Religion & Ethics Australia Daily

A twice-weekly public affairs review from the Centre for Christian Ethics, Morling College

No. 010, 16-18 November 2004  ² compiled by Rod Benson

News reports

Aboriginal issues

The principle of mutual obligation will guide the Howard government’s plans for overhauling the provision of services to indigenous communities and shape its broader welfare agenda. AFR 17 Nov 04

Abortion

Senior pro-choice MPs have strongly criticised federal Health Minister Tony Abbott over his push to reduce the number of abortions in Australia. Fellow Liberal MP Alan Cadman said he was dropping any plans to introduce a private member’s bill on abortion. Aust 16 Nov 04

The Australian’s science editor, Leigh Dayton, “strips back the moral and ethical concerns to reveal what we are arguing about” on abortion. Aust 16 Nov 04

Prime Minister John Howard has quashed debate within the government on abortion, with federal cabinet endorsing his view that there should be a parliamentary inquiry into the issue. SMH 16 Nov 04

Health Minister Tony Abbott has refused to guarantee he is not exploiting his position to advance his anti-abortion views. SMH 18 Nov 04

Animal rights

The powerful lobby group, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, has made it clear that to call off its boycott of Australian wool, Australia must end the $1 billion a year live sheep export trade and the practice of mulesing young lambs. Aust 17 Nov 04

Bioethics – stem cells

In a world first, embryonic stem cells will be given away without commercial restriction by Monash University-based Stem Cell Sciences “for the good of mankind.” Worldwide, more than 70 stem cell lines exist for research but fewer than 20 are thought to be usable. All have some sort of commercial restriction on their use to protect the intellectual property of the researchers, because stem cell research is expensive. SMH 16 Nov 04

Catholicism

Ten years ago, Diana Duyser, 52, of Hollywood, Florida, discovered what she believes was the face of the Virgin Mary staring back at her from the surface of her grilled cheese sandwich. But now the toasted likeness, preserved in a cotton wool-lined box, is on the market to the highest bidder on eBay. “I just hope she goes to a good home,” Mrs Duyser said. Aust 18 Nov 04

Censorship

The decision to give an X18+ rating to 9 Songs, directed by Michael Winterbottom, was the censor’s most ludicrous decision in two decades, film critic Margaret Pomeranz said yesterday. The film, which explores the relationship between a young London couple, includes 35 minutes of unsimulated sex between two actors. SMH 16 Nov 04

Civil disobedience

Legal secretary Rebecca Turner is planning a “don’t pay day” for Sydney rail commuters next Monday to send a message to the Carr government that commuters were fed up with unreliable trains. Participants could face $200 fines, but transit officers are unlikely to implement the enforcement. Aust 16 Nov 04; SMH 16 Nov 04

Corporate governance

Publicly ranking companies on their corporate governance practices was an effective way of improving compliance, head of the Canadian Coalition for Good Governance, David Beatty, said yesterday. Rating companies on their governance and publishing the scores had made a huge difference in convincing recalcitrant directors to adopt best practice, he said. AFR 17 Nov 04

Economics

William Coleman, lecturer in the school of economics at the Australian National University, reflects on Robert Manne’s recent revelations of his transition from conservative to liberal economic views, in particular his approach to economic rationalism, and questions whether ideology matters at all. Aust 18 Nov 04

Energy

Buoyed by the re-election of George W. Bush, whose administration has pushed to expand nuclear power as part of its national energy plan, the nuclear power industry is laying the groundwork to build new plants in the US for the first time in 20 years. AFR 16 Nov 04

Environment

Large tracts of native NSW vegetation will be protected from bulldozing by farmers under controversial new controls on broad-scale land clearing to come into force early next year. SMH 16 Nov 04

NSW Premier Bob Carr has defended the possible construction of a new coal-fired power station in NSW, saying it was “the responsible thing to do,” before hosting a meeting of international experts to discuss ways to cut global greenhouse gas emissions. SMH 16 Nov 04

NSW Premier Bob Carr is proud of his government’s environment credentials, but not everyone is convinced, writes Annabel Stafford. AFR 18 Nov 04

Ethics – business – Australia

James Hardie has offered six months’ funding to its asbestos compensation foundation to forestall liquidation while talks continue on a deal to cover a $1.5 billion shortfall for asbestos victims. AFR 17 Nov 04

Ethics – computer

A US court has recommended that 30-year-old spammer Jeremy Jaynes receive a nine-year prison term in the country’s first felony trial of spam purveyors. Jaynes had sent at least 10 million emails a day from his home, earning up to $US750,000 a month while spending perhaps $US50,000 a month on bandwidth and other overheads. AFR 16 Nov 04

Genetic modification

Parents have an obligation to have the “best” child possible, and that includes using genetic technologies to enhance humans. Bioethicist Julian Savulescu likened this to sending a child to the best school, and said to neglect genetic enhancement would consign future generations to chance rather than making rational choices about how we should live. SMH 16 Nov 04

Islam

Radical Islam, inspired by the Sunni Salafi and Wahhabi movements, is enjoying rapid growth in Kuwait, reports Samia Nakhoul. AFR 16 Nov 04

The Australian publishes three letters to the editor on radical Islam. Aust 17 Nov 04

Marriage legislation

Lobby group Salt Shakers claims the Statutes Amendment (Relationships) Bill in South Australia will “promote a risky lifestyle and make marriage irrelevant. Media release.

Media regulation

In a surprise move, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is redrawing its view of media markets ahead of the Howard government’s changes to media ownership laws. AFR 18 Nov 04

Pharmaceuticals

Are drug tests on patients about finding vital medical breakthroughs, or profits for pharmaceutical companies? asks Emma Young. SMH 18 Nov 04

Politics – Australia

Independent federal MP Tony Windsor claims that an attempt was made to bribe him into vacating his seat of New England before the federal election. SMH 17 Nov 04

The political future of Deputy Prime Minister John Anderson was “under a cloud” last night after he was named as the man who offered the bribe of a diplomatic post to independent MP Tony Windsor in exchange for him vacating his New England seat in the October federal election. SMH 18 Nov 04; Aust 18 Nov 04; AFR 18 Nov 04

Politics & faith – Australia

Family First Party may have spruiked itself as a socially conservative Christian party during the election but it’s now playing down its evangelical roots and playing up its affinity with business, writes Toni O’Loughlin. In his first formal public appearance, at the National Press Club yesterday, Family First’s Senator-elect Steve Fielding, claimed that his was the first pro-business minor party to be elected to the Senate. But he also said, “Everyday Australians are deeply disturbed that economic rationalism and a vacuum of values in society are leaving them without representation and hope.” AFR 18 Nov 04

Poverty

Widening global inequalities make it more imperative than ever to review the extent and terms of Third World debt, argues Mike Moore, adjunct professor at Victoria’s La Trobe University and former prime minister of New Zealand. AFR 17 Nov 04

Privacy

A high-tech arms race is heating up between spies and their targets. As the West monitors millions of phone calls and emails, terrorists find new ways of hiding information. A sidebar to the feature article observes that the NSW government plans to give its police wide-ranging surveillance powers. SMH 17 Nov 04

The unauthorised use of government information by debt collectors is a matter of growing public concern. “Computers have brought highly sensitive information about millions of private individuals within a keystroke of thousands of people working at all levels of government. That, unfortunately, is exactly what makes it near impossible for any system of controls to be effective.

SMH 18 Nov 04

War crimes

A US marine raised his rifle toward an injured and unarmed Iraqi prisoner in a Falluja mosque and shot him in the head, after verifying that the man was alive, US news crew video footage reveals. SMH 17 Nov 04

Water

Desalination is becoming cheaper while getting water from the dam to the tap is getting more expensive. With its proposed 45 gigalitre Kwinana plant, Perth is the leading Australian user of the new technology, while Sydney and the Gold Coast are looking at possible desalination projects. But water efficiency expert Peter Coombes said a better way to cut costs would be to harvest and recycle water with small-scale systems closer to where people lived. Aust 17 Nov 04

Workplace relations

A group of prominent Australians has urged the Howard government to consider radical industrial relations reforms far more wide-ranging than the government is preparing to introduce when federal parliament reconvenes today. The reforms include stripping back legal privileges enjoyed by unions, such as the right to strike; reducing the role of the Australian Industrial Relations Commission; and establishing individual contracts as the primary means for regulating employment. AFR 16 Nov 04

The push for industrial relations reform opens the way for new mechanisms for workplace representation that suit the decentralised labour market. AFR 16 Nov 04

Other items of interest

In the first of a series of editorials published this week, Robert Parham, Executive Director of Nashville’s Baptist Center for Ethics and editor of EthicsDaily.com, speaks frankly about the challenges and opportunities faced by Baptists in North America. http://www.ethicsdaily.com/article_detail.cfm?AID=4983

US Congregational Church pastor Chris Emerson observes that not all Christian evangelicals are conservatives or Bush supporters, and discusses the emergence of what he calls “progressive evangelicals.” http://www.theunionleader.com/articles_showfast.html?article=47080

READ is published by the Centre for Christian Ethics, Morling College, 120 Herring Rd, Eastwood NSW 2122 AUSTRALIA. Telephone (02) 9878 0201. The content of READ and the views expressed in articles do not necessarily represent the views of the Centre for Christian Ethics, Morling College or the Baptist Churches of NSW & ACT. Subscription is free. To subscribe, email with the words “subscribe to READ” in the subject line. Use the same email address to request more information. Copies of original articles are available on request. Abbreviations: AFR=The Australian Financial Review; Aust=The Australian; SMH=The Sydney Morning Herald.