Preparing for the Ruddock Review

“The Ruddock Review has the potential to produce a legal framework, at the federal level, which will undergird a new societal compact for the religious freedom of people of faith and their organisations in an increasingly irreligious society. …

The terms of reference for the Panel are broad, and crucially include the interaction of Commonwealth and state law. …”

– Check the Freedom for Faith website to be informed about submissions to the Ruddock Review.

Volunteers told to use gender-neutral words to avoid causing offence

“Volunteers for the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games have been told to use gender-neutral language to avoid causing offence.

The Games Shapers handbook, which has been handed to 15,000 volunteers and official staff and contractors instructs workers to avoid phrases like ‘ladies and gentlemen’ and ‘boys and girls’. …”

– Story from News.com.au.

Archbishop Glenn Davies responds to the Report of the Royal Commission

Anglican Church Diocese of Sydney
Media Statement
Report of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse

As we welcomed the establishment of the Royal Commission in 2012 under the Gillard Government and likewise the extension of the Commission’s brief in 2014 under the Abbott Government, we welcome the Final Report of the Commissioners.

We recognise the courage and strength of the survivors in giving testimony to the Commission. We are glad their painful stories will be preserved as a testament and a warning that such things should never have happened, and should not happen again. Anglican Church apologies, before and during the time of the Commission, can never adequately express the ongoing regret that these appalling acts should have been perpetrated on vulnerable children.

We also recognise the arduous and distressing task it has been for the Commissioners and staff to hear so many horrific stories of sexual abuse in institutions across the country.

Australia owes a debt of gratitude to the chair, Justice Peter McClellan, the Commissioners, Counsels assisting, and the entire staff of the Royal Commission.

We look forward to studying the final report so that we, as the Anglican Church, might examine the recommendations and where there are still things for us to do, we shall attend to these with rigour, compassion and integrity.

Dr Glenn N Davies
Archbishop of Sydney
15 December 2017.

Source: SydneyAnglicans.net.

Passing of Smith Bill shows Disregard for Freedoms — Coalition for Marriage

“The passing of the Dean Smith bill unamended through the House of Representatives today was evidence of the disregard that many MPs have for the freedoms of Australians and the upholding of international human rights obligations, the Coalition for Marriage said today.

‘It is deeply disappointing that both the Prime Minister and the Opposition Leader reneged on the assurances they gave to the Australian people during the marriage campaign,’ Coalition for Marriage spokesman, Lyle Shelton said. …”

– Read the full media statement from Coalition for Marriage here.

Senate votes against same-sex marriage bill amendments

“All five amendments put forward by conservative senators James Paterson and David Fawcett to their Liberal colleague Dean Smith’s private same-sex marriage bill were voted down …

Senators Paterson and Fawcett’s changes sought to:

– Full story from The Daily Telegraph. (subscrip

Same-sex marriage: Turnbull’s religious freedom inquiry

“Faith leaders may have welcomed the Turnbull government’s announcement of an inquiry into religious freedom protection, but some legal experts want more answers. …

‘If a school wishes to teach that marriage is not as the way the law defines, but as the way civilisation has known for millennia, then will that school be protected?’ Archbishop Davies asked. …”

– Report from SBS News, 22 November 2017.

Statement Regarding Prime Minister Turnbull’s Religious Freedoms Inquiry

“Today’s last-minute announcement by the Prime Minister that an inquiry will be held into religious freedom, only to report next year after the Marriage Act has changed, is a betrayal of the nearly 5 million Australians who voted against gay marriage.

Once again, the Turnbull Government has failed to consult relevant stakeholders. …”

– Read the full Media release from Coalition for Marriage.

Related: Philip Ruddock to review religious protections amid same-sex marriage debate – ABC News.

Same-Sex Marriage — An Initial Response

“The nation has decided in favour of same sex-marriage. It is now right for the parliament to implement the society’s wish.

Christians who voted ‘no’, and I am one, have a lot to be thankful for even in this result. …

So, with all this to be thankful for, am I pleased with the result? No, of course not. I voted against this decision and would do so again if asked to.

I’m saddened by it, not so much as a Christian but as an Australian. Marriage is a creation ordinance not a religious sacrament. I don’t think it is a good decision for Australian society or family life.”

– Phillip Jensen offers his initial response to the result of the Same-sex marriage postal survey.

Update:

The text of Phillip’s article is now also available in Simplified and Traditional Chinese.

Euthanasia Bill defeated by one vote in NSW Upper House

“After a marathon debate that ran all of Thursday and ended at nearly midnight, the bill to legalise voluntary assisted dying has failed to pass the New South Wales’ Upper House by a single vote.

With 19 voting in support but 20 against, the result came down to the wire. …

– Report from ABC News. (Image: St. Helen’s Bishopsgate.)

NT Bishop: SSM survey shows “a divided community”

“Northern Territory Anglican Bishop Dr Greg Anderson says the community needs to heal after a rancorous same sex marriage debate. …”

– Bishop Anderson was interviewed on ABC Radio Darwin this afternoon.

Archbishop Glenn Davies on the same-sex marriage vote

Archbishop Glenn Davies has released this video statement on the same-sex marriage vote.

Watch and share.

A transcript has now been released.

Media release from Coalition for Marriage, ‘Despite the result, much has been achieved’

Here’s a media release from Coalition for Marriage “

15 November 2017

“The Coalition for Marriage has vowed to continue defending parents’ rights, and fighting for freedom of speech and freedom of belief following today’s result of the postal survey.

‘While we are naturally disappointed in today’s result, we accept and respect the decision of the Australian people,’ Coalition for Marriage spokesman, Lyle Shelton said today. …”

– Read it all here.

Euthanasia: Bill passes Victoria’s Lower House after 24-hour debate

“Victoria’s controversial voluntary euthanasia legislation has been passed in the Lower House of Parliament after a marathon debate that lasted more than 24 hours. …

The bill will now go to the 40-member Upper House, where the numbers are also tight, for debate in a fortnight.

If it gets through the Upper House, terminally ill people over the age of 18, in severe pain and with only a year to live will be able to access lethal drugs.”

– Story from ABC News.

Please reject euthanasia: Church to Victorian Parliament

Here’s a media release from the Diocese of Melbourne:

October 20 2017

Please reject euthanasia: Church to Victorian Parliament

Melbourne Anglicans have pleaded with the Victorian Government not legalise medically assisted suicide and voluntary euthanasia.

The church’s synod discussed the Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill last night at their annual synod at St Paul’s Cathedral as a few blocks away Victorian MPs debated the bill in State Parliament.

Medical ethicist Denise Cooper-Clarke told the synod the bill’s proposed safeguards were inadequate, that it was inherently discriminatory, and that improved palliative care was a much safer and more compassionate way to address “bad deaths”.

She said the bill would fundamentally change attitudes to suicide at a time when the Government was trying to reduce youth suicide

Social Responsibilities Commission chairman Gordon Preece noted that media coverage advocating euthanasia was usually accompanied by links to BeyondBlue and Lifeline – an odd contradiction.

The synod voted to urge the Government to better resource palliative care, especially in regional and remote communities, Aboriginal communities and nursing homes, and to provide more palliative care training for health professionals. It resolved to oppose introducing a legal framework for “assisted dying”.

Dr Cooper-Clarke said the legislation would not cover only the small number of extreme cases but a much broader range of circumstances, where the suffering of the patients may not involve severe pain or physical symptoms at all. Overseas studies had shown pain was not the primary reason for requests for assisted dying but psychological factors: depression, hopelessness, being tired of life, loss of control and loss of dignity

“Elderly, frail and sick patients are especially vulnerable to implied or explicit messages from relatives that they are a burden and that they would be ‘better off dead’. It is naïve to assume that people always have the best interests of their relatives at heart. Elder abuse is prevalent in our society,” she said.

“Many people support assisted dying because they believe it is a compassionate response to suffering. But how is it compassionate to agree with someone who is so distressed that they wish to end their life that yes, their life is not worth living, and yes they would be better off dead?”

Don’t do it: Paul Keating in 11th hour bid to stop euthanasia laws

“Paul Keating has made a dramatic last-minute bid to stop Victoria’s Parliament from approving voluntary euthanasia laws as state MPs prepare for their third late-night debate before a vote he characterised as ‘a threshold moment’ for the entire country.

The 73-year-old, who was Australia’s 24th prime minister and has virtually unrivalled status within the Labor Party, slammed the ‘bald utopianism’ underlying the case for change, which assumed rules would never be bent by doctors and families when it becomes more convenient for carers or financial beneficiaries to see a gravely ill person die sooner. …”

– Story from Mark Kenny in The Sydney Morning Herald.

See also: Paul Keating: Voluntary euthanasia is a threshold moment for Australia, and one we should not cross. – SMH.

“No matter what justifications are offered for the bill, it constitutes an unacceptable departure in our approach to human existence and the irrevocable sanctity that should govern our understanding of what it means to be human. …

Once this bill is passed the expectations of patients and families will change. The culture of dying, despite certain and intense resistance, will gradually permeate into our medical, health, social and institutional arrangements. It stands for everything a truly civil society should stand against.”

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