Same sex parenting and qanda.

Much is been made of the 'heart felt response' by Penny Wong and Joe Hockeys reply to the last question of same sex parenting on qanda on the ABC last night.

I sort of felt sorry for Joe Hockey. He sort of sounded honest but I'm not sure he had his heart in it. His response just reminded me someone who was towing the party line for the sake of the team. The Prime Minister is in the same situation, except she probably is in the minority for her party.

I'm pretty sure that if a conscious vote was given to the coalition on marriage equality, and put to the parliament it would get up.

 

You can watch the program here

Banking reform

Image via Wikipedia

Wayne Swan has put up a few recommendations for banking reform. One of the most important which I've seen was the account number which you carried around with you. A bit like your telephone number, its yours for life if you want it.

I think this is a great idea! At the thought of moving banks makes me shudder with the work involved. Not only do you change banks, you change how your wages are payed, you change what direct debits are taken out. What a pain.

Now...

If you don't like crappy sevice, you can move bank,
If you don't like been on hold for hours, you can move bank,
If there no bank in your area you can move bank, (Westpac has no bank in Phillip Island poplutation 10,000)
Your bank dosn't have an ATM in your area and every time you withdrawal money it cost you $2, you can move banks. (Westpac, no ATM in SanRemo, Newhaven, Rhyll)
Your bank is the first to put up interest rates, you can move banks.

Yes, Wayne Swan and Joe Hockey its time for account numbers which go with you!

Related articles

• There's not really a lot Wayne Swan can do about banks (thepunch.com.au)
• You: Australia unveils sweeping banking reforms (france24.com)

Liberal shenanagins

The liberal party today had their spill, and elected a new leader. Poor old Joe Hockey didn't even make it to final vote. Tony Abbott won, but not convincingly.

A few thought...

::The liberal party needs to be seen to be closer to the center. Abbott is not the man for this.

::Joe Hockeys or Malcolm Turnbull's time will come. There will be a spill when Abbott looses the next election. Or sooner if Abbott doesn't look a bit more moderate.

::The vote was less than convincing 42-41, a shaky start for Abbott.

::Turnbull didn't go down in the ball of fire as predicted. Sure he lost but he will be a thorn in Tony Abbott's side, with that sort of margin.

::Turnbull has learn't a lot from this. He will be wiser if he gets a second spin.

Advice for Joe Hockey

Joe Hockey, put out a tweet for advice regarding what he should do regarding the current Liberal party turmoil. (He also had lunch with his old boss John Howard, I suspect, John dosn't use Twitter, thus the advice was face to face)

Here is the advice I Tweeted back::
"JoeHockey it the right thing to follow through on the agreement. Climate change is here to stay. Good on you supporting your leader. A+"

Interestingly on JoeHockeys friend list on tweeter is a "KRudd". I wonder what advice he gave...

Restlessness in the Coaltion ranks

Malcolm has called a leadership spill. No tweets from Malcolm or Joe on the matter.

The Challenger is Kevin Andrews. Known for the Haniffe scandel as well as the well written anti Euthanasia legislation (I've actually heard him speak on this).

Its interesting that I think reason that Malcolm was voted in as leader was that there was a realization in the Liberal party that new ideas where needed, that the party needed to be seen as at the center right. (I think Howard was initially perceived by the public to be in this position. But ongoing legislation and time proved this wrong).

The problem for the liberal party and Malcolm is that members keep looking over there shoulder. To how things were, the glory days of Howard. It is this type of thinking that will cause the liberals to stay in opposition. As Joe Hockey said and I paraphrase 'The liberal party dosn't do opposition well but in government we do very well' .
Overall I think that Malcolm was doing a pretty good job, with a tired bunch of old horses. How old is Wilson Tuckey?

Enter Joe Hockey on the religious debate...

Joe Hockey, who I think will one day have a crack at the top job of Prime Minister has layed out his religious credentials 'In defense of God' and it is fascinating.

Part of the extract::

One reason why Christian faith has declined in the West is because of the reliance placed on a literal reading of the testaments. Such an approach has tangled the Christian faith in a confusion of contradictions.

By encouraging literalist analysis of the Bible, many churches have inadvertently invited people to question the validity of a faith that seems to be based on questionable facts or outdated prescriptions.

I think this is pretty spot on. That the evangelical church has lost the ability to sell the 'Mystery' That there is one box, that if you fit in it you have to believe in such a way. If you have 'grays', you are not encouraged to speak them out, and are discouraged to do so, under the threat of been cast as a black sheep.

So, fundamentalist churches have increased, to much applause by those who inhabit them. (I suspect mainly by people, within the walls who like the security of boxes). The Western Church including Australian belief in Christ and overall Church attendance has declined.

Is there a way of stemming the tide? Well I think there needs to be honesty. That there needs to be a more than just tolerance. Actually loving people who have a slightly warped view to yourself.

It will be interesting the rest of Joe's speeches. I would also be interested in his personal spiritual practices and how much that informs his decisions in life...