The fundamental definition in Australian law of marriage as “the union of a man and a woman to the exclusion of all others, voluntarily entered into for life” is under attack from a number of directions. The Australian Democrats and the Australian Greens have already moved and voted for an amendment to the Marriage Act…
Bill Muehlenberg, National Vice President of the Australian Family Association, discusses the evidence which shows that stable marriage encourages good parenting, and vice versa. My thesis is simple. If you are concerned about the decline of fatherhood, you should be concerned about the decline of marriage. The two are closely related, and when we do…
Pro-family activists have been warning for years now about how gay activists are using our schools to indoctrinate children. Often this comes in the guise of sex education programs. As a recent example, consider an item from the Herald Sun (29 October). In an article entitled, “Sex survey shocks,” there was a story about a…
Will amendments to the Marriage Act be needed to head off judicial attempts to dilute the meaning of marriage? Richard Egan examines the issue. The fundamental definition in Australian law of marriage as “the union of a man and a woman to the exclusion of all others, voluntarily entered into for life” is under attack…
The National Conference of the Australian Family Association, held in Adelaide early this month, called for reform of the Family Law Act to protect children, and amendment to the Marriage Act to preserve the unique status of marriage as “the union of a man and a woman to the exclusion of all others voluntarily entered…
* Almost every human culture has had a recognisable form of marriage. * Marriages existed even before states acknowledged or regulated them. * Marriage is both a public act and a social institution. * Marriage is not just a purely private or personal arrangement. * The institution of marriage has always had two main purposes:…
Perhaps the most disconcerting item on the gay agenda is the desire to equate same-sex relationships with normal marriage and family life. In this the gay lobby has been quite successful. For example, during the International Year of the Family, the Government refused to even try to define what it meant by the term “family”…
The lobbying by Sophie Panopoulos, federal Liberal Member for Indi, for family income-splitting ( “Putting family first”, Melbourne’s Herald Sun, June 25, 2003) represents the best opportunity pro-family organisations have had in years to achieve taxation justice for families. Not since the efforts of South Australian Liberal MP, Ian Wilson, ten years ago, has the…
In an extraordinary judgement delivered on June 10, 2003, the three member Court of Appeal for Ontario has, on its own authority, redefined the common law definition of marriage from being “the voluntary union for life of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others” to now be “the voluntary union for…
Those who oppose giving homosexual partnerships the status of marriage, generally do so on the grounds that throughout history marriage has been recognised as a union between a man and a woman, a covenant which is publicly recognised by society in the interests of the couple, their children and society itself. However a new threat…
One of the smaller and least publicised items in Peter Costello’s eighth budget was funding to help alleviate the consequences of divorce in Australia. One program aims to help men learn skills to be better fathers, stepfathers, husbands and ex-husbands, another aims to help couples improve their relationships skills. A third program aims to help…
The close alliance between US President Bush and Australian Prime Minister John Howard on Iraq and in dealing with terrorism does not appear to extend to social issues. Bush is unapologetically pro-life, and in January addressed via TV the pro-life march in Washington DC mourning the 30th anniversary of the US Supreme Court decision in…
How well are families in Australia doing? Are governments taking their role in setting the conditions for marriages and families to flourish? In the latest issue of the Journal of Urban Economics there appears an article with the title: “Waiting for Mr Right: rising inequality and declining marriage rates” (Volume 53, Issue 2, Pages 257-281,…
A new taxpayer-funded booklet put by the Victorian Government for young people has attracted widespread criticism. The 62-page booklet, entitled Am I Old Enough?, is meant to be a guidebook on the law for Victorian young people. Over 225,000 copies of the booklet were sent to 546 Victorian secondary schools. Produced by Victoria Legal Aid,…
Clyde Cameron, one of the most prominent leaders of the labour movement in Australia for many decades, and a former Minister for Labor in the Whitlam Government, recently gave the response to an address by Peter Westmore to a National Civic Council function in South Australia. Tonight we are in the presence of Peter Westmore,…
In Melbourne’s Herald Sun (October 7, 2002) word wizard Andrew Bolt struck with a bolt of lightning at the ALP’s affirmative action policies (a 40 per cent female preselection quota for women in winnable seats) by somewhat facetiously suggesting that the higher percentage of women who are susceptible to the blandishments of witchcraft meant that…
Over several months Mark Crutcher, executive director of Life Dynamics, a pro-life organisation based in Texas, conducted an investigation into the issue of teen pregnancy. He found underage girls, some as young as 10, were being sexually exploited by adult men in numbers unprecedented in American history. Among girls 15 and younger who become pregnant,…
Federal Labor’s progress in moving on after its third successive defeat is increasingly a case of a platoon marching one step forward and two steps back. While only the most optimistic Labor stalwarts were expecting a significant “bounce” from trading in Kim Beazley for Simon Crean, the Opposition has simply been drifting and clearly would…
Tweedledum and Tweedledee agreed to have a battle!For Tweedledum said Tweedledee had spoiled his nice new rattle. An absence of rattles notwithstanding, the state election campaigns of both Liberal and Labor lacked anything that might have offered the voting public of South Australia a clear choice at the February 9 poll. While the combined primary…
At the Australian Family Association’s Queensland Conference last month, Peter Westmore identified a number of economic and demographic developments that are poised to shape – often detrimentally – Australian family life over the next decades. Three years ago, the Federal MP, Kevin Andrews, co-authored a book called Changing Australia, which documented the changes which have…
Bill Muehlenberg of the Australian Family Association appeared before a Senate Committee inquiring into IVF access for single women. A report has been released by the Senate Legal and Constitutional Committee following its inquiry held late last year into IVF access for singles and same-sex couples. The inquiry was launched after Justice Sundberg of the…
American writer Maggie Gallagher has distilled ten good reasons why marriage works from the mountain of empirical evidence she has accumulated in her new book The Case for Marriage (available from News Weekly Books for $33 plus p&h). When people debate the value of marriage, most attention focuses on the potential harm to children of…
Sir, I applaud the decision to publish a Special Edition of News Weekly (January 13, 2001) against the economic rationalists who favour the globalisation of corporate capitalism, thus enabling foreign multinational corporations to shift Australian industries to the cheap labour costs of Asia. Not only has this resulted in mass unemployment, but globalisation is allowing…
Professor Roger Short of Melbourne University has recently argued that condoms, the contraceptive pill and the morning-after pill should be freely distributed to school children aged 13 and over in an attempt to curb teenage pregnancy and abortions. The reproduction specialist from the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology said that Australia has one of the…
Bill Muehlenberg, the National Secretary of the Australian Family Association, looks at a new book which details the results of a long-term study of the effects of divorce on children. Judith Wallerstein’s The Unexpected Legacy of Divorce will not make feminists and libertines happy, but it may result in happier children. Wallerstein has been tracking…
Bill Muehlenberg, National Secretary of the Australian Family Association, attended the recent conference of the Australian Institute of Family Studies. This is what he saw. The seventh biennial national conference of the Australian Institute of Family Studies was held in Sydney in late July. The AIFS, which was established as part of the Family Law…
Dr David van Gend is Queensland Branch Secretary of the World Federation of Doctors Who Respect Human Life. Baby J shall not grow old, as we that remain, grow old; age shall not weary her, nor the years condemn. She died at 22 weeks of age after crying for an hour for her mother in…
Lucy Sullivan, from the Centre for Independent Studies, looks at possible reasons for the huge increase in prescription drugs being used to treat Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) has assumed the character of an epidemic – an epidemic of a psychopathology – among primary school children in the course of the…
On January 29 this year, the Sydney Morning Herald reported Prime Minister John Howard’s Federation Address with a blazing front page banner headline. “PM FLAGS FAMILY CRUSADE” it announced. Exactly five years earlier, Melbourne’s Sunday Herald Sun ran a John Howard “family” story upon the eve of his return to the Liberal leadership. Its headline…
American economist Dr Maria Sophia Aguirre describes how after two decades of indifference and even hostility to the nuclear family, policy makers are having second thoughts. Maria Sophia Aguirre, Ph.D. is an associate professor in the Department of Economics and Business, the Catholic University of America, Washington, DC In this century the United States, as…
At the World Congress of Families II held last November in Geneva, Dr Bruce Hafen argued that women are the agents of civilisation. We are now living through the biggest change in attitudes and laws about the family in five centuries. Writing recently in the Atlantic Monthly, Frances Fukyama regards today’s family disintegration as a…
“The largest single immediate cause of marriage breakdown is economic pressure which brings about distortions in family living patterns.”— B. A. Santamaria Australian families are suffering from a steady decline of incomes, rising unemployment and replacement of full-time with part-time jobs. This has forced large numbers of women with dependent children into the paid workforce.…