Category: politics


Slanging match on asylum policy

Filed under: asylum seekers, politics, refugees — Leave a comment
February 8, 2012
Acting Prime Minister Wayne Swan

The tragic loss of life from the latest asylum seeker boat to sink off the Indonesian coast has led to yet another slanging match between ministers of the Gillard Government and their Opposition counterparts.

Acting Prime Minister Wayne Swan says he’s open to talks with Opposition Leader Tony Abbott, while Mr Abbott is delighted Labor is actively considering reopening the Nauru detention centre set up by the former Howard Government – but at a significant initial and ongoing cost to the Australian taxpayer.

The Australian Christian Lobby has weighed in on the debate with a strong endorsement of offshore processing – a policy that many churches argue is unjust and inhospitable, not to mention potentially unconstitutional.

Everyone has a right to seek asylum, and Australia has a right to process and deport those who fail to meet our strict refugee and security standards.

But we have a higher responsibility to treat all people with respect and dignity, and playing politics with the lives of vulnerable people frankly disgusts ordinary Australians.

Broadcast on 2CH Sydney, 25 December 2011.

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Strong support for marriage petition

Filed under: marriage, politics, same-sex marriage — Leave a comment
December 2, 2011

Even I was astonished to hear that, in just six weeks, the Australian Marriage Forum petition, urging the Labor Party to keep its election promise not to introduce same sex marriage, has attracted more than 100,000 signatures.

The marriage petition, organised by the Australian Christian Lobby and the Australian Family Association, gives a sense of the strength of feeling in the community about the importance of retaining the current definition of marriage.

Australian Workers Union national secretary Paul Howes said on Wednesday “There is no consensus in the community on this issue.” 

Well, I think he’s wrong – there’s a large groundswell of ordinary Australians out there who feel strongly about this, and don’t want politicians and activists fiddling with our most basic social institutions.

It’s time we all put this peripheral issue behind us, and got on with the serious business of debating and tackling the issues that really matter in this great country of ours – like jobs, productivity, asylum and gambling reform.

Broadcast on 2CH Sydney, 4 December 2011.

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Time to stop the pokies rip-off

Filed under: gambling, politics, social justice — Leave a comment
November 4, 2011

On Thursday I joined Australian church leaders in Canberra to demonstrate our united support for poker machine reform in opposition to the powerful pokies lobby organised by clubs and hotels, which make their profit from revenue ripped from the wallets of problem gamblers.

The Australian Churches Gambling Taskforce welcomes the historic opportunity for poker machine reform provided by Tasmanian independent MP Andrew Wilkie – the culmination of years of research, policy development and advocacy.

Only around 15 per cent of Australians regularly participate in any form of gambling, but one in ten gamblers are classified as problem gamblers, and pokies account for 75-80 per cent of problem gambling.

Ordinary Australians understand this.  Most Australian politicians understand this.  But the forces of vested interest, represented by Australia’s clubs and pubs, are so powerful and influential.  That’s why local churches, and individual Christians, have a responsibility to speak out and take action on gambling reform.  It’s is about consumer protection and public health.

It’s time for poker machine reform.  It’s time to stop the pokies rip-off.

Broadcast on 2CH Sydney, 6 November 2011.

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The Berlin Wall turns 50

Filed under: ideology, politics, war — Leave a comment
August 15, 2011

Like many visitors to Berlin, I’ve stepped across the line in the pavement near the Brandenburg Gate, where the Berlin Wall once stood, and I’ve taken photographs of the forlorn section of wall that still stands as a memorial to the most powerful symbol of the Cold War and the Iron Curtain.

This weekend marks the 50th anniversary of the Berlin Wall, the infamous concrete-and-barbed-wire barrier that cut a beautiful city in two, separating families, communities and worldviews from 1961 to 1989.

Described by East Germany as “The Anti-Fascist Protection Rampart,” and by West Germany as “The Wall of Shame,” it was built to stop East Germans defecting to the West. By 1961, over 2.5 million East Germans had sought refuge in West Germany, and over the next 28 years only 5,000 succeeded – with up to 700 dying in the attempt.

Among other things, the Berlin Wall reminds us that political solutions often don’t solve our biggest problems; and that human freedom can be denied and suppressed, but never extinguished. The things that unite us are far more important than the things that divide.

Broadcast on 2CH Sydney, Sunday 14 August 2011.

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Julia Gillard a “cultural traditionalist”

Filed under: morality, politics, politics and faith — Leave a comment
May 17, 2011

Prime Minister Julia Gillard.

To the surprise of many of the Labor faithful, and indeed to the surprise and delight of many people of faith, Prime Minister Julia Gillard revealed to the nation this week that she is a “cultural traditionalist.”

Ms Gillard said she was raised in “a quite conservative family” in Adelaide, and her parents instilled in her values of politeness, thrift, fortitude, duty and diligence.

On key social issues, Ms Gillard’s personal stance is far from progressive, and far from the Greens’ agenda.

On same sex marriage, she takes a conservative view “because of the way our society is, and how we got here.”  On euthanasia, she says she has never been satisfied that policy proposals from pro-euthanasia advocates had enough safeguards.

And she wants all Australians to better understand the Bible, arguing that the biblical stories are foundational to Western literature and have shaped our culture.

Of course, people on both sides of the political divide are justifiably suspicious of the rationale for these new revelations.  We shall have to wait and see how this plays out in Parliament, and at the Labor National Conference.

Broadcast on 2CH Sydney, 27 March 2011.

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