Religion & Ethics Australia Digest

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

No. 032, 8-14 April 2005 ² edited by Rod Benson

News & opinion

Aboriginal & indigenous issues

A push by John Howard to overhaul Aboriginal land rights could run into constitutional difficulties and lead to massive compensation payouts. SMH 8 Apr 05 *

Proposed changes to the Land Rights Act attack the basis of Aboriginal culture, writes Galarrwuy Yunupingu.
SMH 11 Apr 05 *

Noel Pearson has called on John Howard to assure Aborigines his home ownership plan was not a “Trojan horse” for the destruction of land rights. Aust 14 Apr 05

Abortion

The Iranian Parliament has approved a bill which will allow women to have an abortion in the first four months of pregnancy, if the baby is mentally or physically handicapped. ABC News Online 12 Apr 05

Abuse – sexual

The Howard Government yesterday approved funding for child protection courses in Bali hotels. Aust 13 Apr 05

Aged care

The Federal Government wants more aged-care patients to be treated at home as a way of achieving long-term savings in public hospitals. SMH 11 Apr 05

Ageing

“Older” Australians are expected to keep working to save the nation the cost of pensions, health care and social security. Who wants to retire anyway? asks Anne Summers. SMH 14 Apr 05

Anglican Church – Sydney

Sydney Anglican Archbishop Peter Jensen has called on all Christians to join with Roman Catholics to protect the disadvantaged and protest against social ills such as pornography, gambling, abortion and alcohol and drug abuse. More. *

Animal rights

Anti-vivisectionists scored a partial victory in their campaign to challenge the legality of animal experiments at Cambridge University. The Guardian 13 Apr 05

Bioethics – IVF

Smoking and being overweight have a devastating impact on a woman’s biological clock and may reduce a couple’s chances of having a baby through IVF treatment, new research shows. SMH 8 Apr 05

Bioethics – withdrawal of treatment

Terri Schiavo could not appreciate the value of her breath and was kept alive against her conscious desires by a philosophy championed by the Catholic Church.
The Age 10 Apr 05

Biotechnology

Australian biotech companies are copping a battering as investors reduce their exposure to risky stocks amid concerns over the economic outlook. SMH 11 Apr 05

Censorship

Environmental groups have been threatened with the loss of their tax deductible status if they engage in political advocacy. SMH 12 Apr 05

Civil disobedience

A Sydney man is in United States custody after being crash-tackled by guards outside Washington’s Capitol building because police feared he may have a bomb. He had apparently asked to speak with George W, Bush. SMH 13 Apr 05

Conception

The Assisted Conception Taskforce, an international taskforce led by an Australian is being set up to warn couples not to delay seeking medical help if they have trouble conceiving. Sun-Herald 10 Apr 05

Contraception

The Catholic Archbishop of Mombasa in Kenya has said that while behaviour change remains the first strategy in the war against HIV/AIDS, some HIV positive couples could use condoms to prevent re-infection so as to prolong their life. CathNews 14 Apr 05

Courtship

‘I think we’re seeing each other now but, who knows, maybe we’re just having a “thing”. As long as were not called buddies or Plan B bonks, I’m content.” Cayla Dengate is mystified by the latest fashions in dating. SMH 8 Apr 05 *

Ecumenism

The Archbishop of Canterbury has signalled that the rift between Anglicans and Catholics stemming from the Reformation could finally be healed, following the reconciliation between the churches during the reign of John Paul II. Aust 12 Apr 05

Environment

AS the environmental cycle moves into its post-Kyoto phase, both sides of politics in Australia have agreed for the first time that the issue of nuclear power must be debated as part of possible solutions to global warming. Aust 11 Apr 05

Ethics – medical

Sixteen years after her spinal cord was damaged by excessive chemotherapy, a quadriplegic woman has won $7 million in damages from the Sydney hospital that treated her cancer. Aust 9 Apr 05

A police probe into the alleged unlawful killing of a Bundaberg Base Hospital patient by overseas-trained Dr Jayant Patel began yesterday. The Courier-Mail 9 Apr 05

A seemingly unstoppable trend towards caesarean sections in Australia means the next generation of mothers may no longer be giving birth vaginally. SMH 12 Apr 05

Ethics – political

Queensland’s Crime and Misconduct Commission is investigating claims that Gold Coast mayor and former Olympian Ron Clarke received $50,000 worth of undisclosed election donations from a Gold Coast motor-racing identity. Aust 11 Apr 05

Euthanasia

In the movie Million Dollar Baby, Maggie Fitzgerald (played by Hilary Swank)
has her spine broken in a fight, and persuades her trainer Frankie Dunn (Clint Eastwood) to end her life. The Age 8 Apr 05

Three-quarters of Belgian doctors are willing to assist in the death of critically ill babies to end their suffering, according to a survey. The Guardian 8 Apr 05 *

Gambling

Victoria’s gaming powerbrokers have had their valuations savaged by news the Victorian Government will double the levy on each of the state’s poker machines to more than $3000. SMH 14 Apr 05

Globalisation

The globalisation juggernaut will be catastrophic for the island continent of Australia. Thousands of Australians have lost their livelihoods to the hordes from Chindia, through outsourcing services to offshore companies. SMH 11 Apr 05 *

Health policy

Federal government plans to wind back the Medicare safety net would punish chronically ill patients and potentially squeeze the poor out of basic healthcare. Aust 11 Apr 05

Medical authorities have demanded an overhaul of the system that accredits overseas-trained doctors after a malpractice scandal involving an Indian man dubbed Dr Death. Aust 14 Apr 05

Homosexuality & faith

New recommendations for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America allow churches to bless homosexual unions and to have non-celibate homosexual ministers. More. *

Illness – mental

More than 100 patients released from mental units in NSW had committed suicide within 28 days of discharge and 36 were involved in murders over a five-year period, according to a study. SMH 9 Apr 05

Immigration

White and ethnic minority communities in some of Britain’s biggest cities are becoming increasingly segregated as a result of rising immigration from Asia, according to a new report. Aust 11 Apr 05

Judiciary

The head of a national judges association has backed an overhaul of High Court appointments, saying more transparency would allay concerns of politicisation.
SMH 14 Apr 05

Parenting

When Susan and David Moore married 12 years ago, they had decided they did not want children. SMH 12 Apr 05 * More.

Thousands of extra care places for outside school hours will be offered to families under a federal budget initiative to encourage parents to move from welfare to work. Aust 14 Apr 05

Politics – Australia

The states are considering retaliation against Peter Costello’s challenge to their GST revenue and spending priorities with a threat to withdraw co-operation from key national agreements that underpin federation. Aust 11 Apr 05

The Liberal Party continues the vision that Menzies had of a party that stands above sectional interests to represent the great mainstream of Australian society, John Howard said last night. Aust 12 Apr 05

It must be enough to make an old centralist such as Gough Whitlam blush. Only last week Labor’s colossus claimed, “Under John Howard the Liberal Party has ceased to be a states rights party.” Aust 13 Apr 05

Politics & faith – Australia

Churches, as well as campuses, are the new recruiting grounds for the Liberals around Sydney. Aust 7 Apr 05 *

Population

The Howard Government’s family-friendly policies such as the baby bonus, coupled with the strong economic outlook, have created the first baby boom in nine years. Aust 9 Apr 05

If Australia’s birth rate keeps declining, even massive immigration cannot save us from a population slide and a future dominated by old people, argues Paola Totaro. SMH 9 Apr 05 *

Experts predict that by 2050 Australia will be a radically different society to the one we see today, writes Cosima Marriner. SMH 11 Apr 05 *

Victorians and Sydneysiders are staying home, and even New Zealanders have stopped coming, says a study that explains why Sydney’s population growth has slowed markedly. SMH 11 Apr 05

Pornography

Andrea Dworkin, the radical feminist activist and writer best known for her campaigns against pornography and her love of outsized dungarees, has died. SMH 13 Apr 05

Privacy

The whirlwind advance of seamless communications technology could allow individuals to be monitored constantly within the next 15 years, according to a study conducted by the Australian Communications Authority. SMH 12 Apr 05

Repentance

The Prince of Wales and Camilla Parker Bowles will use their wedding today as an opportunity to “earnestly repent” the “manifold sins and wickedness” of their past deeds. SMH 9 Apr 05

Roman Catholic Church

Moral choice involves discernment across moral laws and sometimes we have to make difficult choices that involve choosing between a range of moral options that might be in conflict, writes Tom Scott.
The Age 7 Apr 05 *

For all the talk of globalisation, few events have the power to unite men and women of all faiths, on all continents. But the mourning process that culminated in last night’s funeral for Pope John Paul II did. Aust 9 Apr 05

“We need a pope who will consult,” Cardinal Achille Silvestrini, a senior Vatican figure in the 1970s, said. “We cannot govern one billion Catholics from the office of the curia.” John Paul II “did not consult well.” SMH 11 Apr 05

Liberals in the West lament not the late Pontiff’s departure but his legacy – rulings on issues such as contraception, abortion, euthanasia, homosexuality and the ordination of women. SMH 11 Apr 05 *

Sport

Women are flocking to rugby league despite scandals that have battered the game’s image. Sun-Herald 10 Apr 05

Suicide

Suicidal Japanese are finding like-minded souls online, often with a grim outcome, writes Deborah Cameron. SMH 8 Apr 05

Superannuation

Superannuation Choice starts in less than three months. Under Choice, “eligible employees” can tell employers where they would like their 9 per cent compulsory super contributions directed. Aust 9 Apr 05

Technology

The more gadgets and devices we have, the more can go wrong. Often this is nothing more than an irritation, but sometimes, it seems, the technology is taking revenge on us. SMH 9 Apr 05

Child jockeys, banned in the United Arab Emirates from riding in camel races, are to be replaced by robot riders. SMH 12 Apr 05

Terrorism

The Uniya Jesuit Social Justice Centre has released a briefing paper responding to the question of whether so-called failed states pose a security threat to Australia and western interests. CathNews 8 Apr 05

Transport

More drivers than ever before will lose their licences this year as a result of higher demerit points penalties introduced this week for low-level speeding offences.
SMH 9 Apr 05

War

At least 31 people were killed and scores wounded in attacks across Iraq as followers of radical Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr marched in Baghdad to demand a US withdrawal. Aust 11 Apr 05

Weapons

Australia is set to take on the United States over its refusal to sign a new anti-nuclear treaty to ban the production of fissile material, at an international conference on the future of the world’s non-proliferation regime. SMH 13 Apr 05

Other items of interest

Tim Martyn argues it is time for a common-sense detention policy in Australia. More.

How do you bring coherence to a pragmatic, cautious, and moralistic political left? Begin by stressing the critical value of equality. More.

There were 7,258 multinationals in 1969. By 2000, there were 63,000, with 80 per cent of the world’s industrial output. And that’s just for starters, says Peter Drucker. More.

Invoking intelligent design as God’s place-filler can only result in naturalising the deity. More.

While not a Christian, leading philosopher Anthony Flew has backed away from atheism, and has agnostics worried. More.

Andrew Denton interviews Sir Bob Geldof on ABC TV’s Enough Rope. More.

Michael Costello recalls a few uncomfortable facts about John Howard, ex-president Suharto, East Timor and Indonesia. More.

Greg Combet reflects on the Howard government’s record of giving priority to politics over economic policy. More.

Religion & Ethics Australia Digest is published by the Centre for Christian Ethics, Morling College, 120 Herring Rd, Eastwood NSW 2122 AUSTRALIA. Telephone (02) 9878 0201. Back issues are available at http://www.baptistsocialissues.org.au/review.htm. 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. Abbreviations: AFR=The Australian Financial Review; Aust=The Australian; SMH=The Sydney Morning Herald. An asterisc (*) following an entry indicates that the article contains significant new information. To receive a free copy of READ by email each week, email and type “subscribe to READ” in the subject line.

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