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:

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, 81
[italics, bold type, and hyperlinks in the original, my square-bracketed interpolation]

Labels: Democratism, liberalism, morals, politics, St. Thomas Aquinas

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

Notes: Thursday, December 1, 2016-Monday, April 17, 2017 (part 2 of 3)

4. Some sources concerned with, among other matters, the putative Establishment of the Anglican sect in New South Wales in the Colony's earliest years:

• the pamphlet Remarks on the Status of the Presbyterian Church in the British Colonies, Addressed to the Scottish Presbyterians of Van Diemen's Land., by Mr. James Thomson, printed by H. Melville, Hobart Town, Van Diemen’s Land, 1835 or thereafter (but no later than 1840):
  
  http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/200672

• the book A Reply to Judge Burton, of The Supreme Court of New South Wales, on ‘The State of Religion’ in the Colony., by The-then-Rev.-Dr. William Ullathorne O.S.B., published by W. A. Duncan, Sydney, 1840; of greatest interest here is Ch. VI ("THE ESTABLISHMENT.") pp. 49-58 (57-66 in the digital version's reader):
  
  http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-52772993

• the magisterial thesis Church and State in Australia: The Background and Implications of Separation., by Susan Liesching, December 1953:
  
  https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/handle/1885/10520
  
  and here:
  
  https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/handle/1885/9590
  
  or go straight hither:
  
  https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/bitstream/1885/10520/2/02Whole_Liesching.pdf
  
  or hither:
  
  https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/bitstream/1885/9590/1/02Whole_Liesching.pdf

• the scholarly article "Travelling Section 116 With a U.S. Road Map", by Clifford L. Pannam, in Melbourne University Law Review, Vol. 4, June 1963, pp. 41-90:
  
  http://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/sinodisp/au/journals/MelbULawRw/1963/
  
  or go straight hither:
  
  http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/MelbULawRw/1963/3.html

• the then-Mr.-Justice Dixon's judgement in the case of the Attorney-General for New South Wales v. Wylde ('The Red Book Case') (December 6, 1948), which (judgement) is printed on pp. 174-182 (pp. 22-30 of the digital version's reader) of “The Argus” Law Reports, March 15, 1949:
  
  http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/cth/ArgusLawRp/1948/
  
  or go straight hither:
  
  http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/cth/ArgusLawRp/1948/110.html

Labels: Anglicans, colonialism, history, N.S.W.

5. An interesting perspective on the relationship between Amoris lætitiæ and Familiaris consortio

See the comment by alexmarison, 13 January 2017 at 8:23 PM, in the combox of the blog post "Maltese Bishops Go To The ‘Amoris laetitia’ Zoo: Disaster… inexcusable nonsense… green-lighting sacrilege", by The Rev. Fr. John Zuhlsdorf, dated January 13, 2017, at Fr. Z's Blog :

http://wdtprs.com/blog/2017/01/maltese-bishops-go-to-the-amoris-laetitia-zoo-disaster-inexcusable-nonsense-green-lighting-sacrilege/#comment-549986

Labels: Church law, Francis Bergoglio, John Paul II. Wojtyla, marriage

6. An English translation of the Message of the Fifth European Catholic-Orthodox Forum, held in Paris, January 9-12, 2017, is available at The Council of European Bishops' Conferences' website:

http://www.ccee.eu/news/news-2017/253-13-01-2017-take-heart-i-have-overcome-the-world-john-16-33

Or go straight hither:

http://www.ccee.eu/images/2017/Orthodox/Message_Forum_EN.docx

(The original French of that Message is available at the same webpage, or you can go straight hither:

http://www.ccee.eu/images/2017/Orthodox/Message_Forum_FR.docx)

That translation is also available at the official website of the pretender Patriarch of Constantinople's representation to the World Council of Churches, under the headline "Message of the Fifth European Catholic-Orthodox Forum", dated January 16, 2017:

http://www.ecupatria.org/2017/01/16/message-of-the-fifth-european-catholic-orthodox-forum/

(That Message came to my attention via the report "Europe's Catholic, Orthodox leaders pledge to stand against terrorism", by Jonathan Luxmoore for the Catholic News Service (C.N.S.), on p. 2 in the "NEWS" pages of The Catholic Weekly, January 22, 2017, Vol. 73, No. 4964, published by The Archdiocese of Sydney, available under the headline "Europe's Catholic, Orthodox leaders say they'll stand against terrorism", by the same author, dated January 13, 2017, at C.N.S.'s website:

http://www.catholicnews.com/services/englishnews/2017/europes-catholic-orthodox-leaders-say-theyll-stand-against-terrorism.cfm

and, dated January 15, 2017, at the Crux website:

https://cruxnow.com/cns/2017/01/15/europes-catholic-orthodox-leaders-say-theyll-stand-terrorism/

Labels: Church and State, Confessional State, liberalism, morals, religious liberty, secularism, Social Reign of Christ

7. H.M.A. Government will continue its "partnership with the International Planned Parenthood Federation to deliver the Sexual and Reproductive Health Program in Crisis and Post Crisis Settings (SPRINT) in the Indo-Pacific region", providing "$9.5 million over three years", bringing the Government's "total contribution to the program to $26.3 million since 2007", leading to "over 890,000 people access[ing] sexual and reproductive health services" already.

The quotations, excluding my square-bracketed interpolation, in that headline come from the media release "Supporting sexual and reproductive health in humanitarian crises", dated February 15, 2017, downloaded from the official website of the Minister for Foreign Affairs (The Hon. Julie Bishop M.P.):

http://foreignminister.gov.au/releases/Pages/2017/jb_mr_170215.aspx

See also the prepared text of the speech "2017 ANU Australasian Aid Conference", with the same date and downloaded from the same website:

http://foreignminister.gov.au/speeches/Pages/2017/jb_sp_170215.aspx

(and also available at Ms Bishop's electorate website, under the headline "2017 ANU Australasian Aid Conference, Australian National University, Canberra", with the same date:

http://www.juliebishop.com.au/2017-anu-australasian-aid-conference-australian-national-university-canberra/)

(Those two texts came to my attention via the LifeSiteNews.com report "Australia pledges $9.5 million to International Planned Parenthood after Trump defunded it", by Caleb Stephen, dated February 17, 2017:

https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/australia-pledges-9.5-million-to-planned-parenthood)

Note that the funding in question is not in response to the so-called Global Gag Rule; H.M.A. Government supports the She Decides fund—set up in response to the restoration of that rule—morally (see the "Statement by Dr Sharman Stone, Australian Ambassador for Women and Girls: ‘She Decides’ International Conference", dated March 2, 2017, downloaded from the Government's official Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade website:

http://dfat.gov.au/news/speeches/Pages/statement-by-dr-sharman-stone-australian-ambassador-for-women-and-girls-she-decides-ministerial-conference.aspx)

but not financially ("Fairfax Media has confirmed the government will not be committing any funding", according to the report "Australia pledges nothing to counter Donald Trump's 'global gag rule' abortion order", by Latika Bourke, dated March 3, 2017, downloaded from The Sydney Morning Herald's website:

http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/australia-pledges-nothing-to-counter-donald-trumps-global-gag-rule-abortion-order-20170302-gupl54.html?skin=text-only)

Labels: abortion, contraception, feminism, foreign affairs

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Easter Monday, A.D. 2017

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 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?

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

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 joint media release "Revised Family Tax Benefit measures to fund $3.5 billion child care investment", issued by Mr. Porter, The Hon. Scott Morrison M.P. (Federal Treasurer), and The Hon. Sen. Simon Birmingham (Federal Minister for Education and Training), dated Wednesday, October 21, 2015, available at the respective Ministerial websites of Mr. Porter:
  
  http://christianporter.dss.gov.au/media-releases/revised-family-tax-benefit-measures-to-fund-35-billion-child-care-investment
  
  Mr. Morrison:
  
  http://sjm.ministers.treasury.gov.au/media-release/007-2015/
  
  and Sen. Birmingham:
  
  http://ministers.education.gov.au/revised-family-tax-benefit-measures-fund-35-billion-child-care-investment

• the transcript of the joint media conference which (conference) was given by Messrs. Morrison and Porter and Sen. Birmingham on Wednesday, October 21, 2015 in Canberra; the transcript is available at the respective Ministerial websites of Mr. Porter:
  
  http://christianporter.dss.gov.au/transcripts/joint-media-conference-with-the-hon-scott-morrison-mp-treasurer-and-senator-the-hon-simon-birmingham-minister-for-education-and-training
  
  Mr. Morrison:
  
  http://sjm.ministers.treasury.gov.au/transcript/021-2015/
  
  and Sen. Birmingham:
  
  http://ministers.education.gov.au/joint-press-conference-revised-family-tax-benefit-measures-fund-35-billion-child-care-investment
  
  and also at the latter's personal website:
  
  http://www.senatorbirmingham.com.au/Media-Centre/Interview-Transcripts/ID/2861/Joint-Press-Conference--Canberra--Scott-Morrison-Christian-Porter

• the Hansard transcript of Mr. Porter's speech in the House of Representatives at 0911 hrs. on Wednesday, October 21, 2015 moving the second reading of the Bill in question, namely the Social Services Legislation Amendment (Family Payments Structural Reform and Participation Measures) Bill 2015:
  
  http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;db=CHAMBER;id=chamber%2Fhansardr%2Fb15942d6-e86a-4a01-8094-d46337096349%2F0013;query=Id%3A%22chamber%2Fhansardr%2Fb15942d6-e86a-4a01-8094-d46337096349%2F0013%22

• the Hansard transcript of a question without notice asked in the House of Representatives at 1407 hrs. on Thursday, October 22, 2015 and Mr. Porter's answer to it:
  
  http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;query=Id%3A%22chamber%2Fhansardr%2F93a1fa0d-0b2c-453c-bbeb-b700dd4555c5%2F0101%22

• the joint media release "TURNBULL’S BIG FAIL ON FAIRNESS FOR FAMILIES", issued by The Hon. Bill Shorten M.P. (Leader of H.M.A. Opposition), The Hon. Chris Bowen M.P. (Shadow Federal Treasurer), and The Hon. Jenny Macklin M.P. (Shadow Federal Minister for Families and Payments and for Disability Reform), dated Tuesday, November 10, 2015, available at Ms Macklin's official website here:
  
  http://www.jennymacklin.net.au/turnbull_s_big_fail_on_fairness_for_families
  
  or go straight hither:
  
  https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/jmacklin/pages/572/attachments/original/1447125856/TURNBULL%E2%80%99S_BIG_FAIL_ON_FAIRNESS_FOR_FAMILIES.docx_10112015.pdf?1447125856
  
  (That media release is also available, in HTML format, at Mr. Shorten's official website:
  
  http://billshorten.com.au/turnbulls-big-fail-on-fairness-for-families)
  
  Mr. Bowen's last answer in a press conference in Canberra on the same date is also worth reading because it deals with the link between the Family Tax Benefits package and the soon-to-be-released child care package. The transcript of that press conference is available at Mr. Shorten's website:
  
  http://billshorten.com.au/doorstop-canberra-12
  
  and at Ms Macklin's website:
  
  http://www.jennymacklin.net.au/transcript_parliament_house

• the Hansard transcript of the appearance on November 19, 2015 by Mr. Brian Lawrence (Chairman, Australian Catholic Council for Employment Relations) at the Senate Community Affairs Legislation Committee inquiry into the Social Services Legislation Amendment (Family Payments Structural Reform and Participation Measures) Bill 2015:
  
  http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;db=COMMITTEES;id=committees%2Fcommsen%2F068adf10-f588-402a-a5b6-c607bb8d507e%2F0004;query=Id%3A%22committees%2Fcommsen%2F068adf10-f588-402a-a5b6-c607bb8d507e%2F0000%22
  
  (The text of Mr. Lawrence's opening statement that day is also available at the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference Media Blog:
  
  http://mediablog.catholic.org.au/family-tax-benefits-under-attack-legislation-before-parliament-would-have-a-major-impact-on-the-living-standards-of-families/
  
  and came to my attention via the version of this Sydney Catholic Weekly editorial which was printed in yesterday's issue of the Weekly.)

• 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

Notes: Tuesday, August 11-Tuesday, September 29, 2015

1. "A CNA [(Catholic News Agency) ]investigation has found that millions of dollars have been poured into efforts to combat religious freedom exemptions in the United States."

The quotation, excluding my square-bracketed interpolation, in that headline comes from the article "LGBT grant-maker wants to win religious liberty fight within three years", by Mr. Kevin Jones, dated July 29, 2015, downloaded from CNA's website:

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/lgbt-grant-maker-wants-to-win-religious-liberty-fight-within-three-years-96064/

(That article came to my attention via the "In Brief"—"UNITED STATES" article headlined "Benefactors turn against religious freedom", on p. 3 in the "NEWS" pages of the Sydney Catholic Weekly, August 9, 2015, Vol. 73, No. 4787, published by The Catholic Press Newspaper Company Pty. Ltd.)

Labels: G.L.B.T.

2. Australian "taxpayer funding of the International Planned Parenthood Federation" includes "$651,801 for “core funding to strategic plan (Asia)”, $769,800 “Contribution to IPPF (global)” and $30 million to “Pacific Regional Partnerships for Reproductive Health Program (Pacific)”."

The quotations in that headline come from the opinion piece "Miranda Devine: Planned Parenthood scam shows us evil has a way of creeping into the world", by Ms Miranda Devine, dated July 25, 2015, downloaded from the Sydney Daily Telegraph's website:

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/opinion/miranda-devine-planned-parenthood-scam-shows-us-evil-has-a-way-of-creeping-into-the-world/story-fni0cwl5-1227456749468

(That article is also available as a blog post at Ms Devine's blog and it came to my attention via the opinion piece "Children are more than the sum of their parts" by Monica Doumit in "The Catholic Talk Column" on p. 19 ("COMMENT") of the Sydney Catholic Weekly, August 9, 2015, Vol. 73, No. 4787, published by The Catholic Press Newspaper Company Pty. Ltd., available online under the same headline, in the same column, with the same author, but dated August 6, 2015, here.) This might be the source for what Ms Devine wrote:

http://dfat.gov.au/about-us/corporate/Documents/contracts-for-the-period-1-january-2014-31-december-2014.pdf

(That report came to my attention via the comment by Nick Barnes of 6.8.15 / 4pm in the combox at this blog post by Mr. Muehlenberg.)

Labels: abortion, contraception, feminism, foreign affairs

3. Some recent information on morbid propaganda in Australian public schools

3.1 Beginning in 2016, the thirty minutes each week which is currently devoted to, or at least is available for, non-compulsory Special Religious Instruction in Victorian public schools (Prep to Year 10) will instead be devoted to, or at least available for, compulsory indoctrination of pupils in "healthy, respectful relationships" ideology (presumably a blend of sodomy, Feminism, Moral Relativism, and Multiculturalism)

See the media release "New Curriculum Supports Students To Build Healthy Relationships And Understanding", from The Hon. James Merlino M.P. (Victorian Minister for Education) and The Hon. Fiona Richardson M.P. (Victorian Minister for the Prevention of Family Violence), dated Friday, August 21, 2015, downloaded from the official Premier of Victoria website:

http://www.premier.vic.gov.au/new-curriculum-supports-students-to-build-healthy-relationships-and-understanding

(That media release came to my attention via the print version of the article "Relationship advice to replace religious instruction", by Ms Natasha Bita, dated August 21, 2015, downloaded from The Australian's website:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/education/relationship-advice-to-replace-religious-instruction/story-fn59nlz9-1227492123139

The same website also has a much shorter article ("Vic religious education classes axed", no byline (though the stated source is the A.A.P.), same date) on that topic:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/latest-news/vic-religious-education-classes-axed/story-fn3dxiwe-1227492687675)

See also

• the "resource" Building Respectful Relationships: Stepping Out Against Gender-Based Violence, published and authorised by the Victorian Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, Melbourne, June 2014, © State of Victoria (Department of Education and Early Childhood Development) 2014, downloaded from the "Respectful Relationships Education" page in the "Student Health and Wellbeing" section of the Victorian Department of Education and Training's website:
  http://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/teachers/health/pages/respectrel.aspx
  or go straight hither:
  https://fuse.education.vic.gov.au/content/29a93fbb-0553-4f9c-a382-c30f29afb120/BRR%20full%20document%20110614.pdf
  (That resource came to my attention via this page at the official website of The Hon. Philip Dalidakis M.P. (Victorian Minister for Small Business, Innovation, and Trade).)

• item 11 of this "Notes" post:
  http://cardinalpole.blogspot.com/2012/08/notes-wednesday-august-15-wednesday.html

• the article "Religious instruction scrapped from curriculum", by Henrietta Cook and Timna Jacks, dated August 21, 2015, downloaded from The Age's website:
  http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/religious-instruction-scrapped-from-curriculum-20150820-gj425e.html?skin=text-only

• the article "State to axe religious education", by Mr. Robert Hiini, on p. 6 in the "Catholic education" pages of the Sydney Catholic Weekly, August 30, 2015, Vol. 73, No. 4790, published by The Catholic Press Newspaper Company Pty. Ltd., available online under the headline "Victoria axes state religious education", with the same author, dated August 26, 2015, downloaded from The Catholic Weekly's website:
  https://www.catholicweekly.com.au/state-to-axe-religious-education/

• the opinion piece "NSW wolves baying at Vic move", by Mr. Jude Hennessy (director of the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine for The Diocese of Wollongong), on p. 23 in the "News" pages of the Sydney Catholic Weekly, September 6, 2015, Vol. 73, No. 4791, published by The Catholic Press Newspaper Company Pty. Ltd., available online under the headline "Wrong to compare state religious education programs", with the same author, dated September 2, 2015, downloaded from The Catholic Weekly's website:
  https://www.catholicweekly.com.au/nsw-wolves-baying-at-victoria-sre-move/

Labels: education, feminism, G.L.B.T., morals, multiculturalism, relativism, Victoria

3.2 Australian "education ministers agreed yesterday[, that is, the 18th instant.,] to change the[ national] curriculum again, to introduce teaching of “respectful relationships’’."

The quotation, excluding my square-bracketed interpolations, in that headline comes from the article "Phonics, faith and coding for primary school kids", by Ms Natasha Bita, dated September 19, 2015, downloaded from The Australian's website:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/education/phonics-faith-and-coding-for-primary-school-kids/story-fn59nlz9-1227534083014

(That article came to my attention via the version printed under the headline "Phonics, faith and coding for primary kids as schools go back to basics", by the same author, on p. 1 (continued on p. 10 in "THE NATION" pages under the headline "Phonics, faith and coding as schools go back to basics") of The Weekend Australian, September 19-20, 2015, Second Edition, No. 15837, ISSN 1038-8761, published by Nationwide News Pty. Limited.) That development came less than a week after the Sydney Daily Telegraph reported that

The Minister Assisting the PM for Women, Michaelia Cash, has written to Education Minister Christopher Pyne to encourage programs in the school curriculum that promote respectful relationships.
["Domestic violence: Abbott Government to offer panic alarms and security upgrades to women at risk", by Renee Viellaris and Steven Wardill, dated September 13, 2015, downloaded from The Daily Telegraph's website:
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/national/domestic-violence-abbott-government-to-offer-panic-alarms-and-security-upgrades-to-women-at-risk/story-fnii5v71-1227525367267
Follow that link for more details—I don't want to infringe copyright by quoting too much.
(Other versions of that article are available via the following two links:
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/domestic-violence-abbott-government-to-offer-panic-alarms-and-security-upgrades-to-women-at-risk/story-fni0cx12-1227525473657
http://www.news.com.au/national/queensland/domestic-violence-abbott-government-to-offer-panic-alarms-and-security-upgrades-to-women-at-risk/story-fnii5v6w-1227525367267)]

Shortly after that report, The Australian reported that

The Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Women, Michaelia Cash, has written to the chairwoman of the Education Council, Queensland Education Minister Kate Jones, on behalf of her state counterparts expressing support for additional measures in schools.
["Schools to tackle domestic violence", by Rosie Lewis and Sarah Elks, dated September 15, 2015, downloaded from The Australian's website:
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/education/schools-to-tackle-domestic-violence/story-fn59nlz9-1227527187249
(The "additional measures" are presumably of the 'respectful relationships' variety—see the fourth-last paragraph of that article (which (paragraph) also reports Mr. Pyne's action in response to Sen. Cash's letter to him).)]

And now, in the latest development,

$5 million will also be provided as a longer-term measure to change the attitudes of young people to violence, through expanding the Safer Schools website to include resources for teachers, parents and students on respectful relationships.
["Release: Women’s Safety Package to #StoptheViolence", dated September 24, 2015, downloaded from the electorate website of The Hon. Malcolm Turnbull M.P. (Prime Minister):
http://www.malcolmturnbull.com.au/media/release-womens-safety-package-to-stoptheviolence
See also the "Transcript of joint press conference: Women’s Safety Package to Stop the Violence", also dated September 24, 2015, downloaded from Mr. Turnbull's Prime Ministerial website:
https://www.pm.gov.au/media/2015-09-24/transcript-joint-press-conference-womens-safety-package-stop-violence]

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

3.3 What Safe Schools Coalition/Wear It Purple Day events look like

See

• the opinion piece "Purple has become the colour of thought control", by Mr. Mark Powell ("a Presbyterian minister from the Cornerstone Church in Strathfield" who was involved in opposing the planned pro-sodomite activities), on p. 52 in the "OPINION" pages of the Sydney Daily Telegraph, Thursday, September 3, 2015, ISSN 1038-8745, published by Nationwide News Pty. Ltd., apparently not available at the Tele's website. In that article, Mr. Powell relates that a Burwood Girls High School parent told him by e-mail that
  

  on Friday the 28th of August classes for all years would be cancelled for two periods and everyone was instructed to wear pur-ple clothing as well as eat purple cup-cakes and then join in a special parade “under the rainbow flag.”
  (the dashes resulted from words spanning two lines)

  It seems that "Initially there was no “opt out.”", but "Later the school sent out another communi-cation saying you could “opt out” of viewing the film but not regarding participation in the rest of the day."

• the article "Anger over school's gay parenting doco", by Mr. Bruce McDougall, p. 04, The Daily Telegraph, Wednesday, August 26, 2015, ISSN 1038-8745, published by Nationwide News Pty. Ltd., available online, but behind a paywall, here:
  http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/burwood-girls-high-school-anger-over-gay-parenting-documentary-gayby-baby/story-fni0cx12-1227498780623

• the article "NSW Education Minister bans schools from screening gay film" by Mr. Eryk Bagshaw, dated August 26, 2015, downloaded from The Sydney Morning Herald's website:
  http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/nsw-education-minister-bans-schools-from-screening-gay-film-20150826-gj7sid.html?skin=text-only
  Mr. Bagshaw reports therein that
  

  The NSW Education Minister, Adrian Piccoli, has banned every public school in the state from screening a documentary about children with gay parents during school hours.
  
  […]
  
  Up to 50 schools across Australia, including 20 in NSW had organised a simultaneous broadcast of the film as part of a nationwide Wear it Purple day campaign of sexual inclusion in schools.

• the article "Purple rain: true coulours shine after ban", by Mr. Eryk Bagshaw, on p. 3 in the "NEWS" pages of The Sydney Morning Herald, Weekend Edition, August 29-30, 2015, Issue No. 55500, published by Fairfax Media Publications Pty. Ltd., available online under the headline "Gayby Baby uproar: Schools defiant on Wear It Purple day", with the same author and date, at The Sydney Morning Herald's website:
  http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/gayby-baby-uproar-schools-defiant-on-wear-it-purple-day-20150828-gj9pr6.html?skin=text-only
  In the online version, Mr. Bagshaw reports that
  

  At Burwood Girls High almost 2000 purple cupcakes were consumed while principal Mia Kumar spoke of the tough week the school had endured.
  
  The girls had come out stronger because of it, she told the 1000-strong crowd that included NSW police officers in bespoke purple uniforms.
  

  and that Mr. Piccoli "has been a vocal supporter of Wear It Purple day in the past." (In another article by Mr. Bagshaw—"Gayby Baby: Education Minister Adrian Piccoli and Premier Mike Baird ban film without seeing it", dated August 27, 2015—he says similarly that Mr. Piccoli "has previously been a vocal supporter of the inclusiveness of LGBTI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex) issues in schools", and Miranda Devine describes Mr. Piccoli as "driving the Proud Schools program" (see her opinion piece "DENIALS, FEAR AND A LACK OF REAL TOLERANCE", dated August 28, 2015, at the Tele's website or at her blog.)

Labels: education, G.L.B.T., N.S.W.

4. A man who regards himself as having three parents is "calling on NSW Attorney-General Gabrielle Upton to allow for changes to the Status of Children Act 1996 (NSW) to reflect that a child might have more than two parents."

See the article "Hugo Atkinson's fight to have three parents recognised on his birth certificate", by Lucy Cormack, dated August 27, 2015, downloaded from The Sydney Morning Herald's website:

http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/hugo-atkinsons-fight-to-have-three-parents-recognised-on-his-birth-certificate-20150827-gj9anp.html?skin=text-only

Labels: polyamory

5. Mr. Webster on Mr. Turnbull's "support of last year's Bingham Cup in Sydney": "He donated personally to the tournament - he was one of the top 15 individual sponsors - and lent his considerable presence to a score of functions, including a pledge from the chief executives of the major sporting codes to implement anti-homophobia and inclusion policies."

The quotations in that headline come from the article "NRL finals 2015: Sydney Roosters wary of Canterbury Bulldogs' tackling style", by Mr. Andrew Webster, dated September 17, 2015, downloaded from The Sydney Morning Herald's website:

http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/nrl-finals-2015-sydney-roosters-wary-of-canterbury-bulldogs-tackling-style-20150917-gjopyo.html?skin=text-only

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

6. A couple of items concerning the death penalty

6.1 More from H.H. The Pope on capital and custodial punishment

On capital punishment:

… The Golden Rule also reminds us of our responsibility to protect and defend human life at every stage of its development.

This conviction has led me, from the beginning of my ministry, to advocate at different levels for the global abolition of the death penalty. I am convinced that this way is the best, since every life is sacred, every human person is endowed with an inalienable dignity, and society can only benefit from the rehabilitation of those convicted of crimes. Recently my brother bishops here in the United States renewed their call for the abolition of the death penalty. Not only do I support them, but I also offer encouragement to all those who are convinced that a just and necessary punishment must never exclude the dimension of hope and the goal of rehabilitation.
[from the Address of the Holy Father to the U.S. Congress, Thursday, September 24, 2015, downloaded from the Vatican's website:
http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/speeches/2015/september/documents/papa-francesco_20150924_usa-us-congress.html
also available at the U.S. Congress's website here:
https://www.congress.gov/congressional-record/2015/09/24/house-section/article/H6191-8?loclr=twtho
and here:
https://www.congress.gov/crec/2015/09/24/CREC-2015-09-24-pt1-PgH6191-8.pdf]

On custodial punishment:

This time in your life can only have one purpose: to give you a hand in getting back on the right road, to give you a hand to help you rejoin society. All of us are part of that effort, all of us are invited to encourage, help and enable your rehabilitation. A rehabilitation which everyone seeks and desires: inmates and their families, correctional authorities, social and educational programs. A rehabilitation which benefits and elevates the morale of the entire community and society.
[from (a translation from Spanish of) the Address of the Holy Father to detainees at Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility in Philadelphia, U.S.A., Sunday, September 27, 2015, downloaded from the Vatican's website:
http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/speeches/2015/september/documents/papa-francesco_20150927_usa-detenuti.html]

Labels: death penalty, Francis Bergoglio, morals

6.2 Jean-Jacques Rousseau and John Paul II., respectively, on the death penalty:

• We may add that frequent punishments are always a sign of weak-ness or remissness on the part of the government. There is not a single ill-doer who could not be turned to some good. The State has no right to put to death, even for the sake of making an example, any one whom it can leave alive without danger.
  [the first dash there occurred because the word "weakness" spanned two lines,
  p. 212, in an extract from The Social Contract or Principles of Political Right (from The Social Contract and Other Discourses by Jean Jacques Rousseau, translated by G. D. H. Cole, Everyman's Library; the quotation in question comes from (the translation of) Book II, Chapter V, "The Right of Life and Death") which (extract) was printed in Society, Law, and Morality, edited with introductions by Frederick A. Olafson, published by Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, N.J., 1961]

• It is clear that, for these purposes[ (apparently retribution, defence, and rehabilitation)] to be achieved, the nature and extent of the punishment must be carefully evaluated and decided upon, and ought not go to the extreme of executing the offender except in cases of absolute necessity: in other words, when it would not be possible otherwise to defend society. Today however, as a result of steady improvements in the organization of the penal system, such cases are very rare, if not practically non-existent.
  
  In any event, the principle set forth in the new Catechism of the Catholic Church remains valid: "If bloodless means are sufficient to defend human lives against an aggressor and to protect public order and the safety of persons, public authority must limit itself to such means, because they better correspond to the concrete conditions of the common good and are more in conformity to the dignity of the human person".
  [my square-bracketed interpolation,
  paragraphs two and three of §56 of (a translation of) the Encyclical Letter Evangelium Vitae, March 25, 1995:
  http://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_25031995_evangelium-vitae.html
  This is the official Latin version of the two paragraphs in question:
  Patet tamen omnia ut haec impetrentur proposita, modum et genus poenae diligenter omnino aestimanda esse decernendaque neque ad exstinguendum extremo consilio reum descendere licere nisi absoluta instante necessitate, cum videlicet aliter prorsus non potest defendi societas. Atqui hodie, propter convenientiorem institutionis poenalis temperationem, admodum raro huius modi intercidunt casus, si qui omnino iam reapse accidunt.
  Quidquid id est, valet etiamnum in novo Catholicae Ecclesiae Catechismo significatum principium, ex quo: « Si instrumenta incruenta sufficiunt ad vitas humanas defendendas ab aggressore et ad ordinem publicum tuendum simulque personarum securitatem, auctoritas his utatur instrumentis, utpote quae melius respondeant concretis boni communis condicionibus et sint dignitati personae humanae magis consentanea ».
  italics in the original,
  p. 464, Acta Apostolicae Sedis, Vol. 87, A.D. 1995:
  http://www.vatican.va/archive/aas/documents/AAS-87-1995-ocr.pdf
  The official Latin version of Evangelium Vitae is also available here:
  http://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/la/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_25031995_evangelium-vitae.html]

Labels: death penalty, John Paul II. Wojtyla, morals

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Michaelmas, A.D. 2015

Notes: Tuesday, May 6-Thursday, July 31, 2014 (part 2 of 4)

5. "the OECD has found that paid parental leave beyond 20 weeks “appears to have a negative effect on female participation”"

The quotation in that headline comes from the opinion piece "Abbott has dug himself into a hole over paid parental leave", by Dr. Anne Summers A.O., dated May 5, 2014, downloaded from The Sydney Morning Herald's website:

http://www.smh.com.au/comment/abbott-has-dug-himself-into-a-hole-over-paid-parental-leave-20140505-zr4r4.html?skin=text-only

(Originally, I was also going to quote Dr. Summers regarding her statement in that opinion piece that women who earn less than the minimum wage would be worse off under The Hon. Tony Abbott M.P.'s paid maternity leave plan compared to the current one (because the current one pays the minimum wage to those women, whereas Mr. Abbott's scheme would pay them, so Dr. Summers thought, only their pre-leave level of income) but it turns out that Dr. Summers was mistaken; see the letter published under the sub-heading "Low paid will benefit" on the Herald's letters page of May 6, 2014 ("Reconsider Bondi brawler's gaming licence") (and that letter has been appended to Dr. Summers' article, with her response to it below it.)

Labels: economics, P.P.L., work

6. A few recent items regarding divorce

6.1 The late Prof. Becker on no-fault divorce

See the opinion piece "Exposing the dangers of welfare", by Mr. Adam Creighton, dated May 9, 2014, downloaded from (behind the paywall at) The Australian's website:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/opinion/exposing-the-dangers-of-welfare/story-fnc2jivw-1226910947505

Labels: divorce, law, marriage

6.2 "DIVORCE and family breakdowns are costing the national economy more than $14 billion a year in government assistance payments and court costs"

The quotation, including the capitals and bold type, in that headline comes from the article "Divorce is costing the Australian economy $14 billion a year", by Lauren Wilson and Lisa Cornish, dated July 6, 2014, downloaded from the Herald Sun's website:

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/lifestyle/relationships/divorce-is-costing-the-australian-economy-14-billion-a-year/story-fni0dqfm-1226979027353

(That article came to my attention via this blog post by Mr. Muehlenberg.)

Labels: divorce, marriage

6.3 Mr. Creighton on no-fault divorce

See the opinion piece "Divorced wives deserve compensation for hardship", by Mr. Adam Creighton, dated July 11, 2014, downloaded from (behind the paywall at) The Australian's website:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/opinion/divorced-wives-deserve-compensation-for-hardship/story-fnc2jivw-1226984851502

Labels: divorce, law, marriage

7. A couple of recent Gay/sport items

7.1 In order "to send a clear message" about discrimination, the National Rubgy League penalised, with a two-match ban and a requirement "to attend an anti-vilification education and awareness program", a player "for breaching the League’s anti-vilification policy" by calling another player "Gay" (though the player called "Gay" isn't Gay)

The first two quotations in that headline come from the article "Mitchell Moses has been banned for two matches for breaking the NRL’s anti-­vilification policy", by Mr. Dean Ritchie, dated May 5, 2014, downloaded from the Sydney Daily Telegraph's website:

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/nrl/mitchell-moses-has-been-banned-for-two-matches-for-breaking-the-nrls-antivilification-policy/story-fni3fbgz-1226906300123

(That article came to my attention via the version printed under the headline "Young Wests Tiger's two-week ban for homophobic slur", by the same author, on p. 67 in the "NRL" pages of the "SPORT" section of The Daily Telegraph, Tuesday, May 6, 2014, ISSN 1038-8745, published by Nationwide News Pty. Ltd.) The third quotation comes from the press releases "NRL suspends player for homophobic remark" and "Moses banned for two games for homophobic comment", neither of which has a byline, both dated Monday, May 5, 2014, both downloaded from NRL.com:

http://www.nrl.com/nrl-suspends-player-for-homophobic-remark/tabid/10874/newsid/78159/default.aspx

http://www.nrl.com/moses-banned-for-two-games-for-homophobic-comment/tabid/10874/newsid/78160/default.aspx

See also the opinion piece "NRL bosses are totally gay", by Miranda Devine, p. 13, The Daily Telegraph, Wednesday, May 7, 2014, ISSN 1038-8745, published by Nationwide News Pty. Ltd., available online under the same headline, by the same author, but dated Tuesday, May 6, 2014, at Ms Devine's blog:

http://blogs.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/mirandadevine/index.php/dailytelegraph/comments/nrl_bosses_are_totally_gay/

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

7.2 "Our sponsorship of the Bingham Cup [a rugby union competition for gay players] has been a catalyst for change: we were able to use our leverage as a major advertiser to persuade the main sporting codes to sign up to an anti-homophobia policy, which they all did at the bank a few weeks ago."

The quotation, including the square-bracketed interpolation, in that headline comes from the appendix "SMASHING THE GLASS CLOSET" to the article "Don't ask, don't tell", by Jane Wheatley, dated June 7, 2014, downloaded from The Sydney Morning Herald's website:

http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/dont-ask-dont-tell-20140602-39d0g.html?skin=text-only

(The sub-section (presumably minus any editorial interpolations) from which that quotation comes is attributed to Andrew Hall, "head of corporate affairs at the Commonwealth Bank", so the pronoun "we" and the possessives refer to the Commonwealth Bank.)

(That appendix and article came to my attention via the versions printed under the same respective headlines, with the same respective authors, on, respectively, p. 25 and pp. 22-25 of Good Weekend magazine, June 7, 2014, published by Fairfax Media Publications Pty. Ltd., inserted in The Sydney Morning Herald, Weekend Edition, June 7-8, 2014, Issue No. 55118, ISSN 0312-6315, published by Fairfax Media Publications Pty. Ltd.)

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

8. Some recent items regarding abortion

8.1 "UP to 23,000 abortions take place in Victoria each year", as at 2008, and "180 late-term abortions were carried out in 2005 on healthy fetuses for "psycho-social" reasons"

The quotations in that headline come from the article "Victoria is Australia's abortion 'capital'", by Laurie Nowell, dated June 1, 2008, downloaded from the Herald Sun website:

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/victoria-abortion-capital/story-e6frf7kx-1111116500184

(That article came to my attention via this blog post by Mr. Gaynor.)

Labels: abortion, Victoria

8.2 "In 2009 there were 154 stillbirths related to termination of pregnancy for congenital abnormality and 42 neonatal deaths where the parents decided to have labour induced early resulting in the early birth of their infant (Table 96)."

The quotation in that headline comes from p. 111 of the Annual report for the year 2009, by the Consultative Council on Obstetric and Paediatric Mortality and Morbidity, ISSN 1327-4473, authorised and published by H.M. Victorian Government, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, July 2012, © Copyright, State of Victoria, Department of Health 2012, downloaded from the "Document library" at the official website of the Department of Health, Victoria, Australia:

http://docs.health.vic.gov.au/docs/doc/Annual-Report-for-the-Year-2009-%28including-Births-in-Victoria%29--Full-Report

or go straight hither:

http://docs.health.vic.gov.au/docs/doc/C3F3B2341D9B4F99CA257A5C00099475/$FILE/1202025_CCOPMM_AR_2009_WEB.pdf

(That report came to my attention via this blog post by Mr. Gaynor.)

Labels: abortion, Victoria

8.3 "Of the 51 neonatal deaths[ in South Australia in 2008], 42 (82.4%) were lowbirthweight babies and 10 resulted from terminations of pregnancy."

The quotation, excluding the squate-bracketed interpolation, in that headline comes from p. 24 (p. 28 in your reader) of Maternal, Perinatal and Infant Mortality in South Australia 2008, by the Maternal, Perinatal and Infant Mortality Committee of the Pregnancy Outcome Unit of SA Health, H.M South Australian Government, ISSN 1032-4801, published by SA Health, H.M South Australian Government, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia, November 2009, © SA Health, downloaded from the official SA Health website:

http://www.sahealth.sa.gov.au/wps/wcm/connect/6f561300440868f38a40aa5fc19a2cbb/mortalityreport-operations-sahaelth-2008.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CACHEID=6f561300440868f38a40aa5fc19a2cbb

(That report came to my attention via the comment by Heidi on May 10, 2014 at 6:52 pm in the combox of a blog post by Mr. Gaynor.)

Labels: abortion, S.A.

8.4 Some up-to-date figures on contraception and abortion in Australia

See pp. 149 ff. and 195 ff. (but add 18 to desired page numbers when typing them into your reader's page number field) of the report Reproductive and sexual health in Australia, no author credited, ISBN 978 1 877026 29 4, published by Family Planning NSW, Sydney, N.S.W., Australia, 2013, © Family Planning NSW 2013, downloaded from Family Planning NSW's website:

Warning: Given the subject matter, beware of potentially scandalous terminology:

http://www.fpnsw.org.au/688423_21_13559012.html

Or go straight hither:

http://www.fpnsw.org.au/rshinaust_book_webedition_1.pdf

(That report came to my attention via this or this Herald article.)

Labels: abortion, contraception

9. "the more children a family has, the less likely it is that both parents will remain in paid employment. Therefore, encouraging larger families will increase the number of future workers and taxpayers, including women."

The quotation, including its italics, in that headline comes from the article "CHILD CARE INQUIRY: Should parents or paid strangers raise children?", by Mr. John Ballantyne, dated May 10, 2014, downloaded from News Weekly's website:

http://newsweekly.com.au/article.php?id=56572

Labels: economics, families

10. "The early moderns wanted to get rid of formal and final causes as immanent features of nature, and thus replaced them with the notion of “laws of nature” conceived of as externally imposed divine decrees."

The quotation in that headline comes from the blog post "School’s out forever?", by Dr. Edward Feser, dated Friday, May 2, 2014, downloaded from his eponymous blog:

http://edwardfeser.blogspot.com/2014/05/schools-out-forever.html

Labels: philosophy, science

11. "a quarter of our students[, i.e., of pupils in nominally Catholic schools in New South Wales,] are not Catholic", and "[a]t 44 per cent, SA Catholic schools have the highest proportion of students from non-Catholic backgrounds of any mainland state" ("[t]he national average is 29 per cent")

The first quotation, excluding my square-bracketed interpolation, in that headline comes from the letter published under the heading "Not weeds, flowers", from Dr. Brian Croke ("executive director, Catholic Education Commission NSW"), on the May 22, 2014 letters page (headline: "Tony Abbott lacks John Howard's bravery in facing Deakin University protesters"), downloaded from The Sydney Morning Herald's website:

http://www.smh.com.au/comment/smh-letters/tony-abbott-lacks-john-howards-bravery-in-facing-deakin-university-protesters-20140521-zrjwl.html?skin=text-only

The last two quotations, excluding my square-bracketed replacement of capital letters with lower-case ones, in that headline come from the article "Big growth in number of non-Catholics attending Catholic schools in SA", no byline, dated June 1, 2014, downloaded from news.com.au:

http://www.news.com.au/national/south-australia/big-growth-in-number-of-noncatholics-attending-catholic-schools-in-sa/story-fnii5yv4-1226939166470

(That article came to my attention via this CathNews post.)

Labels: Catholic schools

12. "It is significant that at a time when the federal Coalition government is cutting support for single-income two-parent families by cutting Family Tax Benefit B and increasing costs of medical treatment and pharmaceuticals, it is increasing spending on institutionalised child care (primarily used by two-income families), on top of its paid parental leave scheme which is also a subsidy for two-income families."

The quotation in that headline comes from the article "CANBERRA OBSERVED: Single-income families bear the brunt of Budget pain", no byline, dated May 24, 2014, downloaded from News Weekly's website:

http://newsweekly.com.au/article.php?id=56587

Labels: childcare, economics, families, tax

13. Mr. Muehlenberg with some recent items regarding Gaiety

See the blog post "Truth-Telling and Homosexuality", by Mr. Bill Muehlenberg, dated June 9, 2014, downloaded from his CultureWatch blog:

http://billmuehlenberg.com/2014/06/09/truth-telling-and-homosexuality/

(And read the comments there, especially the one by Dr. van Gend.)

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

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of St. Ignatius of Loyola, Confessor, A.D. 2014