The Labor Party has exploded into open warfare at the highest levels following the defeat of the senior cabinet minister Penny Wong to the number one Senate ticket in favour of one of the lesser known faceless men who helped install Julia Gillard to the Prime Ministership in 2010.
Right-faction powerbroker Don Farrell defeated Senator Wong in a ballot today by 112 votes to 83 with the Finance Minister to be listed second on the South Australian Senate ballot paper at the next federal election.
Senior Labor frontbencher and left-faction figure Anthony Albanese let fly today at ‘‘union powerbrokers’’ saying Labor’s ongoing factional wars were evidence of a broken internal system.
Accusing his party of ignoring the electorate in favour of its own ructions, Mr Albanese said he will demand this week that the ALP national executive overturn the decision and promote Senator Wong to the number one spot.
Read more: http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/opinion/political-news/wong-senate-snub-risks-factional-flareup-20121027-28c4d.html#ixzz2AXndPEsg
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• Rodney Croome: ADVOCATES WELOME ELECTION OF AUSTRALIA’S FIRST MP IN A SAME-SEX MARRIAGE
Marriage equality advocates have welcomed the election of Australia’s first member of Parliament in a same-sex marriage.
Former Australian Marriage Equality national convener, Alex Greenwich, who has been elected to the NSW Lower House in a by-election in the seat of Sydney, was married to his male partner in Argentina in May this year.
New AME convener, Rodney Croome, said,
“We congratulate Alex on his election and for becoming the first Australian MP in a same-sex marriage.”
“We call on the NSW Government to respect Alex Greenwich’s marriage by treating him and husband as married partners for all relevant purposes.”
Mr Croome went on to thank Mr Greenwich for his contribution to the marriage equality movement and to assure supporters of reform that the campaign will continue.
“Alex’s skills as an advocate, lobbyist, strategist and diplomat helped forge a strong, cohesive and respected movement for marriage equality.”
“AME will build on Alex’s legacy in our continuing campaign to achieve full legal equality for same-sex couples and their families.”
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LAUNCESTON RALLY HEARS MARRIAGE EQUALITY CAMPAIGN WILL CONTINUE
Marriage equality advocates have told a rally in Launceston that their campaign for same-sex marriage will continue despite a narrow defeat for the legislation in the state Upper House last month.
80 people attended the rally in civic square which was addressed by Greens’ Senator, Peter Whish-Wilson, Convener of Rainbow Labor, Robbie Moore, young gay Launceston man, Lochsley Wilson, marriage equality advocate, Rodney Croome, and rally organiser, Natalie Jones.
Mr Moore called on the Liberal Party to have a conscience vote on the issue.
“Tasmanian Labor wholeheartedly backs this reform and I know there are many Liberal voters who do too and who deserve to have representatives who can freely vote for marriage equality.”
Senator Whish-Wilson said the Greens will continue to campaign for marriage equality and that the Tasmanian Upper House had lost an excellent opportunity to boost the state economy by supporting marriage equality.
“Marriage equality is the right thing to do, and Tasmania leading the way is the smart thing to do because it will mean hundreds of new jobs generated by same-sex couples coming to Tasmania to marry.”
Lochsley Wilson talked about the difficulties of growing up gay in Northern Tasmania and how marriage equality will improve life for gay people and their families.
“We will win marriage equality for the gay kids who are scared to the point of depression and we will win it for over 6000 children currently being raised by same-sex parents.”
Rodney Croome said the campaign will continue and called on Upper House members to support a proposed inquiry into the constitutional issues raised by reform.
“A majority of Upper House members support the principle of marriage equality and I’m hopeful that the reform will pass if we address the constitutional concerns of some members.”
A motion from Ruth Forrest MLC calling for an inquiry into the constitutional issues raised by the Same-Sex Marriage Bill will be debated before the end of the year.
Ms Jones said she looks forward to further marriage equality events in Launceston in the near future.
• Christine Milne: Australia must chart our own course in Asian region
The Government’s Asian White Paper is full of aspiration but it will be noticed by our Asian neighbours that the White Paper was re-written to accommodate the interests of the United States.
“The Greens have been saying for some time that Australia is in the right place at right time but our aspirations will be lost if Australia does not chart its own independent foreign policy and assert our own independent place in the region,’ said Leader of the Australian Greens, Senator Christine Milne.
“Further, our scope to engage with Asia through a competitive universities and ensuring we enhance our Asian language education will come to nothing if there is not the money to fund such initiatives.”
“The $500m grants to university research abandoned in MYEFO undermines the credibility of the Government in its aspiration for a competitive university sector.
“Actions speak louder than words and the cuts to universities will adversely affect foreign students and foreign companies. Suntech, for example, has already been impacted by the cancelling of the University of NSW’s solar manufacturing venture due to research grant cuts.”
“The White Paper rightly points to environmental sustainability as a key policy challenge yet the Government’s own policy of weakening and returning responsibility under our environmental laws to the states is fundamentally at odds with achieving environmental sustainability.”
“The Greens will consider the detail of the White Paper over coming days but what is clear is that effectiveness of the strategies outlined in the paper will be missed if Australia does not chart our own independent path in the Asian region.”
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• Support for Labor up in latest Newspoll, Monday, ABC Online
• Christine Milne, Monday: Asian languages ‘broad objective’ belied by funding cuts
Under questioning today, the Government acknowledged that it had cut funding for Asian languages programs in schools in the 2011 budget and has not provided any extra funding since then, making one of the centrepieces of yesterday’s white paper nothing more than an unfunded “broad objective”.
“Actions speak louder than words, and the Gillard Government’s actions on teaching our schoolchildren Asian languages show that they are a much lower priority than funding coal railways and selling more coal to China,” Australian Greens Leader, Senator Christine Milne, said.
“I asked Minister Evans to confirm that the government had ended funding for the National Asian Languages and Studies in Schools Program and had not provided funding in the budget for Asian language programs or teachers.
“If the Government were truly committed to preparing us for the Asian century, then surely actions should speak louder than words?
“With fewer year 12 students studying Indonesian than there were in 1972, we have a serious need for funding to reverse this trend.
“Rather than respond to the need for funding, Minister Evans talked about the need for cultural change and for students to think about the importance of learning languages.
“If the Government wants to build closer ties with Asian countries, it will need a lot more than mining deals and a lot of unfunded language and cultural ventures.
“We need to put the effort in to build relationships based on more than coal and iron ore, and that will take a serious investment in education and culture, for which we need a proper mining tax, cuts to fossil fuel handouts, reform of superannuation and more to make the funds available.”
Please follow the link to hear the question Senator Milne asked Senator Evans:
http://greensmps.org.au/content/media-releases/asian-languages-%E2%80%98broad-objective%E2%80%99-belied-funding-cuts
