Safe Schools and freedom of information Sir, Wendy Francis, Queensland director for the Australian Christian Lobby, asked the Queensland Government to provide a list of the schools participating in the Safe Schools program. She was told that the list was secret, so she had to make an application under Freedom of Information laws. It is understandable that the Queensland Government is jittery about…

  ABUSE OF LANGUAGE, ABUSE OF POWER by Josef Pieper Ignatius Press, San Francisco, 1992 Paperback: 54 pages Price: AUD$17.95   Comments by Peter Kelleher   George Orwell is the name that immediately comes to mind when we talk about language and how it has been press-ganged into the ranks of both revolution and reaction. But another, and, in my opinion, saner voice…

Queer gender theory is at the core of the Safe Schools Coalition Australia program . In the Safe Schools Coalition Australia program: Resources include OMG im queer and OMG my friends queer; These texts link to major queer sites with countless resources on the issue; Children are encouraged to adopt a label such as gay, lesbian, queer or “pansexual”; The program views all forms of sexual…

  COUNTERSTRIKE by Hal Colebatch Acashic Intellectual Capital, 2011 Subiaco East Paperback: 245 pages Price: AUD$30   Reviewed by Jeffry Babb   Hal G.P. Colebatch has the rare talent of being able to carry a storyline while developing complex ideas that enhance, rather than obscure, the narrative. Counterstrike’s protagonist Harry is a part-time lecturer at a university situated near an…

  BIRD ON AN ETHICS WIRE: Battles about Values in the Culture Wars by Margaret Somerville McGill-Queen’s UP, Montreal, 2015 Hardcover: 358 pages Price: AUD$45.75   Reviewed by John Young   This work discusses key questions, including abortion, euthanasia, same-sex “marriage”, the place of religion in the public square, and the campaign to suppress discussion of “politically incorrect” ideas. The author, Margaret Somerville,…