Australian Catholic leaders will sign professional standards contracts holding them accountable for protecting children from pedophiles. This is the first time the church has taken responsibility for protecting children in this way. Through the contracts, the leaders will agree to abide by the professional standards and to be monitored, audited and subject to public reporting. Read more
The internationally renowned psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl experienced first hand the utter depravity of Auschwitz and Dachau. He knew the immense physical torment, psychological torture and spiritual desolation of those most inhuman of places. They were not called death camps for figurative effect. Suicide was not unknown among those sent there to suffer Read more
Tomorrow Bill English has his first pyjama party with Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull in Queenstown. This style of diplomacy has been going on for a number of years. Whether it’s morning-after kayaking on Sydney harbour or taking in our own Southern Alps, the annual Prime Ministerial sleepover says a lot about the relationship between New Zealand Read more
The Australian Senate has endorsed the Green Party’s call for Cardinal Pell’s return from Rome to face allegations of criminal misconduct. In reply, Pell says the Green Party’s actions show it is “anti-religion”. A spokesperson for Pell said the move is really about political point scoring. “The Greens have opted for an obvious political stunt Read more
An Australian court may prosecute an archbishop if can prove he hid sex abuse The archbishop failed for a second time last Friday to stop a criminal prosecution against. He is defending allegations he covered up for a pedophile priest. Archbishop Philip Wilson, 66, was charged in April last year with concealing serious child sexual Read more
Malcolm Turnbull told the UN that our treatment of refugees is world’s best practice. Only a guilty conscience could allow such self deception. In her book ‘Eichmann in Jerusalem’, published in 1963, Hannah Arendt refers to the ‘banality of evil’. Her thesis was that Eichmann was not a fanatic or sociopath, but an extremely stupid Read more
On the weekend, I joined Robert Manne, Tim Costello and John Menadue in calling for an end to the limbo imposed on proven refugees on Nauru and Manus Island. I think this can be done while keeping the boats stopped. I think it ought be done. Appearing on the ABC’s 7.30 program last Thursday, after Read more
Same sex marriage isn’t likely to be an option anytime soon in Australia. It’s unlikely Australians will be asked this year to vote on whether to allow same-sex marriage, but the Turnbull government won’t publicly confirm a February referendum. The Australian Electoral Commission has strongly recommended the government not hold a national vote on the Read more
Euthanasia supporters in Australia are working on a new assisted dying campaign in Australia. Influential Australian journalist and euthanasia supporter Andrew Denton (pictured above) has launched a new campaign for assisted dying in Australia, and called on the Catholic Church to “stay out” of the euthanasia debate. Denton, a well-known radio and television personality, delivered Read more
Israel has accused World Vision manager for the Gaza region of funneling millions of dollars to Islamist militant group Hamas. Mohammad El Halabi (photographed above) was arrested by Israel on June 15 while crossing the border into Gaza, World Vision said in a statement. He was charged by Israeli authorities on Thursday. He had run Read more