I went out today with my $100 Dymocks gift card and only bought one book.  I don’t know what to buy. Does anyone have any ideas as to what I could read? What’s your favourite book? Or what is a good book, nonfiction or fiction, which has come out recently?

Suggestions?

In 2004 the Howard government passed a bill to amend to the Marriage Act in order to include the common law definition of marriage, i.e., that it is only between a man and a woman. The following was specified in the amendment:

Marriage means the union of a man and a woman to the exclusion of all others, voluntarily entered into for life.
Certain unions are not marriages
A union solemnised in a foreign country between:
(a) a man and another man; or
(b) a woman and another woman;
must not be recognised as a marriage in Australia. (source)

At the time support for same-sex marriage in Australia was wavering at 30-40% of the general public. Eight years later about 60% of Australians support changing the Marriage Act to end discrimination against same-sex couples.

In November of last year GetUp! released a video in support of same-sex marriage and in order to pressure the Labor government to change it’s platform on the issue in it’s annual conference in December. At the time of writing the video has garnered over 6 million views, and has received massive approval not only in Australia but around the world.

In December the Labor Party became the first major two major parties to change it’s platform in support of marriage equality. Despite this, the Prime Minister Julia Gillard remained adamant in her view that law doesn’t need to be changed and has stated that if a bill should come into parliament she vote against it.

On the eve of Valentine’s Day this year Melbourne MP Adam Bandt and Labor backbencher Stephen Jones each introduced separate bills into the House of Representatives to end marriage discrimination in Australia. An online survey, conducted by the House of Representatives Social Policy and Legal Affairs committee, resulted in 64% of the 276,437 of the respondents supporting the bills. The bills are to be voted on in the second half of this year.

progressiveauspol:

theworldoflamb:

I have notice week by week the closer we are coming to a election how much people on the left are trying to pull out anything to attack tony Abbott and the coalition but its not working most polls have the 2PP vote around 43 to 57 and its been like that for months now the ALP has not been within 4 points of the coalition for about a year.  Now in a election the ALP would get little more support than that number but it will still be a huge landslide for the coalition.

Some lefties still think the ALP can turn it around but if Queensland is anything to go by its just not going to happen. Its just really just sad now what people will say to try to bring down tony Abbott without anything facts to back it up  like he hates gay people yet now we find out he has a gay sister and known about it for years and didn’t exploit her for his own political advantage.

I wish the hate would stop on both sides but I think the next 15 months will be most hateful political season ever. 

List of Abbot quotes over the last two decades:

On women

“I think it would be folly to expect that women will ever dominate or even approach equal representation in a large number of areas simply because their aptitudes, abilities and interests are different for physiological reasons”

“The problem with the Australian practice of abortion is that an objectively grave matter has been reduced to a question of the mother’s convenience.”

“Why isn’t the fact that 100,000 women choose to end their pregnancies regarded as a national tragedy approaching the scale, say, of Aboriginal life expectancy being 20 years less than that of the general community?”

On aborigines

“Even if dispossession is taken to mean that government has a higher responsibility to Aborigines than to other Australians, the production of beautiful art and connectedness to the land does not warrant the maintenance of a way of life also characterised by unemployment, substance abuse and domestic violence. If people choose to live in difficult to service places, that’s their business.”

“Now, I know that there are some Aboriginal people who aren’t happy with Australia Day. For them it remains Invasion Day. I think a better view is the view of Noel Pearson, who has said that Aboriginal people have much to celebrate in this country’s British Heritage”

“Western civilisation came to this country in 1788 and I’m proud of that…”

On social justice

“I know Bernie is very sick, but just because a person is sick doesn’t mean that he is necessarily pure of heart in all things.” On Bernie who was seeking justice after corporate greed and unscrupulous business practices led to him contracting cancer from asbestos

“…we just can’t stop people from being homeless if that’s their choice…”

Finally the Liberals at the moment have no actual plan outlining how they will lead the Australian economy other than no carbon tax & no refugees. What Australia needs is a leader with vision and Abbot simply doesnt have that. As a progressive I have no issue with voting for the Liberals if they actually offerred a concrete and promising alternative. They simply dont and thats why the criticisms of Abbot are valid.

When it comes to Abbott’s sister he did what a decent human should do and accepted her for who she is. The fact remains, however, that he doesn’t support an end to marriage discrimination in Australia. You can say what you want about whether he hates gay people or not, but the fact is that this policy is not only homophobic but as a law it also empowers homophobia. It’s true that Gillard doesn’t support amending the Marriage Act either but at least the ALP has changed it’s stance on the issue. Another point to make is that it’s not hateful to criticise the Liberal’s lack of adequate policies. Also, the next federal election isn’t due until November 30, 2013 at the latest. A lot can happen between now and then, especially now that the Liberals head all the eastern states and WA.