4. Prof. Brungardt on recent online discussion about Catholic integralism
See the blog post "The Question of Catholic Integralism: An Internet Genealogy", by Assistant Prof. John G. Brungardt, dated May 22, 2020, available at the author's eponymous blog:
(That post came to my attention via the blog post "The links you’ve been longing for" by Prof. Edward Feser, dated Saturday, August 8, 2020, at that author's eponymous blog:
which (blog post) links to a cross posting, by J AUGUSTINE on May 29, 2020 at The Josias, of Prof. Brungardt's blog post under its original title:
Labels: Americanism, Church and State, Confessional State, Dignitatis Humanæ, law, liberalism, morals, politics, religious liberty, secularism, Social Reign of Christ
5. Some recent culture-shaping activity by H.M.A. Government
5.1 Mr. Tudge on Australian values again, this time with a stronger-than-usual emphasis on Secularism (in particular, error no. forty-two of the Syllabus)
(Error no. forty-two of the Syllabus of Pius IX. is the proposition that "In a conflict between the laws of both powers, the civil law prevails" (the other power in question is, of course, the ecclesial power):
The original Latin of that error is "In conflictu legum utriusque potestatis, ius civile praevalet." and is available by clicking the little "LATIN" thumbnail at the lower right-hand-side corner of that error's section or by going hither:
See the media release "Focus on values in updated Australian Citizenship Test" and the transcripts "Interview with Ross Stevenson and Russel Howcroft, 3AW Breakfast", "Interview with Basil Zempilas and Steve Mills, 6PR Breakfast", "Interview with Leon Byner, 5AA Mornings", "Door stop, Australian Citizenship Test", "Interview with Deb Knight, 2GB", "Multicultural press conference, 17 September 2020", and "Interview with Patricia Karvelas, ABC Afternoon Briefing":
(All those documents were dated Thursday, September 17, 2020 and issued by The Hon. Alan Tudge M.P. (at the time, Federal Acting Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services, and Multicultural Affairs).) Mr. Tudge's list of Australian values was much the same as his previous one(s), but what seems remarkable to me this time around is his emphasis on his principle that parliamentary enactments override religious ones; in every one of those transcripts except "Door stop, Australian Citizenship Test", he highlights that principle, and of the transcripts in which that principle is raised, only in "Interview with Ross Stevenson and Russel Howcroft, 3AW Breakfast" is Mr. Tudge not the one who raises it first. Presumably most members of Mr. Tudge's intended audience would connect that principle firstly to the relationship between Australian laws and the Islamic Shariah, but it is also relevant to enactments introduced or being introduced by Australian jurisdictions against the Seal of Confession.
In those texts, Mr. Tudge also referred to
- the Australian citizenship test resource booklet Australian Citizenship: Our Common Bond, available here:(Go straight hither for the testable section:Its p. 19 (21 in my document reader) is about "Our freedoms", and the last sentence—under the sub-heading "Freedom of religion"—on that page expresses Mr. Tudge's principle, with much the same diction and syntax as in the translated error at the beginning of this item: "Where there is a conflict between an Australian law and a religious practice, Australian law prevails." Again, on p. 35 (37 in my document reader), under the same sub-heading (this time in the context of, as the previous page indicates, "Our values"), the second sentence of the penultimate paragraph is "Australian law must be followed by everyone in Australia, including where it is different from religious laws." (And on the next page, in the same context but under the sub-heading "Equality of all people under the law", the booklet is also noteworthy for its promotion of Gay Marriage with the last sentence of the second paragraph: "Under our laws, two people can marry each other, including marriage between two men or two women.")
- the revised Australian citizenship test, a practice version whereof is available here:(and "Practice test questions" are available on pp. 44-46 (46-48 in my document reader) of the booklet in the previous bullet point)
- the Australian Values Statement, both the versions for temporary and provisional visa applicants and for permanent visa applicants whereof express the principle, among other "values", of "parliamentary democracy whereby our laws are determined by parliaments elected by the people, those laws being paramount and overriding any other inconsistent religious or secular “laws”" and require each of those applicants to make this engagement: "I undertake to conduct myself in accordance with these values of Australian society during my stay in Australia and to obey the laws of Australia." (See the webpage "Meeting our requirements[: ]Australian values":The parliamentary democracy quotation is also on the "Australian values" page:And at the "Australian citizenship[: ]Learn about being an Australian citizen" page, the "Our freedoms" section has, under the sub-heading "Freedom of religion", this for its penultimate sentence: "You are free to follow any religion you choose, as long as your religious practices do not break Australian laws.":https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/citizenship/what-does-it-mean)Labels: Church and State, Confessional State, G.L.B.T., law, liberalism, marriage, morals, politics, secularism5.2 H.M.A. Government plans to give "$3.0 million over four years from 2020-21 to the Anti-Defamation Commission to create a Holocaust education platform" plus the same sum over the same period "to the Islamic Museum of Australia to develop educational resources and online learning platforms", both as part of the Students Support Package in the Education, Skills, and Employment component of the 2020-2021 Federal Budget.Those quotations and other information come from p. 82 (100 in my document reader) of Budget Paper No. 2, Budget Measures 2020-21, circulated by The Hon. Josh Frydenberg M.P. (at the time, de facto Federal Treasurer) and The Hon. Mathias Cormann (at the time, a Senator and the Federal Minister for Finance), dated October 6, 2020, available at the official Federal Budget website:or go straight hither:(It seems that another Federal grant of three million dollars (over four years from 2019-20) for the Anti-Defamation Commission (in this instance, for the expansion of its "Click Against Hate" programme) had already been announced; see p. 237 (255 in my document reader) in the "Education, Skills and Employment" section of Budget Measures 2020-21's "Appendix A: Policy decisions published in the July 2020 Economic and Fiscal Update" (both sets of italics in the original).) The same information is given in the October 6, 2020 Media Release "Budget 2020-21: Investing in Education and Research", issued by The Hon. Dan Tehan M.P. (at the time, Federal Minister for Education), available at the Ministers' Media Centre at the official website of the Federal Department of Education, Skills, and Employment:Similar information is given in the last bullet point under the sub-heading "Schools" at the latter website's "Budget 2020-21" page:and further information is given on the "Support for Social Cohesion" page of the former Federal Department of Education website:Labels: Freemasons, Islam, Jews5.3 The new Adelaide Holocaust Museum—located at Church-owned Fennescey House, and said to be "the latest addition to a national network of Holocaust museums"—will get two-and-a-half million dollars of Federal funding.The information, including the quotation, in that headline comes from the news report "Boost for new Holocaust museum", by Jenny Brinkworth, dated Friday, October 16, 2020, downloaded from The Southern Cross's website:See also the transcripts "Interview with Ditts and Roo, Triple M Adelaide", "Interview with Leon Byner, 5AA Adelaide", and "Doorstop interview, Norwood, Adelaide", all dated October 15, 2020, and issued by The Hon. Josh Frydenberg M.P. (at the time, de facto Federal Treasurer):As for the rest of that network, Ms Brinkworth wrote that
With well-established Jewish museums in Melbourne and Sydney, the Federal Government has also provided $3.5m for a Holocaust museum in Brisbane while Perth’s Jewish Community Centre received funding for a major redevelopment last year.
Labels: Adelaide, JewsReginaldvs CantvarSt. Andrew's Day, A.D. 2020
Monday, July 22, 2019
Notes: Tuesday, February 5-Monday, July 22, 2019 (part 3 of 3)
7. The latest bioethical offences from Australia's political duopoly
7.1 A Labor Federal Government would work to increase access to contraception and abortion, most notably by ensuring that "Commonwealth-State hospital funding agreements will expect that termination services will be provided consistently in public hospitals."
See the Media Release "LABOR’S PLAN TO SUPPORT WOMEN’S REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS", Wednesday, March 6, 2019, issued jointly by The Hon. Tanya Plibersek M.P. (at the time, Deputy Leader of H.M.A. Opposition and its Shadow Minister for Education and Training and for Women) and The Hon. Catherine King M.P. (at the time, Federal Shadow Minister for Health and Medicare) and available at their respective websites:
http://www.tanyaplibersek.com/media_release_labor_s_plan_to_support_women_s_reproductive_rights_wednesday_6_march_2019
https://www.catherineking.com.au/2019/03/05/labors-plan-to-support-womens-reproductive-rights/
Labels: A.L., abortion, contraception
7.2 "Women will have greater choice around IVF services with the NSW Liberals & Nationals Government providing up to a $500 rebate for pre-IVF fertility testing and greater access to lower cost treatments", whereby "the NSW Government will provide lower cost IVF treatments for around 6000 women through services at Royal Prince Alfred, The Royal Hospital for Women and Westmead hospitals"; and there will be "a partnership with UNSW for the first statewide fertility preservation service for young cancer patients at The Royal Hospital for Women."
Those quotations come from the press release "MAKING IVF MORE ACCESSIBLE FOR WOMEN", Saturday, March 9, 2019, downloaded from the website of The Liberal Party of Australia's New South Wales Division:
https://nsw.liberal.org.au/candidates/gladys-berejiklian/news/articles/MAKING-IVF-MORE-ACCESSIBLE-FOR-WOMEN
Labels: I.V.F., L.P.A., Nationals
8. St. Thomas Aquinas against the doctrines of original liberty and original equality
See note 92 at the end of the article "The Corporate Idea and the Body Politic in the Middle Ages", by Anton-Hermann Chroust, in The Review of Politics, Vol. 9, Issue No. 4, October 1947, pp. 423-452:
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/review-of-politics/article/corporate-idea-and-the-body-politic-in-the-middle-ages/0B226F3CF3CB5272E74E7655C48EE5D2
This is the relevant section of that note:
9. Dr. Gosbell on ancient Christian (and pagan) attitudes to abortion and infanticide
See the A.B.C. Religion and Ethics article ""As long as it's healthy": What can we learn from early Christianity's resistance to infanticide and exposure?", by Dr. Louise Gosbell, Wednesday, March 13, 2019:
Warning: That article is headed by a picture which could scandalise some readers:
https://www.abc.net.au/religion/early-christianitys-resistance-to-infanticide-and-exposure/10898016
Labels: abortion, Fathers, infanticide, morals
10. 24% of mothers in couple families in Australia were unwaged in 2016, down from 32% in 1991.
My immediate source for the information in that headline is Figure 2 of the Australian Institute of Family Studies research summary "Fathers and work: A statistical overview", by Dr. Jennifer Baxter, May 2019:
https://aifs.gov.au/aifs-conference/fathers-and-work
(The ultimate source is the Australian Population Census customised reports, 1991–2016, according to Figure 2's caption.)
Labels: demography, family, social trends, work
11. On the morning of the 26. ult., The Duke of Cambridge "officially opened the Albert Kennedy Trust new Services Centre" in London.
See the Court Circular of that date. According to akt's "our history" webpage, akt is the "world’s first ever service for homeless LGBT youth":
https://www.akt.org.uk/our-history
and according to its "duke of cambridge visits akt" webpage, that official opening involved "the first visit to a lgbtq+ youth charity by a member of the royal family":
https://www.akt.org.uk/news/duke-of-cambridge-visits-akt
Labels: G.L.B.T., William Cambridge
Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of St. Mary Magdalene, Penitent, A.D. 2019
7.1 A Labor Federal Government would work to increase access to contraception and abortion, most notably by ensuring that "Commonwealth-State hospital funding agreements will expect that termination services will be provided consistently in public hospitals."
See the Media Release "LABOR’S PLAN TO SUPPORT WOMEN’S REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS", Wednesday, March 6, 2019, issued jointly by The Hon. Tanya Plibersek M.P. (at the time, Deputy Leader of H.M.A. Opposition and its Shadow Minister for Education and Training and for Women) and The Hon. Catherine King M.P. (at the time, Federal Shadow Minister for Health and Medicare) and available at their respective websites:
http://www.tanyaplibersek.com/media_release_labor_s_plan_to_support_women_s_reproductive_rights_wednesday_6_march_2019
https://www.catherineking.com.au/2019/03/05/labors-plan-to-support-womens-reproductive-rights/
Labels: A.L., abortion, contraception
7.2 "Women will have greater choice around IVF services with the NSW Liberals & Nationals Government providing up to a $500 rebate for pre-IVF fertility testing and greater access to lower cost treatments", whereby "the NSW Government will provide lower cost IVF treatments for around 6000 women through services at Royal Prince Alfred, The Royal Hospital for Women and Westmead hospitals"; and there will be "a partnership with UNSW for the first statewide fertility preservation service for young cancer patients at The Royal Hospital for Women."
Those quotations come from the press release "MAKING IVF MORE ACCESSIBLE FOR WOMEN", Saturday, March 9, 2019, downloaded from the website of The Liberal Party of Australia's New South Wales Division:
https://nsw.liberal.org.au/candidates/gladys-berejiklian/news/articles/MAKING-IVF-MORE-ACCESSIBLE-FOR-WOMEN
Labels: I.V.F., L.P.A., Nationals
8. St. Thomas Aquinas against the doctrines of original liberty and original equality
See note 92 at the end of the article "The Corporate Idea and the Body Politic in the Middle Ages", by Anton-Hermann Chroust, in The Review of Politics, Vol. 9, Issue No. 4, October 1947, pp. 423-452:
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/review-of-politics/article/corporate-idea-and-the-body-politic-in-the-middle-ages/0B226F3CF3CB5272E74E7655C48EE5D2
This is the relevant section of that note:
Compare St. Aquinas, Thomas, Summa Theologica I, quaest. 96, art. 3 Google Scholar: “We must of necessity admit that in the primitive state there would have been some inequality.…” See ibid, quaest. 96, art. 4: “… a man is the master of a free subject, by directing him either towards his proper welfare, or the common good. Such a type of mastership would have existed in the state of innocence between man and man, for two reasons: first, because man is by nature a social being, and thus in the state of innocence he would have led a social life. Now a social life cannot exist among a number of people unless under the direction of one to look after the common welfare; for many, as such, seek many things, whereas one attends only to one.…” See also Summa contra Ceniiles[ sic] III, 81Labels: Democratism, liberalism, morals, politics, St. Thomas Aquinas
[italics, bold type, and hyperlinks in the original, my square-bracketed interpolation]
9. Dr. Gosbell on ancient Christian (and pagan) attitudes to abortion and infanticide
See the A.B.C. Religion and Ethics article ""As long as it's healthy": What can we learn from early Christianity's resistance to infanticide and exposure?", by Dr. Louise Gosbell, Wednesday, March 13, 2019:
Warning: That article is headed by a picture which could scandalise some readers:
https://www.abc.net.au/religion/early-christianitys-resistance-to-infanticide-and-exposure/10898016
Labels: abortion, Fathers, infanticide, morals
10. 24% of mothers in couple families in Australia were unwaged in 2016, down from 32% in 1991.
My immediate source for the information in that headline is Figure 2 of the Australian Institute of Family Studies research summary "Fathers and work: A statistical overview", by Dr. Jennifer Baxter, May 2019:
https://aifs.gov.au/aifs-conference/fathers-and-work
(The ultimate source is the Australian Population Census customised reports, 1991–2016, according to Figure 2's caption.)
Labels: demography, family, social trends, work
11. On the morning of the 26. ult., The Duke of Cambridge "officially opened the Albert Kennedy Trust new Services Centre" in London.
See the Court Circular of that date. According to akt's "our history" webpage, akt is the "world’s first ever service for homeless LGBT youth":
https://www.akt.org.uk/our-history
and according to its "duke of cambridge visits akt" webpage, that official opening involved "the first visit to a lgbtq+ youth charity by a member of the royal family":
https://www.akt.org.uk/news/duke-of-cambridge-visits-akt
Labels: G.L.B.T., William Cambridge
Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of St. Mary Magdalene, Penitent, A.D. 2019
Monday, April 23, 2018
Notes: Tuesday, April 18, 2017-Monday, April 23, 2018 (part 3 of 3)
8. In the evening of Saturday, February 17, 2018, The Governor of New South Wales "attended the performance of Trevor Ashley’s Mardi Gala, part of the Sydney Mardi Gras 40th Anniversary celebrations, at the Sydney Opera House."
The quotation in that headline comes from the "Vice Regal Program" notice "Saturday, 17 February 2018", downloaded from the official Governor of New South Wales website:
https://www.governor.nsw.gov.au/governor/vice-regal-program/saturday-17-february-2018/
Labels: G.L.B.T., N.S.W.
9. Federal Labor proposes to give taxpayer funding of "$1 million to Tasmania to build a Reproductive Health Hub" which "will provide surgical terminations as part of the public hospital system, and federal and state Labor will contribute to its ongoing costs under the usual Commonwealth-state arrangements." It would have complemented Tasmanian Labor's pre-State-election "commitment to make terminations available in Tasmania’s public hospitals."
The quotations in that headline come for the media release "LABOR WILL RESTORE REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH SERVICES IN TASMANIA", dated Tuesday, February 20, 2018, issued jointly by The Hon. Bill Shorten M.P. (Leader of H.M.A. Opposition), The Hon. Tanya Plibersek M.P. (Deputy Leader of H.M.A. Opposition and shadow minister for education and training and for women), The Hon. Catherine King M.P. (shadow minister for health and Medicare), and Ms Rebecca White M.P. (Leader of H.M. Tasmanian Opposition and its shadow minister for health and wellbeing and for economic growth and regional development), downloaded from Ms King's website:
http://www.catherineking.com.au/2018/02/20/labor-will-restore-reproductive-health-services-in-tasmania/
See also the "TRANSCRIPT: DOORSTOP HOBART TUESDAY, 20 FEBRUARY 2018", featuring Ms Plibersek, Ms King, and Ms White, downloaded from Ms Plibersek's website:
http://www.tanyaplibersek.com/transcript_doorstop_hobart_tuesday_20_february_2018
Labels: abortion, A.L.
10. "just a century and a half ago, we had Papal States, and a much more politically-oriented Christianity in places. But we developed away from that, getting back to the roots of the faith, before Constantine, and embracing again Christ's words "My kingdom is not of this world.""
The longer quotation, including the shorter one, in that headline comes from the transcript of a speech given by His Grace The Most Rev. The Lord Archbishop of Erbil (a Chaldean archdiocese in Iraq) on February 15, 2018 at Georgetown University's Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs, downloaded from that centre's website:
https://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/events/the-future-of-christianity-and-pluralism-in-iraq
Or go straight hither:
https://s3.amazonaws.com/berkley-center/180215WardaFutureChristianityPluralismIraqSpeechTranscript.pdf
(That speech came to my attention via a Catholic News Service (C.N.S.) report printed in the Sydney Catholic Weekly and available behind a paywall at C.N.S.'s website under the headline "Chaldean archbishop: Time to be 'honest' in dialogue with Muslims", by Mark Pattison, dated February 16, 2018:
http://www.catholicnews.com/services/englishnews/2018/chaldean-archbishop-time-to-be-honest-in-dialogue-with-muslims.cfm)
Labels: Church and State, Constantine the Great, secularism
11. "More than 600 people attended the [St. Patrick's Day 2018 ]Mass at St Mary’s Cathedral, celebrated by Auxiliary Bishop Terry Brady." Its "congregation … were [sic ]treated to a celebration of Irish dancers and traditional hymns sung by the Sydney Irish Community Choir."
The quotations, excluding my ellipsis symbol (which merely replaces the mention of two high-profile members of that congregation) and bracketed interpolations, in that headline come from the report "A sea of green as Sydney celebrates St Patrick’s day", by Debbie Cramsie, on p. 15 in the "NEWS" pages of the Sydney Catholic Weekly, March 25, 2018, published by The Archdiocese of Sydney, Sydney. (Note that the words "celebrated", "celebration", and "Community" each spanned two lines in the printed article, and so contained the following dashes: "celebrat-ed"; "celebra-tion"; "Com-munity".)
Labels: liturgical dance, N.O.M., Sydney
Reginaldvs Cantvar
St. George's Day, A.D. 2018
The quotation in that headline comes from the "Vice Regal Program" notice "Saturday, 17 February 2018", downloaded from the official Governor of New South Wales website:
https://www.governor.nsw.gov.au/governor/vice-regal-program/saturday-17-february-2018/
Labels: G.L.B.T., N.S.W.
9. Federal Labor proposes to give taxpayer funding of "$1 million to Tasmania to build a Reproductive Health Hub" which "will provide surgical terminations as part of the public hospital system, and federal and state Labor will contribute to its ongoing costs under the usual Commonwealth-state arrangements." It would have complemented Tasmanian Labor's pre-State-election "commitment to make terminations available in Tasmania’s public hospitals."
The quotations in that headline come for the media release "LABOR WILL RESTORE REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH SERVICES IN TASMANIA", dated Tuesday, February 20, 2018, issued jointly by The Hon. Bill Shorten M.P. (Leader of H.M.A. Opposition), The Hon. Tanya Plibersek M.P. (Deputy Leader of H.M.A. Opposition and shadow minister for education and training and for women), The Hon. Catherine King M.P. (shadow minister for health and Medicare), and Ms Rebecca White M.P. (Leader of H.M. Tasmanian Opposition and its shadow minister for health and wellbeing and for economic growth and regional development), downloaded from Ms King's website:
http://www.catherineking.com.au/2018/02/20/labor-will-restore-reproductive-health-services-in-tasmania/
See also the "TRANSCRIPT: DOORSTOP HOBART TUESDAY, 20 FEBRUARY 2018", featuring Ms Plibersek, Ms King, and Ms White, downloaded from Ms Plibersek's website:
http://www.tanyaplibersek.com/transcript_doorstop_hobart_tuesday_20_february_2018
Labels: abortion, A.L.
10. "just a century and a half ago, we had Papal States, and a much more politically-oriented Christianity in places. But we developed away from that, getting back to the roots of the faith, before Constantine, and embracing again Christ's words "My kingdom is not of this world.""
The longer quotation, including the shorter one, in that headline comes from the transcript of a speech given by His Grace The Most Rev. The Lord Archbishop of Erbil (a Chaldean archdiocese in Iraq) on February 15, 2018 at Georgetown University's Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs, downloaded from that centre's website:
https://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/events/the-future-of-christianity-and-pluralism-in-iraq
Or go straight hither:
https://s3.amazonaws.com/berkley-center/180215WardaFutureChristianityPluralismIraqSpeechTranscript.pdf
(That speech came to my attention via a Catholic News Service (C.N.S.) report printed in the Sydney Catholic Weekly and available behind a paywall at C.N.S.'s website under the headline "Chaldean archbishop: Time to be 'honest' in dialogue with Muslims", by Mark Pattison, dated February 16, 2018:
http://www.catholicnews.com/services/englishnews/2018/chaldean-archbishop-time-to-be-honest-in-dialogue-with-muslims.cfm)
Labels: Church and State, Constantine the Great, secularism
11. "More than 600 people attended the [St. Patrick's Day 2018 ]Mass at St Mary’s Cathedral, celebrated by Auxiliary Bishop Terry Brady." Its "congregation … were [sic ]treated to a celebration of Irish dancers and traditional hymns sung by the Sydney Irish Community Choir."
The quotations, excluding my ellipsis symbol (which merely replaces the mention of two high-profile members of that congregation) and bracketed interpolations, in that headline come from the report "A sea of green as Sydney celebrates St Patrick’s day", by Debbie Cramsie, on p. 15 in the "NEWS" pages of the Sydney Catholic Weekly, March 25, 2018, published by The Archdiocese of Sydney, Sydney. (Note that the words "celebrated", "celebration", and "Community" each spanned two lines in the printed article, and so contained the following dashes: "celebrat-ed"; "celebra-tion"; "Com-munity".)
Labels: liturgical dance, N.O.M., Sydney
Reginaldvs Cantvar
St. George's Day, A.D. 2018
Wednesday, November 30, 2016
Notes: Saturday, July 2-Wednesday, November 30, 2016
1. A couple of recent items regarding The High Court of Australia
1.1 Dr. Maley on the High Court's Gay Marriage ruling
See The Centre for Independent Studies' (C.I.S.'s) Occasional Paper 147 The High Court, Democracy and Same Sex Marriage, by Dr. Barry Maley (a Senior Fellow at The C.I.S.), published by The C.I.S., Sydney, July 2016:
https://www.cis.org.au/publications/occasional-papers/the-high-court-democracy-and-same-sex-marriage
or go straight hither:
https://www.cis.org.au/app/uploads/2016/07/op147.pdf
(That Paper came to my attention via Dr. Maley's opinion piece "DEFINITION NOT MADE IN HEAVEN" on p. 12 in the "COMMENTARY" pages of The Australian, Tuesday, July 26, 2016, Second Edition, No. 16100, ISSN 1038-8761, published by Nationwide News Pty. Limited, available at The C.I.S.'s website under the headline "Marriage deserves a referendum, not a quickie plebiscite", with the same date:
https://www.cis.org.au/commentary/articles/marriage-deserves-a-referendum-not-a-quickie-plebiscite
Labels: Constitution, G.L.B.T., H.C.A., law, marriage
1.2 The plebiscites in 1898 and ’99 which "were held in each of the Australian colonies to ensure that the people approved of the Constitution before it was enacted in Britain" "are treated by the High Court as part of the basis for popular sovereignty in Australia."
The quotations in that headline come from the opinion piece "Plebiscite a casualty in the debate over marriage laws", by Prof. Anne Twomey (a Professor of Constitutional Law at The University of Sydney), dated October 7, 2016, downloaded from (behind the paywall at) The Australian's website:
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/legal-affairs/plebiscite-a-casualty-in-the-debate-over-marriage-laws/news-story/7847b6a78619996ac6435e78c30d59ec
(That article came to my attention via the version printed on p. 28 in the "LEGAL AFFAIRS" pages of The Australian, Friday, October 7, 2016, Second Edition, No. 16163, ISSN 1038-8761, published by Nationwide News Pty. Limited; if I recall correctly, the headline was "Let's not demonise plebiscites in the heat of the debate over our marriage laws".)
Labels: H.C.A., morals
2. "The Australian Business and Community Network (ABCN) Scholarship Foundation will award 20 scholarships for disadvantaged students in 2016. The ABCN Scholarship Foundation, at the request of our donors, allocates some scholarships in specific categories including Indigenous, refugee, LGBTI and State-based scholarships. … Early in 2016, the Citi Pride network proposed raising funds to support a student identifying as LGBTI, in recognition of additional challenges faced by LGBTI students in their senior years of schooling. The scholarship is funded by individual donations from Citi and other corporate employees, with Citi matching individual donations."
The quotation, excluding my ellipsis, in that headline comes from the "ABCN Scholarship Foundation Statement August 2016", available for download from the "News and Media Releases" webpage at the A.B.C.N.'s website:
https://www.abcn.com.au/about-us/news-and-media-releases
Or go straight hither:
https://www.abcn.com.au/sites/default/files/ABCN%20Scholarship%20Foundation%20Statement%20August%202016.pdf
See also item 6.3 of this issue of "Notes".
Labels: education, G.L.B.T.
3. "The first stage of the National Domestic and Family Violence Bench Book is available on the Australasian Institute of Judicial Administration's website."
The quotation, including its hyperlink, in that headline comes from the media release "New resource to assist victims of family violence", dated August 18, 2016, downloaded from the official website of the Attorney-General for Australia (The Hon. Sen. George Brandis Q.C.):
https://www.attorneygeneral.gov.au/Mediareleases/Pages/2016/ThirdQuarter/New-resource-to-assist-victims-of-family-violence.aspx
Labels: feminism
4. H.M. Victorian Government's Resilience, Rights and Respectful Relationships 'learning resources' are available here:
http://www.education.vic.gov.au/about/programs/health/Pages/teaching-and-learning-materials.aspx
Or go straight hither:
http://fuse.education.vic.gov.au/ResourcePackage/ByPin?pin=2JZX4R
See also the Media Release "Victoria Leading The Way On Respectful Relationships", dated October 10, 2016, attributed to the Victorian Minister for Education (The Hon. James Merlino M.P.), downloaded from the official Premier of Victoria website:
http://www.premier.vic.gov.au/victoria-leading-the-way-on-respectful-relationships/
(and also available under the same headline (though with all the letters capitalised) and with the same date at Mr. Merlino's own website:
http://www.jamesmerlino.com.au/media-releases/victoria-leading-the-way-on-respectful-relationships/)
Labels: education, feminism, G.L.B.T., morals, multiculturalism, relativism, Victoria
5. Dr. Morrall on a supposed change in Christian political philosophy:
6. Prof. van Onselen, approvingly (or at least sympathetically), on Conservativism as Retarded Progressivism: "Conservatism in its purest form is about slowing down the pace of change to ensure that adjustments in policy settings when they do happen are well thought through."
(Note that by using the word 'retarded' I intend no allusion to what is these days called being developmentally delayed.) The quotation in that headline comes from the opinion piece "Fringe-dwelling reactionaries tarnish true conservatism", by Prof. Peter van Onselen, dated October 22, 2016, downloaded from (behind the paywall at) The Australian's website:
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/opinion/columnists/peter-van-onselen/fringedwelling-reactionaries-tarnish-true-conservatism/news-story/84662346c74564581fd974b3d61873df
(That article came to my attention via the version printed under the same headline (though with all the letters capitalised), with the same author, on p. 22 in the "COMMENTARY" pages of the "INQUIRER" section of The Weekend Australian, October 22-23, 2016, First Edition, No. 16176, ISSN 1038-8761, published by Nationwide News Pty. Limited.)
Labels: liberalism
7. "It’s always been the case that the scheme has been designed, and these changes are also designed, to try and ensure that as many mothers are participating in the workforce and are able to re-participate after the birth of a child, having provided for a fair amount of time to bond with the child after birth." (The scheme in question is H.M.A. Government's paid maternity leave scheme.)
The quotation in that headline is attributed to the Federal Minister for Social Services (The Hon. Christian Porter M.P.) in the interview transcript "ABC Radio National Breakfast with Fran Kelly", dated October 24, 2016, downloaded from Mr. Porter's Ministerial website:
http://christianporter.dss.gov.au/transcripts/abc-radio-national-breakfast-with-fran-kelly-0
Labels: economic rationalism, economics, family, feminism, P.P.L., tax, work
Reginaldvs Cantvar
St. Andrew's Day, A.D. 2016
Appendix: Item 5's quotation in its original format:
[p. 158]
… The ‘conven-
tional’ notion of many Christian thinkers about human
government as part remedy, part punishment for the
Fall of Man, led to a depreciatory view of political in-
stitutions and activity.
The position began to change round about the time
of the economic, social and cultural revivals of the tenth
and subsequent centuries. With the loss of distrust for
human reason and its achievements came a gradual
strengthening of belief in the natural character of poli-
tical life as beneficial for man and corresponding to an
[p. 159]
inherent need of his being. Classical sources familiar to
the medieval philosophers of the twelfth century, par-
ticularly Cicero and the Timaeus dialogue by Plato, had
spoken of Nature as the inspiration of the life of men
in society. But the biggest single source of the revival of
belief in the naturalness of political activity was the re-
turn of knowledge of Roman Law as collected by Justin-
ian in his Corpus of Civil Law. This was beginning to be
studied in the Italian legal schools, particularly Bolog-
na, in the eleventh century. Throughout the Middle
Ages Bologna was to remain the great centre of legal
studies for both Civil and Canon Law.
[italics in the original, my ellipsis; note that, in the original, the first line of the second paragraph was indented,
pp. 158 f., Ch. 6 ("EPILOGUE: MEDIEVAL GOVERNMENT AND ITS DILEMMA"), The Medieval Imprint: The Founding of the Western European Tradition, by John B. Morrall, published by Penguin Books, Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England, 1970]
1.1 Dr. Maley on the High Court's Gay Marriage ruling
See The Centre for Independent Studies' (C.I.S.'s) Occasional Paper 147 The High Court, Democracy and Same Sex Marriage, by Dr. Barry Maley (a Senior Fellow at The C.I.S.), published by The C.I.S., Sydney, July 2016:
https://www.cis.org.au/publications/occasional-papers/the-high-court-democracy-and-same-sex-marriage
or go straight hither:
https://www.cis.org.au/app/uploads/2016/07/op147.pdf
(That Paper came to my attention via Dr. Maley's opinion piece "DEFINITION NOT MADE IN HEAVEN" on p. 12 in the "COMMENTARY" pages of The Australian, Tuesday, July 26, 2016, Second Edition, No. 16100, ISSN 1038-8761, published by Nationwide News Pty. Limited, available at The C.I.S.'s website under the headline "Marriage deserves a referendum, not a quickie plebiscite", with the same date:
https://www.cis.org.au/commentary/articles/marriage-deserves-a-referendum-not-a-quickie-plebiscite
Labels: Constitution, G.L.B.T., H.C.A., law, marriage
1.2 The plebiscites in 1898 and ’99 which "were held in each of the Australian colonies to ensure that the people approved of the Constitution before it was enacted in Britain" "are treated by the High Court as part of the basis for popular sovereignty in Australia."
The quotations in that headline come from the opinion piece "Plebiscite a casualty in the debate over marriage laws", by Prof. Anne Twomey (a Professor of Constitutional Law at The University of Sydney), dated October 7, 2016, downloaded from (behind the paywall at) The Australian's website:
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/legal-affairs/plebiscite-a-casualty-in-the-debate-over-marriage-laws/news-story/7847b6a78619996ac6435e78c30d59ec
(That article came to my attention via the version printed on p. 28 in the "LEGAL AFFAIRS" pages of The Australian, Friday, October 7, 2016, Second Edition, No. 16163, ISSN 1038-8761, published by Nationwide News Pty. Limited; if I recall correctly, the headline was "Let's not demonise plebiscites in the heat of the debate over our marriage laws".)
Labels: H.C.A., morals
2. "The Australian Business and Community Network (ABCN) Scholarship Foundation will award 20 scholarships for disadvantaged students in 2016. The ABCN Scholarship Foundation, at the request of our donors, allocates some scholarships in specific categories including Indigenous, refugee, LGBTI and State-based scholarships. … Early in 2016, the Citi Pride network proposed raising funds to support a student identifying as LGBTI, in recognition of additional challenges faced by LGBTI students in their senior years of schooling. The scholarship is funded by individual donations from Citi and other corporate employees, with Citi matching individual donations."
The quotation, excluding my ellipsis, in that headline comes from the "ABCN Scholarship Foundation Statement August 2016", available for download from the "News and Media Releases" webpage at the A.B.C.N.'s website:
https://www.abcn.com.au/about-us/news-and-media-releases
Or go straight hither:
https://www.abcn.com.au/sites/default/files/ABCN%20Scholarship%20Foundation%20Statement%20August%202016.pdf
See also item 6.3 of this issue of "Notes".
Labels: education, G.L.B.T.
3. "The first stage of the National Domestic and Family Violence Bench Book is available on the Australasian Institute of Judicial Administration's website."
The quotation, including its hyperlink, in that headline comes from the media release "New resource to assist victims of family violence", dated August 18, 2016, downloaded from the official website of the Attorney-General for Australia (The Hon. Sen. George Brandis Q.C.):
https://www.attorneygeneral.gov.au/Mediareleases/Pages/2016/ThirdQuarter/New-resource-to-assist-victims-of-family-violence.aspx
Labels: feminism
4. H.M. Victorian Government's Resilience, Rights and Respectful Relationships 'learning resources' are available here:
http://www.education.vic.gov.au/about/programs/health/Pages/teaching-and-learning-materials.aspx
Or go straight hither:
http://fuse.education.vic.gov.au/ResourcePackage/ByPin?pin=2JZX4R
See also the Media Release "Victoria Leading The Way On Respectful Relationships", dated October 10, 2016, attributed to the Victorian Minister for Education (The Hon. James Merlino M.P.), downloaded from the official Premier of Victoria website:
http://www.premier.vic.gov.au/victoria-leading-the-way-on-respectful-relationships/
(and also available under the same headline (though with all the letters capitalised) and with the same date at Mr. Merlino's own website:
http://www.jamesmerlino.com.au/media-releases/victoria-leading-the-way-on-respectful-relationships/)
Labels: education, feminism, G.L.B.T., morals, multiculturalism, relativism, Victoria
5. Dr. Morrall on a supposed change in Christian political philosophy:
… The ‘conventional’ notion of many Christian thinkers about human government as part remedy, part punishment for the Fall of Man, led to a depreciatory view of political institutions and activity.Labels: morals
The position began to change round about the time of the economic, social and cultural revivals of the tenth and subsequent centuries. With the loss of distrust for human reason and its achievements came a gradual strengthening of belief in the natural character of political life as beneficial for man and corresponding to an inherent need of his being. Classical sources familiar to the medieval philosophers of the twelfth century, particularly Cicero and the Timaeus dialogue by Plato, had spoken of Nature as the inspiration of the life of men in society. But the biggest single source of the revival of belief in the naturalness of political activity was the return of knowledge of Roman Law as collected by Justinian in his Corpus of Civil Law. This was beginning to be studied in the Italian legal schools, particularly Bologna, in the eleventh century. Throughout the Middle Ages Bologna was to remain the great centre of legal studies for both Civil and Canon Law.
[italics in the original, my ellipsis (and deleted dashes where a word spanned two lines; for the original format of the text, see the Appendix to this post),
pp. 158 f., Ch. 6 ("EPILOGUE: MEDIEVAL GOVERNMENT AND ITS DILEMMA"), The Medieval Imprint: The Founding of the Western European Tradition, by John B. Morrall, published by Penguin Books, Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England, 1970]
6. Prof. van Onselen, approvingly (or at least sympathetically), on Conservativism as Retarded Progressivism: "Conservatism in its purest form is about slowing down the pace of change to ensure that adjustments in policy settings when they do happen are well thought through."
(Note that by using the word 'retarded' I intend no allusion to what is these days called being developmentally delayed.) The quotation in that headline comes from the opinion piece "Fringe-dwelling reactionaries tarnish true conservatism", by Prof. Peter van Onselen, dated October 22, 2016, downloaded from (behind the paywall at) The Australian's website:
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/opinion/columnists/peter-van-onselen/fringedwelling-reactionaries-tarnish-true-conservatism/news-story/84662346c74564581fd974b3d61873df
(That article came to my attention via the version printed under the same headline (though with all the letters capitalised), with the same author, on p. 22 in the "COMMENTARY" pages of the "INQUIRER" section of The Weekend Australian, October 22-23, 2016, First Edition, No. 16176, ISSN 1038-8761, published by Nationwide News Pty. Limited.)
Labels: liberalism
7. "It’s always been the case that the scheme has been designed, and these changes are also designed, to try and ensure that as many mothers are participating in the workforce and are able to re-participate after the birth of a child, having provided for a fair amount of time to bond with the child after birth." (The scheme in question is H.M.A. Government's paid maternity leave scheme.)
The quotation in that headline is attributed to the Federal Minister for Social Services (The Hon. Christian Porter M.P.) in the interview transcript "ABC Radio National Breakfast with Fran Kelly", dated October 24, 2016, downloaded from Mr. Porter's Ministerial website:
http://christianporter.dss.gov.au/transcripts/abc-radio-national-breakfast-with-fran-kelly-0
Labels: economic rationalism, economics, family, feminism, P.P.L., tax, work
Reginaldvs Cantvar
St. Andrew's Day, A.D. 2016
Appendix: Item 5's quotation in its original format:
[p. 158]
… The ‘conven-
tional’ notion of many Christian thinkers about human
government as part remedy, part punishment for the
Fall of Man, led to a depreciatory view of political in-
stitutions and activity.
The position began to change round about the time
of the economic, social and cultural revivals of the tenth
and subsequent centuries. With the loss of distrust for
human reason and its achievements came a gradual
strengthening of belief in the natural character of poli-
tical life as beneficial for man and corresponding to an
[p. 159]
inherent need of his being. Classical sources familiar to
the medieval philosophers of the twelfth century, par-
ticularly Cicero and the Timaeus dialogue by Plato, had
spoken of Nature as the inspiration of the life of men
in society. But the biggest single source of the revival of
belief in the naturalness of political activity was the re-
turn of knowledge of Roman Law as collected by Justin-
ian in his Corpus of Civil Law. This was beginning to be
studied in the Italian legal schools, particularly Bolog-
na, in the eleventh century. Throughout the Middle
Ages Bologna was to remain the great centre of legal
studies for both Civil and Canon Law.
[italics in the original, my ellipsis; note that, in the original, the first line of the second paragraph was indented,
pp. 158 f., Ch. 6 ("EPILOGUE: MEDIEVAL GOVERNMENT AND ITS DILEMMA"), The Medieval Imprint: The Founding of the Western European Tradition, by John B. Morrall, published by Penguin Books, Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England, 1970]
Friday, July 1, 2016
Notes: Monday, March 28-Friday, July 1, 2016 (part 1 of 2)
1. "ParentsNext will assist parents with young children in planning for future employment by arranging activities and connecting parents to local services to prepare them for work by the time their children are at school."
The quotation, including its italics, in that headline comes from the Media Release "ParentsNext - helping parents with young children prepare for work", dated Wednesday, January 6, 2016, issued by The Hon. Sen. Michaelia Cash (Federal Minister for Employment, Minister for Women, and Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Public Service), downloaded from the Employment portfolio Minister’s Media Centre website:
https://ministers.employment.gov.au/cash/parentsnext-helping-parents-young-children-prepare-work-0
See also
2. In one respect, The Greens are a better friend (or at least less of an enemy) to large families than Labor and the Liberals are.
I refer in that headline to The Greens' opposition to the abolition of the large-family supplement. See The Australian Greens Dissenting Report in the Senate's Community Affairs Legislation Committee's February 2016 report on the Social Services Legislation Amendment (Family Measures) Bill 2015 [Provisions]:
http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Community_Affairs/Family_Measures/Report
See also the respective speeches of Senn. Fifield, Moore, and Siewert recorded in the Hansard for Wednesday, February 24, 2016 (under "Social Services Legislation Amendment (Family Measures) Bill 2015" under the two "BILLS" tabs at the left of your screen when you go to the following webpage):
http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;query=Id%3A%22chamber%2Fhansards%2Faf5e9bce-9bd9-45dc-bd87-c1d5218a5d66%2F0000%22
Labels: economics, family, tax
3. Mr. Lawrence on Family Tax Benefit B and horizontal equity:
4. Some recent items regarding "respectful relationships"
4.1 Mr. Muehlenberg on Early Childhood Australia (E.C.A.) and its Start Early "teaching resource"
See the blog posts "Get Your Hands Off Our Children" by Mr. Bill Muehlenberg, dated March 6, 2016, downloaded from his CultureWatch blog:
http://billmuehlenberg.com/2016/03/06/when-the-wicked-target-our-children/
and "The Sexual Anarchists Targeting Our Children", by the same author, dated March 8, 2016, downloaded from the same website:
http://billmuehlenberg.com/2016/03/08/the-sexual-anarchists-targeting-our-children/
There is a Start Early homepage at E.C.A.'s website:
http://startearly.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/
Labels: childcare, education, feminism, G.L.B.T., morals, multiculturalism, relativism, sex ed
4.2 Stop it at the start (a "$30 million national campaign designed to help break the cycle of violence against women and their children") "will unite families and communities around young people to positively influence attitudes towards respectful relationships and gender equality."
The quotations in that headline come from the media release "Stop it at the start", dated April 20, 2016, downloaded from the Federal Minister for Women's website (the latter quotation was attributed directly to the Minister, The Hon. Sen. Michaelia Cash):
http://ministers.dpmc.gov.au/cash/2016/stop-it-start
(That media release is also available at the official Federal Minister for Social Services website:
http://christianporter.dss.gov.au/media-releases/stop-it-at-the-start)
See also the transcript "Stop it at the Start - Campaign Launch Press Conference", dated April 20, 2016, downloaded from the same website:
http://ministers.dpmc.gov.au/cash/2016/stop-it-start-campaign-launch-press-conference
(and also available at the other website:
http://christianporter.dss.gov.au/transcripts/stop-it-at-the-start-campaign-launch-press-conference)
In that transcript, Sen. Cash also reminds her audience of how
4.3 Ms Barry on "respectful relationships education"
See the opinion piece "Respectful relationships education: teaching kids respect" by Ms Mary Barry (Chief Executive Officer of Our Watch), dated April 21, 2016, downloaded from Our Watch's website:
http://www.ourwatch.org.au/News-media/Latest-news/Respectful-relationships-education-teaching-kids-r
Labels: childcare, education, feminism, G.L.B.T., morals, multiculturalism, relativism, sex ed
5. Some sources of information about the Martyrs of Carmes
See the Trove scans of the following newspaper articles (none of which had bylines):
See also pp. 67-72 of Acta Apostolicæ Sedis (A.A.S.) Vol. VIII (A.D. 1916):
http://www.vatican.va/archive/aas/documents/AAS-08-1916-ocr.pdf
and pp. 415-425, 439-447, and 450-452 of A.A.S. Vol. XVIII (A.D. 1926):
http://www.vatican.va/archive/aas/documents/AAS-18-1926-ocr.pdf
(The latter volume also contains information about the aforementioned Bl. Noel Pinot.)
Labels: France, saints
6. Some recent Gay-related items
6.1 "An Australian first Pride Centre is the centrepiece of the Andrews Labor Government’s continued investment in services and facilities for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and Intersex (LGBTI) Victorians."
The quotation in that headline is the first paragraph of the Media Release "Victoria Continues To Lead The Nation On Equality", credited to Victoria's Ministers for, respectively, Equality (The Hon. Martin Foley M.P.) and Health (The Hon. Jill Hennessy M.P.), dated April 27, 2016, downloaded from the official Premier of Victoria website:
http://www.premier.vic.gov.au/victoria-continues-to-lead-the-nation-on-equality/
See also the Media Release "Australia’s First Pride Centre", credited to the Victorian Premier (The Hon. Daniel Andrews M.P.), dated April 20, 2016, downloaded from the same website:
http://www.premier.vic.gov.au/australias-first-pride-centre/
and the A.B.C. news report "Victoria to establish Australia's first Pride Centre for LGBTI community", dated Apil 20, 2016:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-04-20/victoria-to-be-home-to-australias-first-pride-centre/7343932
(While gathering that information, I came across this remarkable document:
Equality back on the agenda: Labor’s LGBTI Policy)
Labels: G.L.B.T., Victoria
6.2 "A Shorten Labor Government will appoint a full-time LGBTI Discrimination Commissioner to the Australian Human Rights Commission."
The quotation in that headline is the first paragraph of the media release "Labor To Appoint A New Champion For LGBTI Australians", issued jointly by The Hon. Sen. Penny Wong (Leader of H.M.A. Opposition in the Senate, Shadow Minister for Trade and Investment) and The Hon. Mark Dreyfus Q.C. M.P. (Federal Shadow Attorney-General and Shadow Arts Minister), dated Saturday, May 21, 2016, downloaded from Mr. Dreyfus's website:
http://markdreyfus.nationbuilder.com/labor_to_appoint_a_new_champion_for_lgbti_australians
See also
6.3 On Wednesday, May 25, 2016, His Excellency The Governor of New South Wales "met with Mr Geoff Selig, Board Director, and Mr Sean Linkson, Chief Executive Officer of The Pinnacle Foundation, an organisation established to provide scholarships to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Intersex and Queer students who are marginalised or disadvantaged."
The quotation in that headline comes from the webpage "Wednesday, 25 May 2016" at the official Governor of New South Wales website:
https://www.governor.nsw.gov.au/governor/vice-regal-program/wednesday/
Labels: G.L.B.T., N.S.W.
Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of The Most Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ, A.D. 2016
The quotation, including its italics, in that headline comes from the Media Release "ParentsNext - helping parents with young children prepare for work", dated Wednesday, January 6, 2016, issued by The Hon. Sen. Michaelia Cash (Federal Minister for Employment, Minister for Women, and Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Public Service), downloaded from the Employment portfolio Minister’s Media Centre website:
https://ministers.employment.gov.au/cash/parentsnext-helping-parents-young-children-prepare-work-0
See also
- the "Parents Next" (sic) "landing page" at H.M.A. Government's Department of Employment website:
http://www.employment.gov.au/parentsnext
- the "Grant Guidelines for ParentsNext", available here:
http://www.employment.gov.au/information-grant-guidelines-parentsnext
or go straight hither:
https://docs.employment.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/grant_guidelines_for_parentsnext.pdf
In Chapter 2 ("About ParentsNext"), §2.1 ("Introduction"), p. 2 (8 in your reader), that document notes that "[f]or many people, in particular, many women, becoming a parent can involve more time spent caring for children and less time in the paid workforce."
- the "Q & As for the Applications for Grant Funding for ParentsNext" (also called "ParentsNext Grant Funding Proposal Question and Answers"), available here:
http://www.employment.gov.au/information-grant-guidelines-parentsnext
or go straight hither:
https://docs.employment.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/parentsnext_q_and_as_2.pdf
This document notes, like the Grant Guidelines, that "[f]or many people, particularly women, becoming a parent can involve more time spent caring for children and less time in the paid workforce" (p. 3, §1.4), and question 1.24 (p. 7) says, in part, "[w]e have run projects in the past and some women did not have child care as they have not been eligible for child care with Centrelink".
- the "Grant Guidelines for ParentsNext Webinar" PowerPoint presentation, available here:
https://docs.employment.gov.au/node/35611
The fifth slide, headed "Policy rationale", has a bullet point saying "Added impetus: Australia’s G20 commitment to reduce the gap between male and female labour force participation.", and the text accompanying that slide goes into a little more detail, noting, among other things, that "it is expected that the majority of parents in ParentsNext will be women"
2. In one respect, The Greens are a better friend (or at least less of an enemy) to large families than Labor and the Liberals are.
I refer in that headline to The Greens' opposition to the abolition of the large-family supplement. See The Australian Greens Dissenting Report in the Senate's Community Affairs Legislation Committee's February 2016 report on the Social Services Legislation Amendment (Family Measures) Bill 2015 [Provisions]:
http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Community_Affairs/Family_Measures/Report
See also the respective speeches of Senn. Fifield, Moore, and Siewert recorded in the Hansard for Wednesday, February 24, 2016 (under "Social Services Legislation Amendment (Family Measures) Bill 2015" under the two "BILLS" tabs at the left of your screen when you go to the following webpage):
http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;query=Id%3A%22chamber%2Fhansards%2Faf5e9bce-9bd9-45dc-bd87-c1d5218a5d66%2F0000%22
Labels: economics, family, tax
3. Mr. Lawrence on Family Tax Benefit B and horizontal equity:
… What we point out in paragraph 27 of our submission is that family tax benefit B is a hybrid kind of payment.Labels: economics, family, tax
There was an interesting article by Judith Sloan in The Australian about a month ago where she talked about family tax benefit part B. She framed it, at least part of it, in terms of a tax relief measure. What she was saying—and other people have said this but she perhaps crystallised it—is that family tax benefit B is a provision that gives some horizontal equity to the tax system. In Australia, as we well know, we do not have family tax. The family is not a unit and the household is not a unit for tax purposes. Prime Minister Howard was very good in articulating the basis for giving some support to families through the tax system. His point was, and the same with Judith Sloane, that if somebody is prepared to give part of their income to support somebody else then they should get some recognition for it. There should be some tax relief, because it has a social value. If we give a donation to an organisation that looks after homeless children, we get a tax deduction for it, because it is recognised in the system that there is an advantage in that for society. Civil society, or the institution of society, is enhanced by the sharing of income.
So you get this notion of horizontal equity. We have used the tax rebate originally as one means of modifying the implications of just having an individual as a tax unit. What we now have is a hybrid. It makes it a bit difficult sometimes to work out how you should deal with it. Our view is that because there is a value in looking after children in the home and because there is an argument in support of horizontal equity then in principle there should be no cut-off point in the support. But the reality is that if you are going to support the people at the bottom, the most vulnerable, you might not be able to afford that benefit. If you reduce it back, you might lose the obvious horizontal tax equity features. That is an issue that I think has to be taken into account in this debate and it sometimes can be confusing as to how you deal with it.
[my ellipsis symbol,
Hansard transcript of a public hearing, on February 18, 2016, for the Senate's Community Affairs Legislation Committee's inquiry into the Social Services Legislation Amendment (Family Payments Structural Reform and Participation Measures) Bill (No. 2) 2015 (the quotation comes from Mr. Brian Lawrence, who represented the Australian Catholic Council for Employment Relations (A.C.C.E.R.)):
http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;query=Id%3A%22committees%2Fcommsen%2F9b2b26ff-6726-4185-935e-06385bc5c0aa%2F0000%22
(A.C.C.E.R.'s submission is available at Parliament's website (but Mr. Lawrence seems to have had in mind section, rather than page, 27, on p. 8):
http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Community_Affairs/Family_Payments_No_2/Submissions)]
4. Some recent items regarding "respectful relationships"
4.1 Mr. Muehlenberg on Early Childhood Australia (E.C.A.) and its Start Early "teaching resource"
See the blog posts "Get Your Hands Off Our Children" by Mr. Bill Muehlenberg, dated March 6, 2016, downloaded from his CultureWatch blog:
http://billmuehlenberg.com/2016/03/06/when-the-wicked-target-our-children/
and "The Sexual Anarchists Targeting Our Children", by the same author, dated March 8, 2016, downloaded from the same website:
http://billmuehlenberg.com/2016/03/08/the-sexual-anarchists-targeting-our-children/
There is a Start Early homepage at E.C.A.'s website:
http://startearly.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/
Labels: childcare, education, feminism, G.L.B.T., morals, multiculturalism, relativism, sex ed
4.2 Stop it at the start (a "$30 million national campaign designed to help break the cycle of violence against women and their children") "will unite families and communities around young people to positively influence attitudes towards respectful relationships and gender equality."
The quotations in that headline come from the media release "Stop it at the start", dated April 20, 2016, downloaded from the Federal Minister for Women's website (the latter quotation was attributed directly to the Minister, The Hon. Sen. Michaelia Cash):
http://ministers.dpmc.gov.au/cash/2016/stop-it-start
(That media release is also available at the official Federal Minister for Social Services website:
http://christianporter.dss.gov.au/media-releases/stop-it-at-the-start)
See also the transcript "Stop it at the Start - Campaign Launch Press Conference", dated April 20, 2016, downloaded from the same website:
http://ministers.dpmc.gov.au/cash/2016/stop-it-start-campaign-launch-press-conference
(and also available at the other website:
http://christianporter.dss.gov.au/transcripts/stop-it-at-the-start-campaign-launch-press-conference)
In that transcript, Sen. Cash also reminds her audience of how
last year the Women’s Safety Ministers, we wrote to the Education Ministers, and we recommended that Respectful Relationships, that programme, be imbedded in the school curriculum. We were very pleased that then the Education Minister’s determined that it would.As for the respective policies of Federal Labor and The Greens concerning 'respectful relationships', see
- p. 18 of the booklet "Australian Women. Labor’s Positive Policies", available at Labor's 100 Positive Policies website here:
http://www.100positivepolicies.org.au/australian_women_labors_positive_policies
and elsewhere here:
https://cdn.australianlabor.com.au/documents/ALPWomen_Brochure.pdf
- the webpage "Preventing Violence Against Women" at The Greens' website here:
http://thegreens.org.au/prevent-violence
whence you can download the booklet "PREVENTING VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN" (see p. 2 concerning the matter at hand):
http://greens.org.au/sites/greens.org.au/files/20160620%20Preventing%20Violence%20Against%20Women%20Plan.pdf
4.3 Ms Barry on "respectful relationships education"
See the opinion piece "Respectful relationships education: teaching kids respect" by Ms Mary Barry (Chief Executive Officer of Our Watch), dated April 21, 2016, downloaded from Our Watch's website:
http://www.ourwatch.org.au/News-media/Latest-news/Respectful-relationships-education-teaching-kids-r
Labels: childcare, education, feminism, G.L.B.T., morals, multiculturalism, relativism, sex ed
5. Some sources of information about the Martyrs of Carmes
See the Trove scans of the following newspaper articles (none of which had bylines):
- "HEROIC MARTYR BAND. Death Preferred to Disloyalty. THE POPE’S EULOGY." in The Freeman's Journal, Vol. LXXVI, Sydney, Thursday, December 2, 1926, p. 40:
http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/116779424
(That article also contains information about Bl. Noel Pinot, another martyr during the French Revolution.)
- "News From France: The August Pilgrimage to Lourdes: THE FRENCH GOVERNMENT AND FAVOURITISM." in The Catholic Press, No. 827, Sydney, Thursday, October 26, 1911, p. 8:
http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/105984410
- the article with an indistinctly-scanned headline beginning in the farthest left-hand-side column of p. 4 of The Catholic Press, No. 906, Sydney, Thursday, May 1, 1913:
http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/105157670/
- "ROME DAY BY DAY. Notes and News." in The Catholic Press, No. 1056, Sydney, Thursday, March 23, 1916, p. 18:
http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/105164309
See also pp. 67-72 of Acta Apostolicæ Sedis (A.A.S.) Vol. VIII (A.D. 1916):
http://www.vatican.va/archive/aas/documents/AAS-08-1916-ocr.pdf
and pp. 415-425, 439-447, and 450-452 of A.A.S. Vol. XVIII (A.D. 1926):
http://www.vatican.va/archive/aas/documents/AAS-18-1926-ocr.pdf
(The latter volume also contains information about the aforementioned Bl. Noel Pinot.)
Labels: France, saints
6. Some recent Gay-related items
6.1 "An Australian first Pride Centre is the centrepiece of the Andrews Labor Government’s continued investment in services and facilities for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and Intersex (LGBTI) Victorians."
The quotation in that headline is the first paragraph of the Media Release "Victoria Continues To Lead The Nation On Equality", credited to Victoria's Ministers for, respectively, Equality (The Hon. Martin Foley M.P.) and Health (The Hon. Jill Hennessy M.P.), dated April 27, 2016, downloaded from the official Premier of Victoria website:
http://www.premier.vic.gov.au/victoria-continues-to-lead-the-nation-on-equality/
See also the Media Release "Australia’s First Pride Centre", credited to the Victorian Premier (The Hon. Daniel Andrews M.P.), dated April 20, 2016, downloaded from the same website:
http://www.premier.vic.gov.au/australias-first-pride-centre/
and the A.B.C. news report "Victoria to establish Australia's first Pride Centre for LGBTI community", dated Apil 20, 2016:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-04-20/victoria-to-be-home-to-australias-first-pride-centre/7343932
(While gathering that information, I came across this remarkable document:
Equality back on the agenda: Labor’s LGBTI Policy)
Labels: G.L.B.T., Victoria
6.2 "A Shorten Labor Government will appoint a full-time LGBTI Discrimination Commissioner to the Australian Human Rights Commission."
The quotation in that headline is the first paragraph of the media release "Labor To Appoint A New Champion For LGBTI Australians", issued jointly by The Hon. Sen. Penny Wong (Leader of H.M.A. Opposition in the Senate, Shadow Minister for Trade and Investment) and The Hon. Mark Dreyfus Q.C. M.P. (Federal Shadow Attorney-General and Shadow Arts Minister), dated Saturday, May 21, 2016, downloaded from Mr. Dreyfus's website:
http://markdreyfus.nationbuilder.com/labor_to_appoint_a_new_champion_for_lgbti_australians
See also
- the prepared text of the speech by Sen. Wong for the "Rainbow Labor National Day of Action and Campaign Launch" in Melbourne on the same date, downloaded from Sen. Wong's personal website:
http://www.pennywong.com.au/speeches/rainbow-labor-national-day-of-action-and-campaign-launch-melbourne/
- the transcript of Sen. Wong's and Mr. Dreyfus's press conference on the same date and in the same city, downloaded from the same website:
http://www.pennywong.com.au/transcripts/press-conference-melbourne-4/
- the webpage "Fighting Discrimination Against Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender And Intersex Australians" at Labor's 100 Positive Policies website:
http://www.100positivepolicies.org.au/lgbti_discrimination_commissioner_fact_sheet
6.3 On Wednesday, May 25, 2016, His Excellency The Governor of New South Wales "met with Mr Geoff Selig, Board Director, and Mr Sean Linkson, Chief Executive Officer of The Pinnacle Foundation, an organisation established to provide scholarships to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Intersex and Queer students who are marginalised or disadvantaged."
The quotation in that headline comes from the webpage "Wednesday, 25 May 2016" at the official Governor of New South Wales website:
https://www.governor.nsw.gov.au/governor/vice-regal-program/wednesday/
Labels: G.L.B.T., N.S.W.
Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of The Most Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ, A.D. 2016
Monday, March 28, 2016
Notes: Friday, January 1-Monday, March 28, 2016
1. Some changes to this blog's sidebar
Just before posting this issue of "Notes", I added
2. Mr. Alexander on two theories of how political authority is transferred from God to the sovereign:
3. Mr. Smith on Mr. Nile's involvement in the New South Wales Parliament's extension, to all shops, of permission to trade on Boxing Day 2015 and ’16:
http://www.christiandemocraticparty.com.au/media-releases/boxing-day-trading-lets-keep-with-the-facts/
In particular, in connection with Mr. Smith's statement that "[e]very major Christian religious group wrote letters of support calling on Parliament to leave the day for families", see the message from the leader of the Sydney branch of the Anglican sect, available for download at that Media Release's webpage, or go straight hither:
http://www.christiandemocraticparty.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/151110-Archbishops-letter-to-FN-and-PG.pdf
Labels: Fred Nile, work
4. In the conclusion to H.H. The Pope's brief homily during a New-Order Mass (the Solemnity of the Baptism of Our Lord, January 10, 2016), His Holiness "invited mothers to feel free to feed their babies in the Sistine Chapel if necessary."
The quotation in that headline comes from the item "Baptisms in the Sistine Chapel: offer your children the legacy of faith", dated January 10, 2016, in the Holy See Press Office's Vatican Information Service daily e-mail bulletin of January 11, 2016, Year XXVI, No. 5; that item is available online under the same headline and with the same date at News.va:
http://www.news.va/en/news/baptisms-in-the-sistine-chapel-offer-your-children
An English version of the text of the homily in question is available here:
http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/homilies/2016/documents/papa-francesco_20160110_omelia-battesimo-signore.html
and in what was presumably its original Italian here:
http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/it/homilies/2016/documents/papa-francesco_20160110_omelia-battesimo-signore.html
Labels: breastfeeding, Francis Bergoglio, morals
5. Five points of interest in connection with the Safe Schools Coalition's All of Us "teaching resource"
The text immediately after each of the following bullet points is a quotation from the article "Sexual politics in the classroom", by Natasha Bita, on p. 17 in the "INQUIRER" section of The Weekend Australian, February 13-14, 2016, First Edition, No. 15961, ISSN 1038-8761, published by Nationwide News Pty. Limited. I transcribed the quotations myself (though the article is also available online (behind a paywall, which you might be able to circumvent if you Google part of one of the following quotations and click the resulting link), at The Australian's website, under the headline "Safe Schools Coalition: sexual politics in the classroom", with the same author, dated February 13, 2016, here); each dash is the result of a word spanning two lines, and any bracketed interpolations are mine.
http://www.safeschoolscoalition.org.au/all-of-us
or go straight hither:
http://www.safeschoolscoalition.org.au/app/theme/default/design/assets/all-of-us/documents/unit-guide.pdf
On seeing Mr. Marco Fink credited (under his assumed named "Margot Fink") on p. 2 under "DIRECTOR", "EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS", "SPECIAL THANKS", "PHOTOGRAPHY", and "CAST MEMBERS", I couldn't help but think of Little Britain's parody of Dennis Waterman refusing to accept work on a T.V. show unless he could "star in it, write the feem toon, sing the feem toon".
Regarding H.M. Victorian Government's putative plan to make all State-run Victorian schools take part in the Safe Schools programme: Two possible sources for that piece of information are the Media Release "All Victorian Government Schools to Be Prouder, Safer", dated February 2, 2015, downloaded from the Premier of Victoria's official website here:
http://www.premier.vic.gov.au/all-victorian-government-schools-to-be-prouder-safer/
and "Victoria’s 10-year mental health plan", authorised and published by H.M. Victorian Government, Melbourne, November 2015, available here:
http://mentalhealthplan.vic.gov.au/
According to the "SNAPSHOT OF ACTION" on p. 4 (p. 3 in your reader) of the latter,
6. Pius XII. on world federal government
See the text of the French-language Allocution of April 6, 1951 to the delegates to the fourth annual congress of the World Movement for World Federal Government in Acta Apostolicæ Sedis 43 (A.D. 1951), pp. 278-280 (to which the index refers on p. 891):
http://www.vatican.va/archive/aas/documents/AAS-43-1951-ocr.pdf
The text of that Allocution is also available in HTML format here:
http://w2.vatican.va/content/pius-xii/fr/speeches/1951/documents/hf_p-xii_spe_19510406_confederaz-mondiale.html
Apparently, an English translation, though with no translator credited, was printed in the "THIS CHANGING WORLD" column (no byline) on p. 4 of the Sydney Catholic Weekly, Vol. X, No. 480, Thursday, May 10, 1951:
http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/page/17409103
Labels: morals, Pius XII. Pacelli, U.N.O.
Reginaldvs Cantvar
Easter Monday, A.D. 2016
Just before posting this issue of "Notes", I added
- a "Search services" section, containing links to Google and to Trove, between my "Discussion links" and "Reference links" sections
- a link to Theological Studies' website to my "Miscellaneous links" section (whence I moved my Trove link)
- a link to the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy's website to my "Reference links"
2. Mr. Alexander on two theories of how political authority is transferred from God to the sovereign:
… Ever since Suarez and Bellarmine, this theory[, that is, "the theory of the social contract and the transfer of power by the people as a whole",] had been the subject of violent dispute between the partisans of the formal and conservative interpretation of the doctrine of Thomas Aquinas which found the origin and the bearer of state power to be in the state community, and the partisans of a realistic interpretation and its further development in the tradition of Suarez and the others. According to the first concept, the people in a state are only indirectly the bearers of political power and all they can do is to designate (designatio) or elect the immediate bearer of political power to whom this power is then transferred “by the grace of God.” According to the second concept the people in a state are themselves the bearers of state power which they transfer directly (delegatio) to the organs of the state in the name of the natural rights of the people, whereby they do not by any means dispose of these rights permanently by the contractual act of delegation, but on the contrary remain the perpetual and original possessors of political power. This difference between the so-called “designation theory” and the “translation theory” has significant consequences for the doctrine of the social contract and the active, i.e., revolutionary, right of resistance. Those who hold fast to the designation theory necessarily reject the democratic theory of the social contract and people’s sovereignty and, by the same token, deny the existence of a direct right to resist and to make revolutionary constitutional changes. Those who believe in the translation theory, on the contrary, not only defend the Suarist concept of people’s sovereignty but also deduce from it the right of active resistance. …Labels: morals, St. Robert Bellarmine, St. Thomas Aquinas
[my ellipsis symbols and square-bracketed interpolation,
pp. 506 f., sub-section 2. "The Doctrine of the State", section 2. "The Political Doctrines", Chapter VI "Political Doctrines and Social Theories", in "Church and Society in Germany. Social and Political Movements and Ideas in German and Austrian Catholicism 1789-1950" by Edgar Alexander, translated by Dr. Toni Stolper; "Church and Society in Germany" is Part IV of Church and Society: Catholic Social and Political Thought and Movements 1789-1950, edited by Prof. Joseph N. Moody in collaboration with twelve others, published by Arts, Inc., New York, 1953]
3. Mr. Smith on Mr. Nile's involvement in the New South Wales Parliament's extension, to all shops, of permission to trade on Boxing Day 2015 and ’16:
… You[, that is, Shop, Distributive, and Allied Employees' Association, New South Wales Branch (S.D.A.N.S.W.) "members, Delegates and supporters",] sent in thousands of emails and made hundreds of phone calls to the Rev Nile. Every major Christian religious group wrote letters of support calling on Parliament to leave the day for families. Despite all of this, the Rev Nile broke his election promise to you and he voted with the Baird Government to allow all shops to trade on Boxing Day.But see also the Media Release "Boxing Day Trading – Let’s Keep with the Facts", dated November 12, 2015, downloaded from the Christian Democratic Party's website here:
[my ellipsis symbol and bracketed interpolation,
"A Challenging Year Draws to an End", by Mr. Bernie Smith (S.D.A.N.S.W. Secretary), p. 3, SDA NEWS (the "OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF THE SHOP, DISTRIBUTIVE AND ALLIED EMPLOYEES’ ASSOCIATION, NEW SOUTH WALES BRANCH"), Summer 2015, available at the S.D.A.N.S.W.'s website here:
https://www.sdansw.org.au/news/sda-news-summer-2015-edition
Or go straight hither:
http://issuu.com/sdansw/docs/sda_news_summer_2015_so?e=9746493/31899528]
http://www.christiandemocraticparty.com.au/media-releases/boxing-day-trading-lets-keep-with-the-facts/
In particular, in connection with Mr. Smith's statement that "[e]very major Christian religious group wrote letters of support calling on Parliament to leave the day for families", see the message from the leader of the Sydney branch of the Anglican sect, available for download at that Media Release's webpage, or go straight hither:
http://www.christiandemocraticparty.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/151110-Archbishops-letter-to-FN-and-PG.pdf
Labels: Fred Nile, work
4. In the conclusion to H.H. The Pope's brief homily during a New-Order Mass (the Solemnity of the Baptism of Our Lord, January 10, 2016), His Holiness "invited mothers to feel free to feed their babies in the Sistine Chapel if necessary."
The quotation in that headline comes from the item "Baptisms in the Sistine Chapel: offer your children the legacy of faith", dated January 10, 2016, in the Holy See Press Office's Vatican Information Service daily e-mail bulletin of January 11, 2016, Year XXVI, No. 5; that item is available online under the same headline and with the same date at News.va:
http://www.news.va/en/news/baptisms-in-the-sistine-chapel-offer-your-children
An English version of the text of the homily in question is available here:
http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/homilies/2016/documents/papa-francesco_20160110_omelia-battesimo-signore.html
and in what was presumably its original Italian here:
http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/it/homilies/2016/documents/papa-francesco_20160110_omelia-battesimo-signore.html
Labels: breastfeeding, Francis Bergoglio, morals
5. Five points of interest in connection with the Safe Schools Coalition's All of Us "teaching resource"
The text immediately after each of the following bullet points is a quotation from the article "Sexual politics in the classroom", by Natasha Bita, on p. 17 in the "INQUIRER" section of The Weekend Australian, February 13-14, 2016, First Edition, No. 15961, ISSN 1038-8761, published by Nationwide News Pty. Limited. I transcribed the quotations myself (though the article is also available online (behind a paywall, which you might be able to circumvent if you Google part of one of the following quotations and click the resulting link), at The Australian's website, under the headline "Safe Schools Coalition: sexual politics in the classroom", with the same author, dated February 13, 2016, here); each dash is the result of a word spanning two lines, and any bracketed interpolations are mine.
- Victoria has ordered all govern-ment schools to sign on[ to the "Safe Schools Coalition program"] by 2019[ sic—twenty nineteen].
- Taxpayers are funding the pro-gram, which the Safe Schools Co-alition devised based on advice from a “curriculum consultant” and a group of Melbourne teach-ers
- Safe Schools Coalition national pro-gram director Sally Richardson tells Inquirer the Federal Edu-cation Department approved the All of Us teaching manual
- The de-cision to target the teaching to the youngest high school students, she[, namely Sally Richardson,] says, was made by education con-sultant Janice Atkin, a former Aus-tralian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority project officer who managed the develop-ment of the national health and physical education curriculum.
- “We worked closely with the federal Department of Education and Training to ensure all the les-son plans and videos were appro-priate for years 7 and 8,” Richardson says. “All of our re-sources are being fully funded by the Australian government.”
http://www.safeschoolscoalition.org.au/all-of-us
or go straight hither:
http://www.safeschoolscoalition.org.au/app/theme/default/design/assets/all-of-us/documents/unit-guide.pdf
On seeing Mr. Marco Fink credited (under his assumed named "Margot Fink") on p. 2 under "DIRECTOR", "EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS", "SPECIAL THANKS", "PHOTOGRAPHY", and "CAST MEMBERS", I couldn't help but think of Little Britain's parody of Dennis Waterman refusing to accept work on a T.V. show unless he could "star in it, write the feem toon, sing the feem toon".
Regarding H.M. Victorian Government's putative plan to make all State-run Victorian schools take part in the Safe Schools programme: Two possible sources for that piece of information are the Media Release "All Victorian Government Schools to Be Prouder, Safer", dated February 2, 2015, downloaded from the Premier of Victoria's official website here:
http://www.premier.vic.gov.au/all-victorian-government-schools-to-be-prouder-safer/
and "Victoria’s 10-year mental health plan", authorised and published by H.M. Victorian Government, Melbourne, November 2015, available here:
http://mentalhealthplan.vic.gov.au/
According to the "SNAPSHOT OF ACTION" on p. 4 (p. 3 in your reader) of the latter,
We have increased support for the resilience and wellbeing of young people through:and according to the former,
• expanding the Safe Schools program to all secondary schools across the state
a successful program that creates safe and supportive classrooms for same-sex attracted and gender diverse students will be implemented at every Victorian Government secondary school.(and the "successful program" is "The Safe Schools Coalition Victoria program".) It was also interesting to see, under the sub-heading "Quotes attributable to Deputy Premier and Minister for Education, James Merlino", 'respectful relationships' popping up again:
this program is about working with teachers to provide a respectful and safe environment where every young person can belong.Labels: A.C.A.R.A., education, G.L.B.T., sex ed, Victoria
6. Pius XII. on world federal government
See the text of the French-language Allocution of April 6, 1951 to the delegates to the fourth annual congress of the World Movement for World Federal Government in Acta Apostolicæ Sedis 43 (A.D. 1951), pp. 278-280 (to which the index refers on p. 891):
http://www.vatican.va/archive/aas/documents/AAS-43-1951-ocr.pdf
The text of that Allocution is also available in HTML format here:
http://w2.vatican.va/content/pius-xii/fr/speeches/1951/documents/hf_p-xii_spe_19510406_confederaz-mondiale.html
Apparently, an English translation, though with no translator credited, was printed in the "THIS CHANGING WORLD" column (no byline) on p. 4 of the Sydney Catholic Weekly, Vol. X, No. 480, Thursday, May 10, 1951:
http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/page/17409103
Labels: morals, Pius XII. Pacelli, U.N.O.
Reginaldvs Cantvar
Easter Monday, A.D. 2016
Thursday, December 31, 2015
Notes: Tuesday, December 1-Thursday, December 31, 2015
1. Some changes to this blog's sidebar
Just before posting this issue of "Notes", I added a link to What's Up With Francis-Church? to my "Blog links" section, added a link to Catholica to my "Discussion links" section, moved the "News and opinion links" section to between the "Miscellaneous links" and "Magisterium" sections, and deleted the "Posts" and "Comments" sections.
Labels: blogs
2. "The bottom line is we want families to be able to access more affordable child care so they can get to work."
The quotation in that headline comes from the transcript of a radio (2GB) interview by Mr. Ray Hadley of The Hon. Scott Morrison M.P. (Federal Treasurer) on November 30, 2015, downloaded from Mr. Morrison's Ministerial website:
http://sjm.ministers.treasury.gov.au/transcript/059-2015/
Similarly, the Federal Minister for Social Services, The Hon. Christian Porter M.P., said shortly before Mr. Morrison that
3. More information on the imminent changes to Victoria's Special Religious Instruction programme is available at the webpage "Special Religious Instruction 2016" in the "Curriculum" pages of the "School Policy & Advisory Guide" section of H.M.V. Government's Education and Training website:
http://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/principals/spag/curriculum/Pages/sri.aspx
See especially the "Overview of Changes" and "Information for Parents" Word documents, both dated November 2015, available for download at the bottom of that webpage.
Labels: education, feminism, G.L.B.T., morals, multiculturalism, relativism, Victoria
4. Two points of interest from the Pacific Women Shaping Pacific Development inaugural Progress Report:
http://pacificwomenreport.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/PW_AR_Dec7_Approved_Final_E-Copy.pdf
See also the media release "Progress Report of Pacific Women Shaping Pacific Development", dated December 7, 2015, available at the Ministerial website of The Hon. Steven Ciobo M.P. (Federal Minister for International Development and the Pacific):
http://ministers.dfat.gov.au/stevenciobo/releases/Pages/2015/sc_mr_151207.aspx?w=%2FF8ZUhcj%2B3O78bKr86LCHA%3D%3D
and the prepared text, under the headline "Launch of the Pacific Women Inaugural Progress Report", of a speech by Mr. Ciobo, dated December 7, 2015, available at the same website:
http://ministers.dfat.gov.au/stevenciobo/speeches/Pages/2015/sc_sp_151207.aspx?w=%2FF8ZUhcj%2B3O78bKr86LCHA%3D%3D
Labels: abortion, contraception, feminism, foreign affairs
5. "“’Nostra Aetate had eliminated any language referring to hope for a conversion,” he[, viz. "Joseph Sievers, a professor at Rome’s Pontifical Biblical Institute and a member of the[ Vatican] commission[ for Religious Relations with the Jews] that produced" "THE GIFTS AND THE CALLING OF GOD ARE IRREVOCABLE",] said, “but it did not explicitly say ‘we do not want to convert Jews.’ This document wants to make that clear.”"
The quotation, excluding my bracketed interpolations, in that headline comes from the report "New Vatican Document Says Church Doesn't Seek Conversion of the Jews", by Mr. Francis X. Rocca, dated (or at least last updated) December 10, 2015, downloaded from The Wall Street Journal's website:
http://www.wsj.com/articles/new-vatican-document-says-church-doesn-t-seek-conversion-of-the-jews-1449784616
A similar interpretation of that document, or at least of one of its logical consequences, seems to have been expressed by a well-known Jewish participant in Jewish-Catholic dialogue—see the article "Catholics should not seek to convert Jews: Vatican", no byline (though the stated source was "CATHOLICCULTURE.ORG"), p. 27, the Sydney Catholic Weekly, December 20, 2015, Vol. 73, No. 4806, published by The Catholic Press Newspaper Company Pty. Ltd.—but one apparently well-informed reporter disputes that interpretation, writing that the
http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/chrstuni/relations-jews-docs/rc_pc_chrstuni_doc_20151210_ebraismo-nostra-aetate_en.html
Labels: Jews, Roman Curia
Reginaldvs Cantvar
Thursday within the Octave of Christmas, and the feast of St. Sylvester I., Pope, Confessor, A.D. 2015
Just before posting this issue of "Notes", I added a link to What's Up With Francis-Church? to my "Blog links" section, added a link to Catholica to my "Discussion links" section, moved the "News and opinion links" section to between the "Miscellaneous links" and "Magisterium" sections, and deleted the "Posts" and "Comments" sections.
Labels: blogs
2. "The bottom line is we want families to be able to access more affordable child care so they can get to work."
The quotation in that headline comes from the transcript of a radio (2GB) interview by Mr. Ray Hadley of The Hon. Scott Morrison M.P. (Federal Treasurer) on November 30, 2015, downloaded from Mr. Morrison's Ministerial website:
http://sjm.ministers.treasury.gov.au/transcript/059-2015/
Similarly, the Federal Minister for Social Services, The Hon. Christian Porter M.P., said shortly before Mr. Morrison that
a better allocation of some[ "welfare"], and a modest amount in terms of the total of Family Tax Benefits is to reprioritise that to, generally speaking, to the same families but through another mechanism that is better, more efficiently subsidised childcare so that you engender workforce participation.See also
[my square-bracketed interpolation,
"Sky News To the Point" interview transcript, November 26, 2015, downloaded from Mr. Porter's Ministerial website:
http://christianporter.dss.gov.au/transcripts/sky-news-to-the-point]
- the Joint Transcript "Joint press conference - Child Care Reforms", dated Wednesday, December 2, 2015, downloaded from the Ministerial website of The Hon. Sen. Simon Birmingham (Federal Minister for Education and Training):
http://ministers.education.gov.au/birmingham/joint-press-conference-child-care-reforms
(That transcript is also available at Mr. Porter's Ministerial website under the apparently mistaken heading "ABC 720 Perth with Simon Birmingham", and also at Sen. Birmingham's personal website, under the heading "Joint Press Conference - Christian Porter", dated Thursday, December 3, 2015 (perhaps the date of its uploading to that website rather than the date of the press conference in question).) In the introduction he gave at that press conference, Sen. Birmingham said that
Ultimately, we believe it[ (that is, "the Jobs for Families child care reforms")] will deliver better outcomes, lift workforce participation, help encourage more people into the work force, help encourage greater volunteering, help encourage people to study, get greater results from the $40 billion that the Government expects to invest in child care over the next few years, more than $3.2 billion of additional expenditure.
In answer to a question from a journalist about why the reformed child care subsidy still goes to high income—even millionaire—households, Sen. Birmingham said that
Our number one focus is overwhelmingly on families and children – supporting families and parents in their working ambitions, supporting children accessing child care to have support for the early learning opportunities it provides. …
the greatest analysis into Australia's child care and early learning system undertaken in recent years occurred via the Productivity Commission inquiry into child care and early learning. And that inquiry recommended that there should be a floor in relation to child care subsidy that applied to all family circumstances to make sure that there was an appropriate incentive for workforce participation. You have to remember that when you are talking about family income levels it's not necessarily the family income level that matters most to a workforce participation decision in relation to child care; it's the secondary income earner that is often the decision point. And so by putting a floor in relation to the child care subsidy, there is always still an incentive there and some assistance there to help the secondary income earner step in.
and he expressed similar reasoning in answer to similar questions a couple of days before that press conference; see his answers to the first two questions in the transcript "Interview - RN Breakfast - Alison Carabine", Monday, November 30, 2015:
http://www.senatorbirmingham.com.au/Media-Centre/Interview-Transcripts/ID/2884/Interview--RN-Breakfast--Alison-Carabine
and his answers to the first, second, and second-last questions in the transcript "Interview - Doorstop", Monday, November 30, 2015:
http://www.senatorbirmingham.com.au/Media-Centre/Interview-Transcripts/ID/2882/Interview--Doorstop
(In fairness, however, see the antepenultimate paragraph of the interview transcript "Interview - Sky News - PM Agenda - David Speers", dated Friday, November 27, 2015, downloaded from Sen. Birmingham' s personal website:
http://www.senatorbirmingham.com.au/Media-Centre/Interview-Transcripts/ID/2880/Interview--Sky-News--PM-Agenda--David-Speers)
- the Joint Media Release "Family Tax reform to better support Australian children", dated December 2, 2015, downloaded from Mr. Porter's Ministerial website:
http://christianporter.dss.gov.au/media-releases/family-tax-reform-to-better-support-australian-children
and also available at Sen. Birmingham's Ministerial website:
http://ministers.education.gov.au/birmingham/family-tax-reform-better-support-australian-children
(and at his personal website.)
This is the first paragraph of that media release:
The Turnbull Government today introduced the Jobs for Families Child Care package and Family Tax Benefit bills to Parliament to encourage workforce participation and provide a more flexible, accessible child care system.
and later on, Mr. Porter is quoted as saying that
[italics in the original]
It makes sense to redirect the money from the [end-of-year FTB-B ]supplements back into families but in a way that allows parents to re-enter the workforce.
which is clearly reminiscent of my earlier quotation—that begininning with "a better allocation of"—from him.
Also of interest in that media release is Sen. Birmingham's mention of H.M.A. Government's proposal "to refer the legislation to the relevant Senate Committee". That committee is presumably the Community Affairs Legislation Committee, and the relevant inquiry is presumably that into the Social Services Legislation Amendment (Family Payments Structural Reform and Participation Measures) Bill (No. 2) 2015:
http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Community_Affairs/Family_Payments_No_2
though I didn't see any mention there of childcare.
- the Media Release "New child care system embraces primary carer grandparents", dated November 30, 2015, downloaded from Sen. Birmingham's Ministerial website:
http://ministers.education.gov.au/birmingham/new-child-care-system-embraces-primary-carer-grandparents
(Also available at his personal website.)
- the Media Release "Changes in Family Tax Benefit to give children a strong start", dated November 30, 2015, downloaded from Mr. Porter's Ministerial website:
http://christianporter.dss.gov.au/media-releases/changes-in-family-tax-benefit-to-give-children-a-strong-start
- the news report "Jobs for Families Child Care Package legislation introduced", dated Wednesday, December 2, 2015, downloaded from H.M.A. Government's Department of Education and Training website:
http://www.education.gov.au/news/jobs-families-child-care-package-legislation-introduced
- the opinion piece "Government payment cuts threaten single-income families", by Marcelle Mogg (she "is the chief executive officer of Catholic Social Services Australia"), dated December 27, 2015, downloaded from the Sydney Catholic Weekly's website:
https://www.catholicweekly.com.au/government-payment-cuts-threaten-single-income-families/
(That article came to my attention via the version printed under the headline "Payment cuts threaten single-income families", with the same author, on p. 6 in the "NEWS" pages (though the article in question was a "Comment" piece) of the Sydney Catholic Weekly, December 27, 2015, Vol. 73, No. 4807, published by The Catholic Press Newspaper Company Pty. Ltd., and another version is available under the headline "Cuts leave two-parent families in the cold", dated December 16, 2015, at Eureka Street (Vol. 25, No. 24):
http://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=45821#.VoISXv_4Nes)
In that article, Ms Mogg writes that
The Government has provided little justification for moving away from the longstanding policy that family payments are made in recognition of the extra costs that families face compared to others with similar income.
The disparity means two-parent families will be better off financially if they separated. Is that the kind of incentive we want built into government programs?
3. More information on the imminent changes to Victoria's Special Religious Instruction programme is available at the webpage "Special Religious Instruction 2016" in the "Curriculum" pages of the "School Policy & Advisory Guide" section of H.M.V. Government's Education and Training website:
http://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/principals/spag/curriculum/Pages/sri.aspx
See especially the "Overview of Changes" and "Information for Parents" Word documents, both dated November 2015, available for download at the bottom of that webpage.
Labels: education, feminism, G.L.B.T., morals, multiculturalism, relativism, Victoria
4. Two points of interest from the Pacific Women Shaping Pacific Development inaugural Progress Report:
- "Stamping out STIs in the Cook Islands", p. 45
- "Catholic Church supports sexual health program", p. 54
http://pacificwomenreport.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/PW_AR_Dec7_Approved_Final_E-Copy.pdf
See also the media release "Progress Report of Pacific Women Shaping Pacific Development", dated December 7, 2015, available at the Ministerial website of The Hon. Steven Ciobo M.P. (Federal Minister for International Development and the Pacific):
http://ministers.dfat.gov.au/stevenciobo/releases/Pages/2015/sc_mr_151207.aspx?w=%2FF8ZUhcj%2B3O78bKr86LCHA%3D%3D
and the prepared text, under the headline "Launch of the Pacific Women Inaugural Progress Report", of a speech by Mr. Ciobo, dated December 7, 2015, available at the same website:
http://ministers.dfat.gov.au/stevenciobo/speeches/Pages/2015/sc_sp_151207.aspx?w=%2FF8ZUhcj%2B3O78bKr86LCHA%3D%3D
Labels: abortion, contraception, feminism, foreign affairs
5. "“’Nostra Aetate had eliminated any language referring to hope for a conversion,” he[, viz. "Joseph Sievers, a professor at Rome’s Pontifical Biblical Institute and a member of the[ Vatican] commission[ for Religious Relations with the Jews] that produced" "THE GIFTS AND THE CALLING OF GOD ARE IRREVOCABLE",] said, “but it did not explicitly say ‘we do not want to convert Jews.’ This document wants to make that clear.”"
The quotation, excluding my bracketed interpolations, in that headline comes from the report "New Vatican Document Says Church Doesn't Seek Conversion of the Jews", by Mr. Francis X. Rocca, dated (or at least last updated) December 10, 2015, downloaded from The Wall Street Journal's website:
http://www.wsj.com/articles/new-vatican-document-says-church-doesn-t-seek-conversion-of-the-jews-1449784616
A similar interpretation of that document, or at least of one of its logical consequences, seems to have been expressed by a well-known Jewish participant in Jewish-Catholic dialogue—see the article "Catholics should not seek to convert Jews: Vatican", no byline (though the stated source was "CATHOLICCULTURE.ORG"), p. 27, the Sydney Catholic Weekly, December 20, 2015, Vol. 73, No. 4806, published by The Catholic Press Newspaper Company Pty. Ltd.—but one apparently well-informed reporter disputes that interpretation, writing that the
claim that the document explicitly says that the church does not want to convert Jews is not accurate.The document in question is available in English here (though I don't know what the original language is):
["The Vatican has said Catholics don't need to convert Jews: What does this mean?", by Florence Taylor, dated December 11, 2015, downloaded from Christian Today's website:
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/the.vatican.has.said.catholics.dont.need.to.convert.jews.what.does.this.mean/73296.htm?print=1]
http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/chrstuni/relations-jews-docs/rc_pc_chrstuni_doc_20151210_ebraismo-nostra-aetate_en.html
Labels: Jews, Roman Curia
Reginaldvs Cantvar
Thursday within the Octave of Christmas, and the feast of St. Sylvester I., Pope, Confessor, A.D. 2015
