Christine Milne: Well, on the contrary, the Greens don't have obvious disdain for Christian values. That is something that perhaps Mr Wallace might say, but there are many Christians who are members of the Greens and by our actions in the parliament... We say that every piece of legislation is values-laden, and we argue that the budget is one of the pieces of legislation which demonstrate what sort of values you hold, and that's very much a Christian-laden document in the sense of, you know, 'I was hungry and you gave me food; I was thirsty, you gave me to drink; I was a stranger and you took me in; I was sick and you visited me.' The Greens were the only ones who stood up against the tax cuts, who said we ought to be putting money into health and education, saying 'if we can't support indigenous rights and health and education now when we've got such a surplus, when will we?' And I must say that the Australian Christian Lobby has never come out and made a statement supporting the strong stand the Greens have taken on refugees, against the Northern Territory intervention. In fact, I think Mr Wallace supported the Pacific Solution.

Christine Milne: Exactly. And they recognise just how strongly Greens adhere to principles of social justice, human dignity, respect for life. We have policies of harm minimisation, harm reduction. We're out there saying we welcome comment on public economic and social policy, that we really want to see the principles of justice there. And I'm interested also that the Australian Christian Lobby never, ever talks about the fact that it's easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than the rich man, and that's because of the whole prosperity gospel. And I've been urging since my inaugural speech to the parliament that what we need is a real values debate in this country, where we actually talk about the values that underpin social and economic policy. Because the way that the Australian Christian Lobby has managed to define Christian values is to confine it to a very narrow range of values, therefore suggesting that every other issue is value-free. And what that does is reinforce the conservative government, which basically brings in policies which approve of discrimination, which don't show compassion, which are intolerant, which don't give a fair go -- and somehow those things are not values-laden. So I think this was a serious effort by the Greens to really demonstrate that before we see this incursion of really fundamentalist religious right into Australian politics, people need to know where it's coming from, and I think Mr Wallace could clear that up by actually saying who's funding the Australian Christian Lobby.

Christine Milne: Well, I certainly wouldn't have used that language myself, but what Kerry was trying to express was a strong position on a woman's right to control their own reproduction and access to legal, safe and affordable and confidential reproductive health services, including where appropriate, termination of pregnancy. I mean, basically, providing access to unbiased counselling is really very important in Australia. We do not want to go back to the old days of backyard abortions. But the critical thing is to prevent unwanted pregnancies in the first place.

But let me also say, Stephen, that just as you might say that about people in the Greens, the Howard government took Australia to war in Iraq, the Howard government lied about children overboard, the Howard government repudiated refugees -- all fundamental Christian values, which were completely rejected in those particular actions. And they're also out there giving away $34 billion in tax cuts when we've got 100,000 people homeless in Australia. And it's that particular issue of if you do that to other people, then you're actually undermining Christian principles. And loving one another is really important.

Christine Milne: Well, I think it really demonstrates that Family First doesn't really stand by any particular set of principles. I mean, the Greens are out there saying, 'it's social justice, it's environment, it's peace and non-violence, participatory democracy.' Now what do Family First stand for? And especially on top of one of their New South Wales state executive being disendorsed for engaging in internet pornography. So I think there are a few questions to be asked about what Family First actually stands for.

religion and politics should be as far seperated as possible.

Are you recommending religious voters should be banned from expressing their vote since religious values will underpin their voting choice.

____ wrote on Jun 29^th, 2012 at 1:09pm:


Are you implying that anyone with strong religious beliefs is incapable of thinking for themselves?

It takes some gall to call for the christian vote after the constant disdain you have shown for them and their values.   

____ wrote on Jun 29^th, 2012 at 1:35pm:

Jesus did not push bio ethics like you atheists do either....

corporate_whitey wrote on Jun 29^th, 2012 at 1:37pm:



bio ethics ... you mean clone technologies, that are now healing the once sick.

When Jesus saw a ill person, did he ever repair that person.

And if he had to use bio ethical measures, do you think he would see this as part of the scope of your god's ability whitey?