Weekend Wrap for 20 October 2024

Emma Pollard: Abortion has become a surprise topic ahead of Queensland's election. What are the rules across Australia?
"Abortion has become a surprise subject of debate in the Queensland election – putting an issue that many Australians might have thought was settled, back on the national agenda. If the polls are correct, the Liberal National Party (LNP) will sweep Queensland Labor out of office on October 26, re-electing a swathe of MPs who voted to keep abortion in the criminal code in 2018 and ushering in some candidates who've publicly expressed anti-abortion views. While the LNP leader David Crisafulli has repeatedly said 'there will be no change' to the laws if his party is elected, the issue could be forced by a minor conservative party." (15 Oct 2024)
Read more at ABC News

Gareth Gore and David Marr: The money and influence of Opus Dei
"While reporting on the collapse of the Spanish bank Banco Popular in 2017, journalist Gareth Gore was surprised to find long-standing connections between the bank and the conservative Catholic order Opus Dei. This prompted a deeper investigation into the order's history and finances, and an examination of how Opus Dei exerts its power and influence today." (15 Oct 2024)
Listen to this segment at ABC Radio National

Melissa Davey: A Christian ‘doomsday cult’ is targeting Australian university campuses. Now former members want them stopped
"A Christian ‘doomsday cult’ is targeting Australian university campuses. Now former members want them stopped
Former members of the Shincheonji church allege the group uses ‘coercive’ tactics such as sleep deprivation and verbal abuse – and they want the government to act. ... Shincheonji originated in South Korea, but the church has locations throughout the world including in major Australian cities and some regional locations. The church is registered as a not-for-profit charity, making it eligible for tax exemptions. ... These and other tactics are why [former member] Bree and former members of the church who spoke to Guardian Australia say they want the federal attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, to introduce legislation to make it a criminal offence for religious groups and other organisations to exert coercive control over members." (17 Oct 2024)
Read more at The Guardian

Stephanie Richards: Tayla-Jane needed a late-term abortion. She does not agree with proposed changes to SA's abortion laws
"Three years after passing state parliament, South Australia's abortion laws are once again under the microscope. ...  [Liberal MLC Ben Hood] introduced his bill last month, amid smouldering internal Liberal tensions. The south-east MP is from the conservative Liberal faction, which includes politicians like Senator Alex Antic, federal MP Tony Pasin and former member for Boothby and now candidate for the seat, Nicolle Flint. In recent years, the faction has gained increased control of the South Australian Liberal division from moderates, from sub-branch level through to the state executive. Labor Premier Peter Malinauskas has not said if he supports Mr Hood's bill, but has been critical of its timing: 'I am concerned that the principal motives that underpin this particular piece of legislation are more about the internal politics of the Liberal Party than it is about any other considerations." (16 Oct 2024)
Read more at ABC News

Alexandra Smith: Thorpey, a bishop, sex workers and a grieving mum walk into the premier’s office. It’s no joke.
"For a bill that was left languishing in NSW parliament for more than a year, it moved with incredible pace once an Olympic swimming great, a bishop, sex workers and a grieving mother became involved. Just over a week ago in the premier’s office at 52 Martin Place, Chris Minns met this assorted bunch and more. They all had one goal: to convince Minns to back a long-promised equality bill to bring NSW in line with the rest of the county on LGBTQI issues." (17 Oct 2024)
Read more at The Age

Tory Shepherd: South Australia’s upper house narrowly rejects ‘Trumpian’ bill to wind back abortion care
"Ben Hood said in the upper house on Wednesday night that his bill did not 'force birth'. He said any termination at 28 weeks already involved 'birth' because women had no other option in how to remove the foetus from the body. 'The only difference is that the baby will have a chance to live,' he said. ... [Attorney-General Kyam] Maher says the 'Trumpian' bill would wind back abortion care and poses a 'real and significant danger, not only to the physical health and safety of all women, but to women’s fundamental right to bodily autonomy'. He also hit out at the vitriol, nastiness and inflammatory attacks deployed in the campaign. 'I’d encourage those who’ve been involved in this sort of debate to reflect on whether the hyper polarised US style of personal politics really reflects well on SA,' he says. The bill bears similarities to so-called 'born-alive' laws, which have percolated in the US for years. A federal 'born alive' bill in Australia was found to have no legal, ethical or medical basis to support it." (17 Oct 2024)
Read more at The Guardian

Stephanie Richards: How a pear-shaped pair has exposed fractures within the SA Liberal Party
"Ahead of Wednesday's vote, Ms Lensink sent an email to upper house MPs, formally declaring her opposition to Mr Hood's bill. The email stated that fellow Liberal MP Jing Lee, who voted against the 2021 laws to decriminalise abortion and supported Mr Hood's bill, had agreed to abstain from voting to even the numbers. The pair arrangement was considered crucial, given the vote was expected to be tight. But as debate was underway on Wednesday night, Ms Lee broke the agreement. Her decision to do so left the count in a deadlock, and gave rise to the prospect of conservative Liberal and upper house speaker, Terry Stephens, having the deciding say on whether Mr Hood's proposed changes would pass the second reading stage. To understand the events that led to Ms Lee's decision, one must reflect on the current composition of the SA Liberal Party. Much has already been reported about the party's conservative right faction gaining increased control from moderates, from the sub-branch level through to the state executive." (18 Oct 2024)
Read more at ABC News

Natassia Chrysanthos: Why is Australia debating late-term abortions?
"Abortions late in a pregnancy are rare – doctors say fewer than 1 per cent of terminations happen after 20 weeks. But late terminations are propelling a renewed battle over abortion rights. They have captured the imagination of conservative campaigners, who often call them “children born alive” – a polarising term in a debate that is prone to emotion and misinformation. An election issue in the United States, where the overturning of Roe v Wade heralded a new era of conservative abortion laws, it is now reverberating in Australia." (18 Oct 2024)
Read more at The Age

Paul Gregoire: New South Wales Parliament Passes Greatly Diluted LGBTIQA+ Equality Laws
"Tabled by Independent member for Sydney Alex Greenwich on 24 August last year, the Equality Legislation Amendment (LGBTIQA+) Bill 2023 (the Equality Bill) was an omnibus bill seeking to facilitate a range of reforms that relate to the queer community, via the amendment of discriminatory laws and the addition of missing protections. The Equality Bill had widespread support in the community, but where it experienced opposition was in parliament. The Coalition opposition took issue with it and voted against its passage this week, while NSW Labor dragged its feet on the legislation for so long that when it finally did get up the 62-page amendment filled first draft had been dramatically slimmed down to its 24-page final draft. ... And as numerous reforms were cut from the final draft, the Equality Bill that had sought to amend twenty pieces of legislation, when passed on Thursday evening, only had implications for nine Acts of NSW parliament." (18 Oct 2024)
Read more at Sydney Criminal Lawyers

Kieran Tapsell: Pope Francis and practising what one preaches
"On 17 December 2017, the Australian Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse published its Final Report. Its recommendation 16.10, was that the Holy See should abolish the pontifical secret over clergy sexual abuse. Its recommendation 16.16 was that the Holy See publish in a timely manner its decisions in disciplinary cases and the reasons for them. The Final Report of the 2021 French Independent Commission on Sexual Abuse in the Catholic Church made a similar recommendation. The Australian Royal Commission accepted that it may be appropriate to suppress information leading to the identification of the victim.On 19 December 2019, Pope Francis, to his credit, abolished the pontifical secret, but retained what he called ‘office confidentiality’ for disciplinary proceedings. His Instruction stated that ‘office confidentiality’ did not prevent compliance with civil reporting laws. On 26 February 2020, the Holy See responded to the Royal Commission’s recommendations 16.10 and 16.16. It stated that the pontifical secret had now been abolished but that ‘the publication of decisions in individual cases needs to be evaluated in light of the duty to protect the good name, image and privacy of all persons involved’. ‘All persons involved’ includes the perpetrators and not just the victims." (18 Oct 2024)
Read more at Pearls & Irritations

Jenny Hocking: ‘”We promise him faith and obedience”: King Charles and the Premiers in a royal display of indifference’
"The Governor General David Hurley declared King Charles III of Australia to be Australia’s head of state, in a ceremony outside Parliament House in Canberra two weeks after the death of the Queen. The proclamation reads: 'We … now proclaim Prince Charles Philip Arthur George to be King Charles the Third, by the Grace of God, King of Australia and his other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth, and, with hearty and humble affection, we promise him faith and obedience.' We might ask by which faith are we promising ‘by the grace of God’ to obey the King? And is it appropriate that we ‘promise obedience’ to a foreign monarch whose dynastic elevation was contingent only on the Queen’s death, not the wishes of the Australian people?" (19 Oct 2024)
Read more at Pearls & Irritations