Imagine if your older brother was the one thing standing between you
and getting married. Well for Christine Forster, the younger sister of our
Honourable Prime Minister Tony Abbott, this is the case. Heavy right? On
October 22nd legislation was passed in the ACT that constitutionalised
and legislates gay marriage. Considering the archaic social policy of the
current Liberal government, this is a pretty huge step forward given the
current climate. A piece by Douglas Simkin
Imagine if your older brother was the one thing
standing between you and getting married. Well for
Christine Forster, the younger sister of our Honourable Prime Minister Tony Abbott, this is the
case. Heav y right?
On October 22nd legislation was passed in the ACT
that constitutionalised and legislates gay marriage.
C onsidering the archaic social polic y of the current
Liberal government, this is a pretty huge step forward given the current climate.
We seek to delve deep into some of the changes
proposed by our brand new coalition government.
We all know the r umours about the Great Barrier
Reef and heterosexual couples getting money for
marriage, but what’s really going on? Here is an in
depth look at a few of the proposed changes.
Gay Marriage:
S o in recent news, Tony Abbott has said that he
will ‘attend’ his sisters marriage, but that he cannot
‘suppor t it’, due to his traditionalist viewpoint on
the topic. Astounding times really. S o apart from
proving that blood is indeed no thicker than water,
what else has Abbott done in regards to marriage?
Well, the issue that most people are up in arms
about is the money given to heterosexual couples
when they marr y. Let’s look at this in detail. Mr
Abbott has proposed to give couples a $200 voucher that they can use on a variety of ser vices when
they register their intent to marr y. These ser vices can include counselling, dispute resolution, financial management or parenting skills classes. Its
interesting to note that as same sex couple aren’t
allowed to register an intent to marr y, then there
is a significant demographic who miss out on the
advantages of these ser vices. To us here at GOAT,
it also seems strange that Abbott is tr ying to fund
ser vices for couples that probably shouldn’t be getting married in the first place. Funny how the C oalition gave L abor constant f lak about spending the
countr y’s money on unnecessar y things, when Abbott is doing the exact same thing in an attempt to
tr y and save the ‘sanctity of marriage’. S o much for
the separation of church and state.
Great Barrier Reef:
Does anyone remember the time that Tony Abbott
claimed climate change was a load of ‘crap’? Well, I certainly haven’t forgotten, but it seems like an overwhelming majority of the population who voted for him have.
So what is likely to happen to the Great Barrier Reef, a
national icon and a member of one of the 7 wonders of
the natural world? Firstly, the coalition has started to remove certain elements of the climate change policy implemented by the Labor government in the last 6 years.
This includes completely abolishing Australia’s Climate
Change Comission, an institution tha t spent every year
since its inception coming up with new and innovative
ways to help combat climate change on a local level.
Aside from dismantling policy, Abbott has also begun
initiating the removal of coal from next to certain sections of the reef. The reef sits aside the Galilee Basin,
one of the most coal rich environments in the world,
and an expansion of operations in this region would
mean a huge increase in the number of cargo ships and
transports coming through the reef when they pick up
coal. Due to the extra mines that would be opening in
the area, there is a fear that increased emissions so close
to the national park would be detrimental to all life on
the reef itself. Tony Abbott definitely isn’t thinking long
term on this issue. While yes, extra coalmines would
increase jobs in the region and provide Australia with a
lot of money; the long term effects could be disastrous.
If the reef is destroyed or damaged, not only would it
be a national tragedy, but millions of dollars would be
lost from the tourism industry. I have lived on college
for three years, and without fail 90%+ of all foreign exchange students I meet go up and dive around the reef.
Good to see you looked into the future on that one,
Tony.
This is our first political essay here at GOAT, and while
not every issue will have a long rant about the pitfalls
of Tony Abbotts coalition government, it is certainly a
good place to start, considering the number of toes he is
treading on in the process of implementing the changes
proposed during the election campaign.
GOAT OUT.