Religion & Ethics Australia Digest

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

No. 051, 23-29 Sep 2005  ² edited by Rod Benson

News & opinion

Aboriginal & indigenous affairs

The Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission plans to intervene in a case in which a judge gave a short jail term to an Aborigine who anally raped and bashed his 14-year-old “promised wife”. SMH 28 Sep 05

Abortion

He claims otherwise, but National Party senator Barnaby Joyce may yet do deals to get a ban on abortion, writes Leslie Cannold. SMH 26 Sep 05

Aid & development

After 43 years and $568 billion in foreign aid to the continent, Africa remains trapped in economic stagnation. What’s wrong? More…

Bioethics – cloning

Scientists could create cloned human embryos specifically for stem cells to treat major diseases under a Victorian Government push for relaxed embryo research laws. Age 29 Sep 05

Bioethics – IVF

Since state laws banned their storage five years ago, at least 6642 embryos that had been frozen in Victorian IVF clinics have been destroyed. Age 26 Sep 05

Bioethics – organ transplantation

The illegal sale of human organs is flourishing across the globe, with the poor providing the body parts and hospitals in Third World nations colluding to bolster the trade. Aust 26 Sep 05

Bioethics – stem cells

Adult stem cell specialist Mesoblast can start testing its technology in humans, after receiving ethics approval for its first orthopaedic study. Age 24 Sep 05

Many pro-lifers have taken a firm stand against any research that kills human embryos while supporting research with adult stem cells. But they face a scientific and public relations juggernaut, argue Stan Guthry and others.
CT 28 Sep 05

Censorship

China is imposing new regulations to control content on its news websites, the Government said today, another step in efforts to police a rapidly expanding internet population. Only “healthy and civilised news and information that is beneficial to the improvement of the quality of the nation, beneficial to its economic development and conducive to social progress” will be allowed, the official Xinhua News Agency said. SMH 26 Sep 05

Communications policy

The Howard Government will abandon plans to radically reform Australia’s media landscape, instead restricting changes to cross-media and foreign ownership laws. Aust 28 Sep 05
Debt

Eighteen of the poorest countries will have their debts to the International Monetary Fund wiped out after rich countries bridged their differences that threatened a pact signed earlier this year. SMH 25 Sep 05

Disability

“A couple of years ago I placed an ad for a line cook. And there was a guy who, according to his r ©sum ©, should have been right up my alley. The first thing I noticed when he arrived was that he was blind,” writes Gabrielle Hamilton. NY Times 25 Sep 05

Divorce & remarriage

It is hard to conjure the intense bitterness of the political debate that took place over the Whitlam government’s introduction of the Family Court and the accompanying law reforms that scraped through parliament by one vote, swapping marriage vows and the old, fault-based system for one founded on the mantra of irretrievable breakdown and personal freedom. SMH 24 Sep 05 [scroll down]

Drugs

While the prohibition of heroin has been widely embraced because of the drug’s addictive nature and obvious social problems it engenders, society has turned a blind eye and come to an uneasy truce with other illicit drugs, writes Miranda Devine. Sun-Herald 25 Sep 05

Ecology

Humankind is at the edge of an abyss, and its very survival dependent on urgent action, warns Tim Flannery. SMH 24 Sep 05

Many Australians are worried by the possibility that avian flu might infect the nation. They should be just as concerned about the disease of Mother Earthism which has reached our shores, and is now approaching epidemic status, writes Bob Carter. SMH 29 Sep 05

Economics

Economic rationalism is not the panacea its proponents say it is, writes author and barrister Elliot Perlman. Age 27 Sep 05

Education – school

Parents and teachers should be put in charge of the country’s 7000 public schools to stem the drift to private education, according to a radical proposal from the architect of the HSC. SMH 29 Sep 05

Energy

Rising prices will force the world to reassess its use of limited energy resources, writes Peter Hartcher. SMH 23 Sep 05

Ethics – medical

Doctors should have chaperones present for all “intimate” examinations to protect them against allegations of misconduct, a medical insurer has warned. Sun-Herald 25 Sep 05
Freedom of expression

The broadening of economic reforms in China has been met with greater restrictions on journalists, writes Jehangir Pocha. More…

Globalisation

Former anarchist and author of In Defence of Global Capitalism, Johan Norberg, believes globalisation and freer markets lead to more wealth, and longer healthier lives.
ABC Counterpoint 26 Sep 05

Homosexuality & faith

The simmering row over homosexuality could be rekindled in the Uniting Church, with a dissident group threatening to find a new spiritual home if the church continues to tolerate openly gay clergy. SMH 24 Sep 05

Human rights

The Prime Minister, John Howard, will be asked to consider a Human Rights Act that would ensure the rights of all Australians were not unnecessarily trampled. SMH 29 Sep 05

Marriage

“In the case of the limits to freedom set by marriage we gain longer, healthier lives; better sex; and decent children. Loyalty to spouse and children and relatives enhances our capacity to enjoy the freedom we have,” writes James Q. Wilson. More…

Relying on Cupid is the reason so many marriages fail, relationship experts say.
Sun-Herald 25 Sep 05

A conference co-sponsored by the Catholic Society for Marriage Education has been told that recent federal funding for Family Relationship Centres would have been better directed at the prevention, rather than cure, of marital breakup. CathNews 26 Sep 05

Mining

It’s time for Labor to modernise its uranium policy, argues The Australian. Aust 23 Sep 05

Australia has a “moral obligation” to accept nuclear waste if it wants to increase uranium exports, says one of the world’s biggest nuclear companies. Aust 24 Sep 05

Politics & faith – Australia

“Parliament should continue to stand up for the fact that Australia is a Christian nation with a Christian constitution, Crown, Parliament—we begin our deliberations with a prayer—and flag. So Australia is a Christian nation,” argues NSW MLC Fred Nile. More…

Terrorism is the most dramatic manifestation of religious fervour, but it’s just one way believers can skew democracy, writes Francesca Beddie. SMH 29 Sep 05

Population

The fall in Australia’s birthrate has halted, due to more family-friendly attitudes and the ticking of biological clocks. SMH 28 Sep 05
Poverty

Southern Baptist pastor Rick Warren has a sweeping plan to defeat global poverty.
CT 23 Sep 05 Also…

Prostitution

After five years, Queensland’s fledgling legal brothel sector has failed to bring illegal prostitution in from the cold, argues Lyle Shelton. OnlineOpinion 28 Sep 05

Racism

Controversial Sydney academic Andrew Fraser calls for the reintroduction of the White Australia Policy on racial grounds. OnlineOpinion 28 Sep 05

Reconciliation

“What do nations need to do to heal the wounds of the past?” asks Mark Byrne. More…

Refugees & asylum seekers

Afghan authorities have concluded that Roqia Bakhtiari, whose family’s pleas for refuge sparked one of Australia’s most bitterly fought migrant law challenges, is an Afghan citizen, not a Pakistani fraud as alleged by the Federal Government. SMH 28 Sep 05

Social justice & faith

Uniya Director Patty Fawkner formally responds to the launch of the 2005 Social Justice Sunday Statement by the Australian Catholic Bishops, titled Jesus, Light for the World – Living the Gospel Today. More…

Gari-Anne Patzwald and William Kostlevy report how the Anabaptist emphasis on practical acts of love led a tightly knit enclave to reach out to the world. CT 23 Sep 05

Terrorism

Philip Ruddock argues that it is better to have terrorism laws in place before an attack. OnlineOpinion 23 Sep 05

Australia is heading down the same track as Northern Ireland and apartheid South Africa, jailing people without charge, write David Marr and Marian Wilkinson. SMH 24 Sep 05

The NSW Premier, Morris Iemma, will support the proposal of the Prime Minister, John Howard, for detaining terror suspects without charge, flagging a radical change to the state’s law. SMH 24 Sep 05

Police could lock down an entire suburb and carry out unfettered searches on homes, vehicles and individuals under anti-terrorism laws proposed by the Labor leader, Kim Beazley. SMH 26 Sep 05

The former Qantas baggage handler Bilal Khazal, who is facing trial for inciting terrorism, was one of about 300 Muslims and sympathisers who gathered in Parry Park at Punchbowl to call for an end to the Government’s “draconian” anti-terrorism laws. SMH 26 Sep 05

While the phenomenon of terrorism is not remotely new, the way in which it has captured the attention of policy-makers and the public since 9/11 certainly is, writes Gareth Evans. Aust 27 Sep 05

The premiers will agree to tough new anti-terrorism laws despite opposition from the intelligentsia, writes Gerard Henderson.
SMH 27 Sep 05

Australia faces a serious new home-grown terror threat, with ASIO estimating that up to 800 Muslim “extremists” living here could be motivated to carry out a London-style attack. Aust 28 Sep 05

Suspected terrorists as young as 16 will face house arrest for up to a year without being convicted of an offence under sweeping laws agreed to by all Australian governments. Police will also be able to pre-emptively detain people for up to 14 days, without charge, if they suspect they are planning a terrorist offence. But the premiers and chief ministers forced a sunset clause for the legislation and a five-year judicial review of the laws. SMH 28 Sep 05

Secret detentions without charge, house arrests, even the possible monitoring of lawyers – this is the brave new security world embraced by Australia’s leaders as a necessary evil in the fight against terrorism.
SMH 28 Sep 05

The extraordinary scope of the new anti-terrorism laws agreed by the country’s governments yesterday left lawyers concerned that essential legal protections were being stripped away and Muslim groups worried that their community would be targeted.
SMH 28 Sep 05

The draconian anti-terrorism laws approved in a flurry of federal-state agreement yesterday may or may not make Australia a safer place but they certainly assault civil liberties and, what’s even more worrying, risk producing counterproductive results, writes Michelle Grattan. Age 28 Sep 05

The new anti-terror measures agreed to by John Howard, six premiers and two chief ministers are a logical political response to a real but unpredictable threat. And that’s the worry, writes Mike Steketee. Aust 29 Sep 05

New laws allowing terrorist suspects to be detained without charge for two weeks could be extended to three months, with the Government hinting the move might prove necessary. SMH 29 Sep 05

Howard’s anti-terror laws will be less effective than ending injustice in the Middle East, writes Kenneth Davidson. Age 29 Sep 05

Transport

Most motorists are happy with the Federal Government’s response to rising petrol prices, but many remain suspicious that factors other than higher global oil prices are behind the jump. SMH 27 Sep 05

If you’re upset by the high petrol prices of recent days, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet. Prices are set to stay high and go a lot higher in the coming years. Demand fuels price rises, so reduce your demand. Age 28 Sep 05

Vilification – religious

Victoria’s contentious racial and religious vilification laws will be tightened to make it harder for frivolous claims to be brought before the courts. Age 23 Sep 05
War

Australia has no plans to abandon Iraq to the insurgents, despite fresh reports that Britain wants to get out as early as next May, Defence Minister Robert Hill has said. Aust 27 Sep 05

Weapons

The Federal Government has vowed to push ahead for a worldwide ban on nuclear testing. Foreign Minister Alexander Downer this week chaired an international conference in New York to put pressure on countries with nuclear capability to ratify a treaty to rid the world of nuclear weapons testing. Aust 24 Sep 05

Women – ministry of

Rod Benson discusses the integration of women into positions of power in our law courts and churches. OnlineOpinion 27 Sep 05

Women – status of

In the late 1990s there were more than 100 executives in Australia earning over $1 million a year, but not one was a woman. 1% of CEO positions in our private sector are women, compared with almost 12% in the US and 10.6% in the UK. Professor Nick Forster explains why we lag behind. ABC Counterpoint 26 Sep 05

Workplace relations

A leading business group has proposed further cuts to unfair dismissal protection for workers in response to Federal Government signals it will announce soon more plans to change the laws. SMH 27 Sep 05

A prominent free-market economist has attacked the Federal Government’s plan to scrap unfair dismissal laws for employers with fewer than 100 workers as pork-barrelling.
SMH 28 Sep 05

Other items of interest

We cannot ignore religious belief systems, says J ¼rgen Habermas. But they must be able to see the world from other perspectives. More…

As in the US, intelligent design is challenging evolution in Christian schools here, writes Damien Murphy. SMH 24 Sep 05

“Reading of the Bible, reverence for the Bible, reference to the Bible, and debate over whether and how to use the Bible continue as constant features in American public life,” writes Mark Noll. CT Sep/Oct 05

Religion & Ethics Australia Digest is published by the Centre for Christian Ethics, Morling College, 120 Herring Rd, Eastwood 2122 AUSTRALIA. Views expressed are not necessarily those of the Centre for Christian Ethics, Morling College or the Baptist Churches of NSW & ACT. To view the full article, click the blue underlined text at the foot of the summary. Abbreviations: AFR=The Australian Financial Review; Aust=The Australian; CT=Christianity Today; SMH=The Sydney Morning Herald. For back issues click here. For a free copy by email each week, email and type “subscribe to READ” in the subject line.