EQUAL OPPORTUNITY and HUMAN CLONING Message to Supporters HONS DENNIS HOOD MLC & ROB BROKENSHIRE MLC April 7^th, 2009

Home Media Releases Speeches Home Questions Home

The Equal Opportunity Bill Several Amendments Made By FAMILY FIRST which Substantially Improve the Bill A few hours ago, a substantially improved version of the Equal Opportunity Amendment Bill passed the Upper House of State Parliament. A provision in the bill that would have restricted free speech (including the public reading of some parts of the Bible) was earlier withdrawn after FAMILY FIRST collected nearly 13,000 petitions against the bill and also made intense negotiating efforts to remove the clause. We were absolutely determined to remove this provision and were successful in doing so. We are grateful and relieved that we were able to have that provision withdrawn. Even so, there are still provisions in the bill that restrict freedom of association and the rights of para-church organisations to hire the staff that they want to hire. We are very pleased to be able to inform you that a number of amendments filed by Dennis Hood of FAMILY FIRST were passed to protect religious schools, as well as the freedoms of speech and association for faith based institutions in particular. Three significant FAMILY FIRST amendments that passed were: Amendments to clarify that churches retain a right to hire administrative staff with lifestyles agreeable to the churches; A removal of the power for the Commissioner to initiate proceedings in cases where no complaints have been lodged; and A removal of a requirement for schools to place their sexual hiring policy on their websites. The passing of these amendments substantially improves the bill and is a big win for FAMILY FIRST and our supporters. We take this opportunity to thank you for joining with us to defeat the worst aspects of the bill and assure you that FAMILY FIRST will continue to fight to improve or defeat any future bills that threaten traditional values and the freedoms we have enjoyed in our society for many, many years. The Human Cloning Bill The State Labor Government has recently passed legislation that allows the cloning of human embryos and the fertilisation of human eggs with animal sperm. FAMILY FIRST strongly opposed the bill, and collected several thousand petitions against it. Unfortunately, amendments moved by Robert Brokenshire to lessen the impact of the bill were narrowly defeated (by one vote) and the bill passed. FAMILY FIRST's Robert Brokenshire and Dennis Hood were bitterly disappointed that the bill passed and are determined to closely monitor the impact the bill has in the coming months. Again, we sincerely thank you for standing with us in the fight against these two bills and appreciate your ongoing support. Yours sincerely, Hon Dennis Hood MLC and Hon Robert Brokenshire MLC Members of the SA Upper House for the FAMILY FIRST PARTY

Search for more information on this subject, or for anything else on Family First SA’s website, by using our Google Custom Search: