Church In Perth - Hope To The Nations

THE GREENS - LOOK CAREFULLY BEFORE YOU BUY

With the rise of the Greens as a significant force in Australian politics we believe it important for our readers to understand the philosophical thinking that gives birth to their policies, which many commentators consider both radical and anti-Christian. This article, compiled by the Australian Prayer Network is based on information contained in a recent article written by former Federal Treasurer Peter Costello. It raises a number of issues for prayer.

When the Greens leader, Bob Brown, was asked to name his first legislative priority for the new Parliament he had no hesitation - euthanasia. Brown wants to repeal the federal statute that outlawed euthanasia in the Northern Territory. "This will restore the rights of Territorians to be able to legislate for euthanasia," he told Network Ten.

Many who vote for the Greens do so because they want genuine "green" policies such as a carbon reduction scheme or the end to logging to be implemented. Bob Brown's admission however exposes the true priorities of the newest political force in Australia. For instance the Greens are the only party committed to abortion on demand. Whilst the major parties leave it to each MP to decide how to vote on moral issues such as abortion, the Greens have a party position spelt out in their platform.

The Greens claim to care about people however their policies on issues such as euthanasia and abortion would seem to indicate other priorities. They also worry that too many people is bad for the environment claiming we need a "sustainable relationship between humans and the environment", which involves a lot more birth control and a lot less use of natural resources. It is this philosophical position that leads to policies of euthanasia and abortion as a means of "controlling" population growth.

It is intertesting to note where the majority of green support resides. The Green vote is highest in the inner-city terraces and converted warehouses of our major cities. In the seat of Melbourne, the Greens polled 36 per cent and in the seat of Sydney 24 per cent. As you move out to the quarter-acre blocks in the suburbs however, the Green vote declines. When you get to semi-rural and country areas it falls further. In Gippsland in Victoria it is 7 per cent and in Parkes in NSW 6 per cent.

Families live in the suburbs where it is cheaper to buy a house with a garden for the children. They do not see their children as a threat to ecological sustainability but as their greatest contribution to society. On a Sunday you would notice, as you moved from the inner city to the outer suburbs, that church services attract bigger crowds. Conventional religious belief is stronger. This is why these electorates do not warm to the Green agenda of euthanasia, abortion, homosexual marriage and adoption.

The natural habitat of Green supporters is not the open spaces or the pristine forests but the crowded cafes and asphalt alleys of inner-city living. Of course the inner-city areas are, and have always been, the traditional powerbase of the political left. But the political left has found that marketing itself under the label "Green" has much better appeal, which is how Lee Rhiannon was elected as a senator for NSW.

She grew up as part of Sydney's first family of communism and followed her parents into the party. Her chances of being elected as a communist senator were zero but she has done well under the Greens banner. Adam Bandt was an undergraduate and postgraduate scholar of Marxism. In another age he would have journeyed through the union movement to a Labor pre-selection. Now these activists turn "Green" and they are taking the inner cities with them.

The Greens are much, much, more than an environmental party. They are also a clever marketing machine with a fully formed agenda on a wide range of moral and social issues as well as having radical policies on tax, economics and foreign affairs. Voters need to look carefully before buying the product.

GREENS LOBBY FOR HOMOSEXUAL MARRIAGE AGAIN

The Australian Greens have reintroduced a bill to federal parliament with the intent of legalising homosexual marriage. Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young tried to remove all discrimination based on sexuality and gender from the Marriage Act last year but the draft laws were defeated in February. "I vowed to keep fighting and I promised to reintroduce my bill for a second time in the new parliament," Senator Hanson-Young said recently.

"Now my bill is back on the Senate notice paper, I intend to lobby the leadership of all parties to allow their members a conscience vote." Prime Minister Julia Gillard has already ruled that out. "You should expect to see the Labor Party voting as a political party, voting in unison," she told ABC Radio. Ms Gillard said it remained "a big if" as to whether the Greens bill would ever reach the House of Representatives.

"There is only so much parliamentary time," she said. "We have got to deal with government business as well as private members' business." Labor and the coalition's official stance on the issue is that marriage can only exist between a man and a woman. In a letter, Sydney lord mayor and independent NSW MP Clover Moore urged Ms Gillard to reconsider her position. "I ask that you provide for a conscience vote legislation that would allow same-sex couples to marry," Ms Moore wrote.

Ms Moore pointed to the City of Sydney's relationship declaration program, used by couples to record and declare their relationships. "All adult couples making a life commitment to each other should be able to marry if they wish and I share the view that it is not fair to deny anyone that right because of their gender or sexuality," she wrote. Ms Moore urged Opposition Leader Tony Abbott to grant his MPs a conscience vote on same-sex marriage too.

Source: Compiled by APN from media reports and comments