ACL compiles a daily media monitoring service of stories of interest to the Christian constituency relating to children, family, drugs and alcohol, marriage, human rights, religious freedom etc.
Visit the ACL’s website each day to see what’s of interest in the news. Please note that selection of the articles does not represent ACL endorsement of the content.
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Abortion
Women who have abortions deserve to die: doctor says
Henrietta Cook – The Age
Women who have abortions deserve to die, according to a Melbourne doctor who is a key figure in a campaign to change Victoria’s abortion laws. The case of the Melbourne GP, who was investigated by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency after he revealed on Facebook that he broke Victoria’s abortion laws, has been highlighted by the group Doctors Conscience.
Children & Family
Words cannot describe the sense of awe life offers us
Claire Van Ryn – The Examiner
There is no moment so laden with awe as when you hold your child for the first time. The experience is preserved in my memory like a snapshot in a photo album. I won’t speak of the hours leading up to it, but when the midwife lifted my son into my arms and his skin was pressed against mine, the world stopped.
Drugs & Alcohol
Romano Dias dies after drinking from sports bottle containing $60K of crystal meth
News Ltd
Drug dealers have claimed the life of an innocent father, who drank from a bottle containing $60,000 AUD of crystal meth believing it was a sports drink.
Thomas Kelly’s parents criticise planned ‘king hit’ laws
Lisa Davies and Sean Nicholls – SMH
The family of Thomas Kelly say the NSW government’s plan to introduce “one-punch” legislation will change nothing, and claim the Attorney-General has missed the point on the debate surrounding their son’s death. The O’Farrell government is considering new laws, understood to be modelled on Western Australian legislation, which removes the requirement to prove “king hit” assailants knew the punch would be fatal to secure a conviction.
Almost $2m of cannabis seized by NSW cops
News Ltd
Almost $2 million worth of cannabis has been seized by police during a raid in Sydney’s south. The 853 plants were taken from a Botany home on Monday morning, police say. Their street value is estimated at $1.7 million.
Gambling
Tom Waterhouse firm fined for betting inducement ‘slip-up’
AAP
The betting firm spearheaded by bookie dynasty figure Tom Waterhouse has been fined for rewarding Victorian punters for opening betting accounts. The company pleaded guilty to offering to match the initial deposits into the accounts of new members up to the value of $200. Tom Waterhouse Pty Ltd business cards detailing the inducement were handed out at Caulfield Racecourse on February 26, 2011, in breach of the state’s gambling regulation act.
Packer’s Barangaroo casino gets nod
Sean Nicholls – SMH
James Packer has cemented another jewel in his crown as king of Australian gambling. The NSW government late on Monday gave the green light to James Packer’s plan for a second Sydney casino at Barangaroo. NSW Premier Barry O’Farrell has announced cabinet approval for a VIP-only casino as part of Mr Packer’s $1.5 billion resort at the harbourside development site.
Health
Breaking the silence over suicide
Michael Short – SMH
Annette and Stuart Baker’s 15-year-old daughter Mary died by suicide in March 2011. The Bakers are here in The Zone today for two reasons: they want to help others suffering similar ineffable grief and they hope that by speaking out about suicide, they might influence anyone considering ending their own life to reconsider, reach out and find another path out of despair. On the night of June 21 this year, they were the driving force behind an extraordinary community event organised by a group called Survivors of Suicide and Friends that youth mental health expert Pat McGorry believes could be the genesis of a national and even international movement to support those who have lost someone to suicide.
Indigenous
There must be an overhaul of social housing rules, says Andrew Forrest
Patricia Karvelas – The Australian
Mining magnate Andrew Forrest has declared the Abbott government must embark on radical changes to get indigenous people into work, including overhauling the social housing rules that mean Aborigines lose their subsidised housing in remote communities if they take jobs.
Marriage
Lesbian Hawaiian legislator votes against gay marriage bill
Michael Gryboski – Christian Post
A Hawaiian lesbian legislator has garnered national headlines last week for her decision to vote against a bill that would legalize same-sex marriage in the last state to join the Union. Representative Jo Jordan is reportedly the first openly gay lawmaker in the United States to vote against a proposed legislation legalizing gay marriage.
Overseas Aid
Christian relief agencies responding as over 10,000 Filipinos feared dead in typhoon aftermath
Heather Clark – Christian News
A number of international Christian relief agencies are reaching out to provide food, medicine and shelter to the many Filipinos affected by super typhoon Yolanda as death tolls are expected to climb into the thousands in the days ahead.
Julie Bishop pledges $10 million to the Philippines after typhoon Haiyan
David Wroe – The Age
Australia will give $10 million in humanitarian aid for the Philippines in the aftermath of typhoon Haiyan, which ripped through the middle of the country at the weekend, killing thousands of people. Prime Minister Tony Abbott has written to Philippine President Benigno Aquino expressing Australia’s condolences and pledging assistance.
Philippines typhoon: World Vision mounts ‘massive’ response
Christian Today
World Vision is mounting a large-scale response to help some 1.2 million people affected by one of the strongest storms on record. As the Red Cross fears the death toll from Typhoon Haiyan could hit 1,000, World Vision is rushing to provide life-saving essentials like hygiene kits and emergency shelter to survivors.
Politics
Victorian ALP’s poll-winning edge crushing Premier Denis Napthine
John Ferguson – The Australian
Satisfaction with Victorian Premier Denis Napthine has crashed as Labor opens up an election-winning lead over the government. The number of voters satisfied with Dr Napthine’s performance fell 11 percentage points in the latest Newspoll to 42 per cent and his dissatisfaction rating rose five points to 36 per cent.
Prostitution & Sex Trafficking
SA Labor MP Steph Key’s third attempt at decriminalising prostitution and sex work destined to fail
Lauren Novak – The Advertiser
A third attempt by one MP to decriminalise sex work in South Australia is likely to fail because there is not enough time to pass legislation before Parliament closes down ahead of the March 2014 election.
Walk for Freedom event to raise money for A21 campaign against human trafficking
Alexa Coetsee – Perth Now
A former brothel madam says West Australians have their “heads in the sand” if they believe human trafficking the world’s fastest-growing criminal industry doesn’t occur here. In 2013, the number of slaves worldwide exceeds Australia’s population.
Religious Freedom & Persecution
Lawyers seek to ban Christian coronation
The Australian
The Prince of Wales, who has waited 61 years to be king, is facing a legal challenge to bar him and future monarchs from having a Christian coronation. A secularist campaign group has instructed a leading firm of solicitors to challenge the religious rite, which stems from the time of King Edgar in AD973 and rests on the belief that God chooses monarchs. If the coronation oath were abolished the nation would take a significant step from being a Christian country to becoming a secular state.
B&B Christians ‘followed conscience’, says lawyer
The Christian Institute
The Christian owners of a B&B who were sued by a same-sex couple over their double bed policy were following their conscience, their lawyer has told the Supreme Court. Peter and Hazelmary Bull only allow married couples to share a double bed in their Cornish bed and breakfast and they were sued for their stance by two homosexual men. The Bulls are appealing against a ruling which ordered them to pay £3,600 in damages to Steven Preddy and Martyn Hall.
Christian photographers ordered to shoot homosexual ‘weddings’ appeal to U.S. Supreme Court
Heather Clark – Christian Post
Attorneys for a Christian couple in New Mexico who were told by the courts that they may not refuse to shoot homosexual ‘weddings’ in the state have appealed the ruling to the United States Supreme Court.
Sexualisation of Society
This is what rape culture looks like
Giovanni Tiso – Overland
The story broke over the weekend on television: a group of Auckland teenagers had engaged in a prolonged campaign of rape, which they documented on Facebook for the added pleasure of shaming their victims. They called themselves a name that I’m not going to repeat, to avoid glamourising these crimes in the very terms that these young men chose to describe them.
Miley Cyrus twerks, smokes at MTV EMAs as Iggy Azalea suffers wardrobe malfunction
SMH
Miley Cyrus is once again putting on a show for MTV, this time at the Europe Music Awards, as she apparently lit up a joint onstage at the Amsterdam hosted event.
Other
Police target Rebels bikies in nationwide sting
Mark Morri – The Daily Telegraph
A dozen Rebels bikies have been arrested and a number of weapons seized as NSW police target the gang as part of a nationwide operation to smash the biggest Outlaw Motor cycle gang in the country. In the past four days police have raided a club house on the Central Coast seizing drugs and illegal booze.
High school: Girls should avoid restroom if they’re bothered by transgender boy in the stalls
Kirsten Andersen – Life Site News
New details have emerged in the case of a ‘transgender’ boy accused of sexually harassing girls in the women’s restroom of a Colorado high school. While school officials initially denied any harassment took place, new details reported by the Pueblo Chieftain indicate that there may be more truth to the girls’ claims than administrators are willing to admit.
Family Court permits teenager to transition to male gender after years of bullying, harassment
Sean Fewster – The Advertiser
A teenager who has suffered lifelong abuse, bullying and schoolyard humiliation has won permission to transition to life as a male. The Family Court has given “Shane” its blessing to undergo medical treatment to change physical gender, from female to male, to match his emotional and psychological state.