Showing posts with label tax. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tax. Show all posts

Monday, April 23, 2018

Notes: Tuesday, April 18, 2017-Monday, April 23, 2018 (part 2 of 3)

4.3 H.H. The Pope on the death penalty

4.3.1 "Faith is a journey guided by the Holy Spirit, who helps the church grow in understanding the sinful nature of once-accepted practices like slavery and the death penalty, Pope Francis said."

The quotation in that headline comes from the news report "Pope: Spirit helps church see wrongs in slavery, death penalty", by Junno Arocho Esteves, dated May 11, 2017, downloaded from the Catholic News Service's website:

http://www.catholicnews.com/services/englishnews/2017/pope-spirit-helps-church-see-mortal-sin-in-slavery-death-penalty.cfm

See also another news report, "On a journey", no byline, dated May 11, 2017, downloaded from L’Osservatore Romano's website:

http://www.osservatoreromano.va/en/news/journey

The latter report is not available in English at the Vatican's website, but this Italian-language version, perhaps the source for the English version, is:

http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/it/cotidie/2017/documents/papa-francesco-cotidie_20170511_in-cammino.html

Labels: death penalty, Francis Bergoglio, morals

4.3.2 "The death penalty, no matter how it is carried out, "is, in itself, contrary to the Gospel," Pope Francis said."

The longest quotation (including the shortest quotation) in that headline is the first paragraph of the news report "Death penalty is 'contrary to the Gospel,' pope says", by Cindy Wooden, dated October 11, 2017, downloaded from the Catholic News Service's website:

http://www.catholicnews.com/services/englishnews/2017/death-penalty-is-contrary-to-the-gospel-pope-says.cfm

A translation (from Italian) of the speech in question, namely, His Holiness's Address, on Wednesday, October 11, 2017, to participants in a meeting promoted by the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelisation, is available at the Vatican's website:

http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/speeches/2017/october/documents/papa-francesco_20171011_convegno-nuova-evangelizzazione.html

and this, also at the Vatican's website, is presumably the original Italian:

http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/it/speeches/2017/october/documents/papa-francesco_20171011_convegno-nuova-evangelizzazione.html

Labels: death penalty, Francis Bergoglio, morals

4.4 Msgr. Gallagher (The Holy See's Secretary for Relations with States) on, among other things, the rule of law

4.4.1 Msgr. Gallagher on, among other things, the rule of law, equality before the law, religious plurality in a State, and religion and politics

See The Holy See Press Office Daily Bulletin item "Intervention of the Secretary for Relations with States at the United Nations on the protection of religious minorities in conflicts, 23.09.2017", which contains the text of "the intervention that the Secretary for Relations with States, H.E. Msgr. Paul R. Gallagher, pronounced yesterday at the United Nations Building in New York, during the 72nd Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations, on the protection of religious minorities in conflicts":

http://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2017/09/23/170923c.html

Labels: Church and State, Confessional State, Democratism, liberalism, morals, Roman Curia

4.4.2 Msgr. Gallagher on, among other things, the rule of law and a World State

See The Holy See Press Office Daily Bulletin item "Intervention of the Secretary for Relations with States at the Fordham University of New York, 26.09.2017", which contains the text of "the intervention that the H.E. Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, secretary for Relations with States, pronounced on 25 September at the Fordham University of New York on The Holy See Perspective on Contemporary International Issues":

http://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2017/09/26/170926c.html

Labels: Democratism, liberalism, morals, Roman Curia, U.N.O.

4.5 An apparent Papal endorsement of the delegation theory of the conferral of political authority

See the Vatican Radio report "Pope at Mass: ‘Pray for leaders despite their mistakes’", presumably to be credited to Devin Watkins, dated September 18, 2017, downloaded from Vatican Radio's website but apparently no longer available online; this was its (here hyperlinked) U.R.L.:

http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2017/09/18/pope_at_mass_‘pray_for_leaders_despite_their_mistakes’/1337475

Another account of that homily/daily meditation seems to be available in Italian, but not in English, at the Vatican's website:

http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/it/cotidie/2017/documents/papa-francesco-cotidie_20170918_pregare-per-i-governanti.html

and at L’Osservatore Romano's website:

http://www.osservatoreromano.va/it/news/pregare-i-governanti

In that Vatican Radio report, the two paragraphs of interest to me here are this one:
“If leaders do not pray, they close themselves off in a self-referential circle or in that of their party, a circle from which they cannot escape”, said Pope Francis. It is important to be aware that we are all subordinate to someone more powerful. And those who are more powerful than political leaders, he suggested, are both the people who gave those leaders their power, “and God from whom their power comes through the people”. Political leaders pray, said the Pope, when they are aware of being a subordinate.
[my emphasis]
and this one:
“I ask you this favor: every one of you take five minutes, no more. If you are a leader, ask yourself: ‘Do I pray to the One who gave me power through the people?’ If you are not a leader, ‘Do I pray for my leaders? Yes, for this one and that one, yes, because I like them; but for that one, no.’ They need it so much more for this reason! ‘Do I pray for all leaders?’ And if you find in your examination of conscience before Confession that you have not prayed for your leaders, bring it to Confession. Because not to pray for leaders is a sin.”
[my emphasis]
The Italian counterparts of my two emphasised portions of those paragraphs are presumably at least roughly "«il popolo, che gli ha dato il potere, e Dio, dal quale viene il potere tramite il popolo»" and "«… Se è governante, si domandi: “Io prego a quello che mi ha dato il potere tramite il popolo?”. …»" (my ellipses), respectively.

For a summary of the basic differences between the delegation theory, which H.H. The Pope apparently espouses, and the designation theory, see item 2 of this issue of my "Notes":

http://cardinalpole.blogspot.com/2016/03/notes-friday-january-1-monday-march-28.html

Labels: Democratism, Francis Bergoglio, morals, St. Robert Bellarmine

4.6 "Religious differences need not be a source of division and distrust, but rather a force for unity, forgiveness, tolerance and wise nation building."

The quotation in that headline comes from a translation, from Italian, of H.H. The Pope's Address at a meeting with the Burmese "authorities, civil society and members of the diplomatic corps" on November 28, 2017, during His Holiness's Apostolic Journey to Myanmar and Bangladesh (November 26-December 2, 2017); see The Holy See Press Office Daily Bulletin item "Apostolic Trip of the Holy Father Francis to Myanmar and Bangladesh (26 November – 2 December 2017) – Meeting with the Authorities, Civil Society and the Diplomatic Corps, 28.11.2017":

http://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2017/11/28/171128c.html

or this other Vatican website page:

http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/speeches/2017/november/documents/papa-francesco_20171128_viaggioapostolico-myanmar-autorita.html

The original Italian is available here:

http://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/it/bollettino/pubblico/2017/11/28/0838/01791.html

and here:

http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/it/speeches/2017/november/documents/papa-francesco_20171128_viaggioapostolico-myanmar-autorita.html

This seems to be the untranslated version of my quotation:
Le differenze religiose non devono essere fonte di divisione e di diffidenza, ma piuttosto una forza per l’unità, per il perdono, per la tolleranza e la saggia costruzione del Paese.
Labels: Francis Bergoglio

5. "Middle-income families will be subject to an income taper test, losing 30 cents of their family tax benefit for every dollar they earn over $94,316 from July 2018."

The quotation in that headline comes from the news report "Federal budget 2017: Family welcomes lift on medicare rebate freeze and continued childcare support", by Clare Sibthorpe, dated May 10, 2017, downloaded from The Sydney Morning Herald's website:

http://www.smh.com.au/business/federal-budget/federal-budget-2017-family-welcomes-lift-on-medicare-rebate-freeze-and-continued-childcare-support-20170508-gw08fq.html

Note that, according to Australian Labor's Women's Budget Statement 2017 (p. 14), the families in question are those "with three or more children, or two children in high school":

http://www.alp.org.au/labors_womens_budget_statement_2017

Labels: family, tax

6. Some sources of information regarding then-Dom Gerle's April 12, 1790 motion in France's so-called National Constituent Assembly proposing that that body, as such, declare "that the Catholic, Apostolic, and Roman religion is and will for ever remain the religion of the nation, and that its worship is the only one legally authorised"

(The quotation in that headline comes from p. 48 of the third of the following sources and is presumably a translation of the quotation "que la religion catholique, apostolique et romaine est et demeurera pour toujours la religion de la nation, et que son culte sera le seul public et autorisé" on p. 702 of the first of those sources.) See
Labels: Church and State, Confessional State, France, history, religious liberty

7. "Se hanno fame, allattateli, senza paura, date loro da mangiare, perché anche questo è un linguaggio di amore."

The quotation in that headline is the last sentence of H.H. The Pope's extemporaneous Homily given after the Gospel lesson of the combined celebration of a New-Order Mass and administration of the Sacrament of Baptism to newborn babies in the Sistine Chapel on Sunday, January 7, 2018 (the New-Order liturgical calendar's Feast of the Baptism of the Lord); that Homily is available at the Vatican's website here:

http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/it/homilies/2018/documents/papa-francesco_20180107_omelia-battesimo.html

and here:

http://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/it/bollettino/pubblico/2018/01/07/0011/00026.html

That website offers two slightly different English translations of that sentence:
If they are hungry, nurse them, without worry; feed them, because this too is a language of love.
[http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/homilies/2018/documents/papa-francesco_20180107_omelia-battesimo.html]
and
If they are hungry, nurse them, do not be afraid to, feed them, because this too is a language of love.
[http://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2018/01/07/180107a.html]
Labels: breastfeeding, Francis Bergoglio, morals

Reginaldvs Cantvar
St. George's Day, A.D. 2018
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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:
… 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.
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]
Labels: morals

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]
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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
  • 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"
Labels: economic rationalism, economics, family, feminism, work

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.

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)]
Labels: economics, family, tax

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
Labels: childcare, education, feminism, G.L.B.T., morals, multiculturalism, relativism, sex ed

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.)

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
Labels: A.H.R.C., G.L.B.T., human rights

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
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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
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.
[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]
See also
  • 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.

    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. …
    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
    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.
    [italics in the original]
    and later on, Mr. Porter is quoted as saying that
    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 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?
Labels: childcare, economic rationalism, economics, family, tax, work

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
The Pacific Women Shaping Pacific Development First Progress Report 2012-2015 is available here:

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 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]
The document in question is available in English here (though I don't know what the original language is):

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
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Monday, November 30, 2015

Notes: Wednesday, September 30-Monday, November 30, 2015 (part 1 of 2)

1. Some recent announcements by H.M.A. Government concerning foreign affairs

1.1 Australia will "provide $7 million over three years to support the United Nations’ Joint Programme for Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health in the Pacific."

The quotation in that headline comes from the media release "Promoting Economic Growth in the Pacific", dated September 29, 2015, downloaded from the website of the Minister for Foreign Affairs (currently The Hon. Julie Bishop M.P.):

http://foreignminister.gov.au/releases/Pages/2015/jb_mr_150929a.aspx?w=tb1CaGpkPX%2FlS0K%2Bg9ZKEg%3D%3D

(That iniative came to my attention via this article at The Australian's website.) According to a press release issued jointly by the United Nations Children's Fund (U.N.I.C.E.F.), the United Nations Population Fund (U.N.F.P.A.), and the World Health Organisation, Ms Bishop "noted that the AU$7 million investment will support the UN Secretary General’s Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health". That Strategy can be downloaded from its official website here:

http://globalstrategy.everywomaneverychild.org/

Or go straight hither:

http://globalstrategy.everywomaneverychild.org/pdf/EWEC_globalstrategyreport_200915_FINAL_WEB.pdf

(And the aforementioned press release is available under the headline "Joint Media Release: Australian commitment to UN joint programme for Pacific mother, child and adolescent health kicks off investment in Global Goals for Sustainable Development", dated September 30, 2015, at U.N.I.C.E.F.'s website:

http://www.unicef.org/pacificislands/1852_24727.html

and under the headline "A JOINT PRESS RELEASE: Australian commitment to UN joint programme for Pacific mother, child and adolescent health kicks off investment in Global Goals for Sustainable Development", same date, at the U.N.F.P.A.'s website:

http://countryoffice.unfpa.org/pacific/2015/09/30/12827/a_joint_press_release_australian_commitment_to_un_joint_programme_for_pacific_mother_child_and_adolescent_health_kicks_off_investment_in_global_goals_for_sustainable_development/)

Labels: abortion, contraception, feminism, foreign affairs

1.2 Were it to be elected to "the United Nations Human Rights Council for the 2018-2020 term", Australia's "focus would be on empowering women and girls, strengthening governance and democratic institutions, promoting freedom, freedom of expression, and advancing human rights for all", and it "would be unrelenting in [its] efforts to secure abolition of the death penalty."

The quotations, excluding my square-bracketed replacement of the word "our", in that headline come from the text prepared for the spoken national statement by Australia's Minister for Foreign Affairs (The Hon. Julie Bishop M.P.) in the United Nations General Assembly (seventieth session), dated September 29, 2015, downloaded from the official Minister for Foreign Affairs website:

http://foreignminister.gov.au/speeches/Pages/2015/jb_sp_150929a.aspx?w=tb1CaGpkPX%2FlS0K%2Bg9ZKEg%3D%3D

See also the media release "United Nations Security Council & Human Rights Council", dated September 29, 2015, downloaded from the same website, in which Ms Bishop says similarly that
We are an international leader in advancing the rights of women and girls, strengthening governance and democratic institutions, and promoting freedom of expression.

As a member of the Human Rights Council, Australia would bring a clear focus on addressing human rights violations and holding perpetrators to account. Australia would also be a leading advocate for global abolition of the death penalty.
[http://foreignminister.gov.au/releases/Pages/2015/jb_mr_150929.aspx]
Labels: death penalty, democracy, feminism, foreign affairs, human rights, liberalism

2. "The tensions for parents, educators and children in building a sustainable culture of ethical and respectful relationships early in life" is the project title of taxpayer-funded (to the tune of $198992) research which "hopes to move the debate around sexuality and sexual relationships away from being viewed as problematic for young people to that of building a culture of ethical and respectful relationships in early life."

The quotations in that headline come from the Western Sydney University (W.S.U.) "RESEARCH DIRECTIONS" flyer "Building Children’s Ethical Relationship Skills with Parents and Educators", dated December 2011, presumably published by W.S.U.'s Office of Research Services, downloaded from W.S.U.'s website:

https://www.uws.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/248057/071211_KidsEthicalRelationships_Robinson.pdf

(That project came to my attention via the print version of the article "Let's talk about sex, knowledge, health and well-being, baby", by Fran Molloy, dated October 12, 2015, downloaded from The Sydney Morning Herald's website:

http://www.smh.com.au/national/tertiary-education/lets-talk-about-sex-knowledge-health-and-wellbeing-baby-20151008-gk44ht.html?skin=text-only)

See also Prof. Robinson's staff profile here or here.

Labels: feminism, G.L.B.T., morals, sex ed

3. On the second day of the recently-concluded Synod, H.H. The Pope made His Holiness's "first direct intervention at the Synod in the course of the past two years"; in that intervention, The Pope said "that thus far the only official Synod documents which enjoy full ecclesiastical approval are the two discourses he himself delivered at the opening and closing of the Extraordinary Synod last October, as well as the "Relatio Synodi" or final document of the Extraordinary Synod which he approved."

The quotations in that headline come from the article "Pope Francis makes first direct intervention; was Cardinal Erdö undermined?", by The Rev. Fr. Nicholas Gregoris, dated October 6, 2015, downloaded from The Catholic World Report's website:

http://www.catholicworldreport.com/Blog/4239/pope_francis_makes_first_direct_intervention_was_cardinal_erd_undermined.aspx

(That article came to my attention via this blog post by Fr. Zuhlsdorf.) Interestingly, the Vatican revoked Fr. Gregoris's press credentials the next day; see the article "Vatican revokes Catholic priest’s press credentials after he challenged archbishop", by Mr. Patrick B. Craine, dated Monday, October 12, 2015, downloaded from LifeSiteNews.com:

https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/breaking-vatican-revokes-catholic-priests-press-credentials-after-he-challe

Labels: Francis Bergoglio

4. "ultimately, the package is about trying to devise ways to increase female workforce participation amongst mums, single mothers, mothers in couple families. Historically, we know that that is occurring, we would like to keep it occurring, it can and should be a great engine room of the Australian economy and it’s great way to increase family wealth and prosperity."

The quotation in that headline comes from the transcript of an interview of The Hon. Christian Porter M.P. (Federal Minister for Social Services) on Sky News on October 22, 2015, downloaded from Mr. Porter's Ministerial website:

http://christianporter.dss.gov.au/transcripts/sky-news-pvo-newsday

(That transcript is also available here, at Mr. Porter's electorate website.) See also
  • the official webpage of the Senate Community Affairs Legislation Committee inquiry into the Social Services Legislation Amendment (Family Payments Structural Reform and Participation Measures) Bill 2015

    http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Community_Affairs/Family_Payments

    whence you can download, among other things, the inquiry report and the official submission of the Australian Catholic Council for Employment Relations (the latter is especially worth reading for the historical perspective which it provides).
Labels: economic rationalism, economics, family, tax, work

Reginaldvs Cantvar
St. Andrew's Day, A.D. 2015
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Monday, August 10, 2015

Notes: Tuesday, May 26-Monday, August 10, 2015 (part 1 of 2)

1. Some items connected with the 2015 Australian Federal Budget

1.1 Mr. Morrison on workforce participation as the whole, or at least the principal, purpose for Federal subsidies of childcare

See the transcript of Mr. Neil Mitchell's interview of The Hon. Scott Morrison M.P. (Federal Minister for Social Services) on May 1, 2015, downloaded from Mr. Morrison's Ministerial website:

http://scottmorrison.dss.gov.au/transcripts/3aw-with-neil-mitchell-1may2015

(Mr. Morrison's statements came to my attention via the article "More help for more work as childcare subsidies tightened" by Mr. David Crowe, dated May 2, 2015, downloaded from The Australian's website:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/more-help-for-more-work-as-childcare-subsidies-tightened/story-fntfa2d0-1227330846433

or the version printed under the headline "More help for more work", by Mr. David Crowe and Ms Tessa Akerman, on p. 2 in "THE NATION" section of The Weekend Australian, May 2-3, 2015, Second Edition, No. 15718, ISSN 1038-8761, published by Nationwide News Pty. Limited.)

Labels: childcare, economics, family, tax, work

1.2 "Tony Abbott’s families package is not child-friendly. The government will punish mothers financially if they can’t find a job, don’t have time to study or prefer to care for their own kids while they are young."

The quotation in that headline comes from the opinion piece "Budget 2015: Families package punishes children", by Ms Natasha Bita, dated May 13, 2015, downloaded from (behind the paywall at) The Australian's website:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/budget-2015/budget-2015-families-package-punishes-children/story-fntfbo7f-1227352625754

Labels: childcare, economics, family, tax, work

1.3 "Big families at present qualify for a supplement for their fourth and subsequent children, but from July 1, 2016, will lose $321 a year for their fourth child and every subsequent child."

The quotation in that headline comes from the article "Federal budget 2015: Large families to lose out amid big boost to childcare funding", by Ms Judith Ireland, dated May 12, 2015, downloaded from The Sydney Morning Herald's website:

http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/federal-budget-2015-large-families-to-lose-out-amid-big-boost-to-childcare-funding-20150512-1mzhke.html?skin=text-only

Labels: family, tax

1.4 "The Australian Government will also establish a $50 million competitive gender equality fund to strengthen gender equality and women's economic empowerment in our region."

The quotation in that headline comes from the media release "2015 Foreign Affairs Budget", dated May 12, 2015, downloaded from the Ministerial website of The Hon. Julie Bishop M.P. (Minister for Foreign Affairs):

http://foreignminister.gov.au/releases/Pages/2015/jb_mr_150512.aspx

(The gender equality fund came to my attention via an opinion piece by Ms Miranda Devine.) See also the following webpages at H.M.A. Government's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade website:
Note the reference at the second of those webpages to the Pacific Women Shaping Pacific Development programme; more information on that programme can be found at the third of those webpages and in item 1 of this "Notes" post.

Note also that, according to Ms Bishop recorded in Hansard (Tuesday, June 16, 2015, 1328-1333 hours), "initiatives supported under the gender equality fund will complement gender activities currently funded through country and regional programs"—complement rather than replace, I take it. (And see the rest of that portion of Hansard for further information on Australia's overseas Feminist propaganda.)

Labels: feminism, foreign affairs

1.5 The Jobs for Families childcare package is "going to be financed by cuts to the only govern-ment support for single income families, and that’s FTB"; (Family Tax Benefit part B "is currently paid until a family’s youngest child turns 16" but is "set to cease when the youngest child turns six; substantive-ly dismantling the Howard government’s support for single-income households")

The quotations, including the dashes where a word spanned two lines, in that headline come from the article "Budget move on child care ‘punishes those who look after kids at home’", by Mr. Robert Hiini, on p. 5 of the Sydney Catholic Weekly, May 17, 2015, Vol. 73, No. 4775, published by The Catholic Press Newspaper Company Pty. Ltd., apparently not available online; the first quotation was attributed to Ms Terri Kelleher of the Australian Family Association.

Labels: childcare, economics, family, tax

1.6 "Shorten backs plans to abolish tax break for non-working spouses"

The quotation in that headline is the headline of an article by Ms Katherine Towers, dated June 9, 2015, downloaded from The Australian's website:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/shorten-backs-plans-to-abolish-tax-break-for-non-working-spouses/story-fn59niix-1227389648458

See also the article "Labor cuts deal with Coalition to end tax break for spouses", by Mr. Phillip Coorey, dated June 8, 2015 (updated June 9, 2015), downloaded from The Australian Financial Review's website:

http://www.afr.com/news/policy/tax/labor-cuts-deal-with-coalition-to-end-tax-break-for-spouses-20150609-ghiqfm

A transcript of the interview in which The Hon. Bill Shorten M.P. (Leader of H.M.A. Opposition) confirmed Labor's support for the policy in question is available under the headline "Doorstop: Melbourne – Retirement of Chris Judd; Tony Abbott’s cuts to Family Tax Benefit payments Dependent Spouse Offset", provided by Mr. Kieran Barns-Jenkins, dated Tuesday, June 9, 2015, at Mr. Shorten's website:

http://billshorten.com.au/doorstop-melbourne-retirement-of-chris-judd-tony-abbotts-cuts-to-family-tax-benefit-payments-dependent-spouse-offset

Labels: family, marriage, tax

2. Some recent Gay-related data

2.1 Some recent data on the Queer proportion of the population

2.1.1 "In 2014, over half a million people or 3.0% of the adult population identified as gay, lesbian or 'other'. This includes 268,000 people who identified as gay or lesbian and 255,000 people who identified as having an 'other' sexual orientation."

The quotation in that headline comes from the webpage "General Social Survey: Summary Results, Australia, 2014" (catalogue no. 4159.0), dated June 29, 2015, downloaded from the Australian Bureau of Statistics's website:

http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/4159.0

Labels: demography, G.L.B.T.

2.1.2 Judging by the latest version of the HILDA Statistical Report, between 1.8 and 4.8% of men are Gay and between 1 and 4.7% of women are Lesbian.

See p. 85 of The Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey: Selected Findings from Waves 1 to 12, by Associate Prof. Roger Wilkins, released on Wednesday, July 15, 2015, ISSN 2205-0566 (Online), © Commonwealth of Australia 2015, downloaded from the HILDA Survey webpage:

https://www.melbourneinstitute.com/hilda/

or go straight hither:

https://www.melbourneinstitute.com/downloads/hilda/Stat_Report/statreport_2015.pdf

Labels: demography, G.L.B.T.

2.2 "International research has shown that compared with the general population, HIV-negative Gay and Bisexual men are up to 20 times more likely to be diagnosed with anal cancer"

The quotation in that headline comes from the article "Anal Cancer Webinar Reduces Stigma Around Overlooked Disease", dated July 1, 2015, downloaded from acon's website:

http://www.acon.org.au/about-acon/latest-news/#anal-cancer-webinar

Labels: G.L.B.T., health

3. Australia refused to support a recent U.N. Human Rights Commission resolution "because it ascribed rights to the family as a unit instead of to individuals and failed to recognise the diversity of families, including same-sex families."

See the article "Julie Bishop makes stand for same-sex families", by Mr. Dennis Shanahan, dated July 18, 2015, downloaded from The Australian's website:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/julie-bishop-makes-stand-for-same-sex-families/story-fn59niix-1227446546090

(That article came to my attention via the version printed on pp. 1 f., under the headlines "Bishop’s stand for same-sex families" for the first part and "Bishop in same-sex stand at UN" for the second, by the same author, in "THE NATION" pages of The Weekend Australian, July 18-19, 2015, Second Edition, No. 15784, ISSN 1038-8761, published by Nationwide News Pty. Limited.)

Labels: family, feminism, foreign affairs, G.L.B.T., human rights, U.N.O.

4. "Archbishop [Stephen ]Langton whole­heartedly embraced the scriptural thesis that civil government is not God’s original plan for humankind but rather a result of original sin."

The quotation, excluding my square-bracketed interpolation, in that headline comes from the article "MAGNA CARTA AT 800 Magna Carta understood as its drafter intended it to be", by Dr. Augusto Zimmermann, dated August 1, 2015, downloaded from News Weekly's website:

http://newsweekly.com.au/article.php?id=57014

Labels: law, morals, States

5. A couple of recent items regarding H.H. The Pope

5.1 One of the official presenters of Laudato si' at the press conference for that Encyclical's presentation was "Professor John[ or Hans Joachim] Schellnhuber, founder and director of the Institute for Climate Impact in Potsdam, Federal Republic of Germany, representing the field of natural sciences, with which the encyclical enters into profound dialogue, and who was recently appointed as an ordinary member of the Pontifical Academy of the Sciences".

The quotation, excluding my square-bracketed interpolation, in that headline comes from the item "Press conference for the presentation of the Encyclical Laudato si'", dated June 18, 2015, in the Holy See Press Office's Vatican Information Service's daily e-mail bulletin of June 18, 2015, Year XXII, No. 114; that item is also available under the same headline, with the same date, at NEWS.VA:

http://www.news.va/en/news/press-conference-for-the-presentation-of-the-encyc

H.H. The Pope's appointment of Prof. Schellnhuber as an ordinary member of the Pontifical Academy of (the) Sciences was reported in the item "Other Pontifical Acts", dated June 17, 2015, in the Holy See Press Office's Vatican Information Service's daily e-mail bulletin of June 17, 2015, Year XXII, No. 113; that item is also available under the headline "Pontifical Acts - 17 June", with the same date, at NEWS.VA:

http://www.news.va/en/news/other-pontifical-acts-677

Labels: Francis Bergoglio

5.2 "The Pope receives B'nai B'rith International and recalls the work of St. John XXIII and St. John Paul II to promote friendship between Jews and Christians"

The quotation in that headline is the headline of an item dated June 25, 2015 in the Holy See Press Office's Vatican Information Service's daily e-mail bulletin of June 25, 2015, Year XXII, No. 119; that item is also available under the same headline, with the same date, at NEWS.VA:

http://www.news.va/en/news/the-pope-receives-bnai-brith-international-and-rec

Labels: B'nai B'rith, Francis Bergoglio, Freemasons, Jews

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of St. Lawrence, Martyr, A.D. 2015
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