Weekend Wrap for 10 November 2024

Lucy Barbour: Abortion is legal in Australia, but doctors say an 'unspoken ban' is robbing women in regional and rural areas of the right to choose
"Decriminalisation was meant to give women access to safe, affordable abortions. But five years on, an ABC investigation has uncovered systemic failures and examples of obstruction that have denied women access to legal reproductive healthcare across rural, regional and remote Australia. New South Wales is lagging far behind other jurisdictions, with doctors calling on the state government to issue a clear directive to every public hospital. Only two public hospitals in the state offer formal termination services — the Royal Hospital for Women in Sydney, and John Hunter in Newcastle. Terminations in other hospitals remain non-existent, ad-hoc or provided at individual doctors' own discretion. The ABC has been told how patients are being denied equitable access due to ideological position, unclear guidelines, chronic staff shortages, overstretched resources and lack of government funding." (30 Oct 2024)
Read more at ABC News

Trevor Cobbold: Private schools’ opportunist attempt to lock-in over-funding
"In a submission to a Senate inquiry on the Bill, Independent Schools Australia (ISA) has proposed that the current cap on Commonwealth funding be replaced by a floor. If adopted, it will open the door for a future government to arbitrarily increase the Commonwealth share of funding for private schools without any parliamentary scrutiny. Such a move would further widen the already huge resource gap between independent and public schools. Under the current Commonwealth funding arrangements, private schools will be over-funded by $2.8 billion during 2022-2028 inclusive – Catholic schools by $1.3 billion and Independent schools by $1.5 billion." (4 Nov 2024)
Read more at Pearls & Irritations

Alice Herman: US Christian right celebrates after prophecy of Trump win comes to pass
"Now that Trump has secured his victory, figures on the Christian far right whose prominence grew during Trump’s 2016 presidency will enjoy larger followings and most importantly, close proximity to the highest office in the US. Among these figures are leaders in the New Apostolic Reformation, a movement which rejects secularism and embraces “Christian dominionism”, the idea that Christians are tasked by God to rule over society and government. During his election night broadcast on YouTube, Lance Wallnau, a Trump ally and televangelist whose “seven mountains” mandate for Christian leadership of key pillars of society has taken hold on the Christian far right, celebrated the results. 'This is a reformation on America,' said Wallnau, describing a strategy for activists who share his ideology to capture key positions in local and state government. 'It’s not done, it’s not over, it’s just starting.'" (7 Nov 2024)
Read more at The Guardian

Bill Uren: A controversial graduation address
"After briefly congratulating the graduates, Mr. de Bruyn spent virtually the remainer of his address in recounting his own personal history in promoting and defending Catholic values in the trade union and political arenas. He spoke specifically of abortion, of access to IVF and of same sex marriage. Even though in each instance he confessed that his efforts to promote Catholic values were unsuccessful, nonetheless in concluding he urged the graduates not to be deterred from being as outspoken as he had been in defending and promoting Catholic values in their subsequent professional and personal lives. Apparently, his advocacy of these Catholic values in a graduation address antagonised many of his audience, both students, staff, parents and guests, and they showed their disapproval by leaving the auditorium. The University was embarrassed by the walkout and attempted subsequently to alleviate the distress by returning graduation fees to the students and offering counselling to them and to their guests. The University had been aware of the content of Mr. de Bruyn’s address prior to its delivery and had suggested that he edit and moderate some of his more outspoken remarks, but all to no avail. Neither the Chancellor nor the Vice-Chancellor attended the graduation." (8 Nov 2024)
Read more at Pearls & Irritations

Emma Starr: Trump’s Mission to Strip LBGTQIA+ Rights, and How It Could Impact on Australia
"One of the most concerning aspects is that a nation previously seen as one of the most powerful and influential countries can have a trickle-down effect on other progressive societies worldwide. Australia is not too far behind the United States when it comes to allowing violent rhetoric, letting hate crimes fall by the wayside, and avoiding establishing anti-discriminatory policies in their government that would criminalise hate crimes. Just this September, the attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, attempted to pass the new hate crimes bill which would expand the current offence of urging or inciting violence and establish new offences regarding using force of violence against members of a group. The new offences would protect groups commonly discriminated against based on political opinion, nationality, gender identity, race, religion, or sexual orientation. ... The Chief Executive of Equality Australia, an LGBTQ+ advocacy group, Anna Brown, stated that those who are a part of the queer community are constantly under threats from those who are inciting hate speech, spewing rhetoric that can spur violence, and vilifying these ‘groups of people’ who are attempting to coexist in an ever-changing world." (8 Nov 2024)
Read more at Sydney Criminal Lawyers

Julia Baird: Trump's behaviour doesn't scream 'blessed are the meek'. But once again, Christian voters helped him win the White House
"After he survived an assassination attempt, Donald Trump, the 45th and soon to be 47th president of the United States accelerated his shift from hero to messiah in the eyes of his supporters. His rallies were already drenched with religious language and symbolism: he was a martyr, an unlikely angel, a fighter for Christians, a protector of the faith. Saved by God, anointed by God, often confused with God. Trump would pause, mid-speech and his voice would soften: 'Christians, I love Christians.' And indeed Christians have been crucial to his winning the White House, again. As the post-election headline read in Christianity Today: 'Trump's path to victory still runs through the church.'" (9 Nov 2024)
Read more at ABC News