AUSTRALIAN PRAYER NETWORK NEWSLETTER * ABORIGINAL ROLE MODEL TALKS ABOUT ABUSE * FEMINIST PARLIAMENTARY NETWORK CONTROLS VOTING ON ABORTION AND CLONING * ACTOR RUSSELL CROWE PLANS TO BE BAPTIZED ----------------------------------------------- ABORIGINAL ROLE MODEL TALKS ABOUT ABUSE It's' time for the abuse and violence in indigenous communities to be addressed, a young Aboriginal role model says. Young Australian of the Year Tania Major said that facing up to the reality of history is the only way for Australia to heal and move on from the treatment of indigenous people. Ms Major, 26, has an Aboriginal mother and a white father and grew up at Kowanyama, a Cape York community. She was Kowanyama's first university graduate and now works within communities. She has seen violence and abuse and was herself sexually abused by a cousin. Ms Major said she speaks out on the issue to show young people they have a way out. "It's happened to me and a lot a lot of my friends are white and say 'You know Tan, it's happened to everybody'. "And I say 'But why is it happening continuously in Aboriginal communities? Why aren't people doing anything about it?'," she said. "A lot of the young people who commit suicide in our communities have been raped or molested as children." The recently implemented changes made by the current Government impose welfare restrictions, alcohol and pornography bans, provide extra police, health checks for children, abolish the Aboriginal lands permit scheme and allow the Commonwealth to take control of indigenous township leases for five years. "I'm not sure about the intervention but I mean if it's been an emergency for so many years, and I'm an optimistic person, I was just like well, yeah, something needs to be done now," she said. "If it's working for some people in communities and it's getting in there and doing something now, we've got to start somewhere. "I mean, where do we start? "And if it means getting out there and protecting children, I'm up for it." Ms Major said she loved Australia and it was time for the country to heal. "The only way we're going to heal in this country is to face up to reality, face up to the fact there was a stolen generation," she said. "People weren't paid right, my mother was denied an education 'cause she was black. "I want people to realise that so they understand how to interact with indigenous people - 'cause not very many people know how to interact with indigenous people. And I really want that for the future generation - and for my kids to sit in a classroom and do talk about the worries and do talk about the massacres. "Because we've got to heal, we've got to get over this, we've got to say hey it's happened, why are we denying it. "And that's what I want." Source: ABC TV ----------------------------------------------- FEMINIST PARLIAMENTARY NETWORK CONTROLS VOTING ON ABORTION AND CLONING The passing of legislation in Federal Parliament earlier this year on the issues of the RU486 abortion pill and embryonic stem cell research was due to the support given by a large voting block which goes by the name "EMILY'S List". EMILY'S List is a political network formed to increase the number of female parliamentarians who are willing to support key feminist issues, including abortion. It provides financial, political and personal support to women candidates who agree to support the values of EMILY'S List.It is the only network of its kind in Australian politics. EMILY's List members and candidates must support the principles of equity, diversity, pro-choice, and the provision of equal pay and childcare, both in the community and in Parliament. Many of these are significant issues but it is concerning that membership of such a network dictates a parliamentarian's vote. For example, EMILY's List members consistently support pro-abortion policies, reflecting both their personal beliefs and their membership of the List. Without exception, every parliamentarian named on EMILY's List voted to support the abortion drug RU486 and to permit the cloning of human embryos for destructive research. Not all female MPs or Senators are EMILY's List members of course. However, if you want to support candidates who recognise the value of human life from its earliest stages then you need to know if your current representative or local candidate is a member of EMILY's List, because List membership will determine her vote on these issues. To find out which current members and prospective parliamentary candidates are members of Emily's List go to http://www.emilyslist.org.au and look under "candidates". Source: Compiled by APN from information obtained from various sources ----------------------------------------------- ACTOR RUSSELL CROWE PLANS TO BE BAPTIZED Aussie actor Russell Crowe has decided to be baptized, when his youngest son is also baptized, at the Crowe's property in Australia. According to the 43-year-old screen star, his mother allowed him and his brother to make their own decisions on issues of faith, and, says Crowe, "I started thinking recently, 'If I believe it is important to baptize my kids, why not me?'"There is already a Byzantine chapel built on the Crowe's property, which is where Russell and wife, Danielle, were married in 2003, and where the couple's oldest son, Charlie, was baptized. "I do believe there are more important things than what is in the mind of a man," Crowe said. "There is something much bigger that drives us all. I'm willing to take that leap of faith."Editors note: Let us pray that Russell Crowe's experience will go beyond baptism to a living faith in a living God, so that His testimony may go throughout the world of entertainment and beyond. Source: Compiled by APN from media reports
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