There were triumphant celebrations on all sides of politics after the passing of the same sex marriage bill. Anyone would think they were all personally responsible for its success as they performed in front of the public gallery and the many cameras. Of course in reality, a majority of the people of Australia were the ones who showed the way in that postal plebiscite which was intended by its designers to lead to more indecision and further deferral. The pollies couldn’t make a decision by themselves in the first place, but they certainly did some clambering over each other to be associated with the final vote.
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Not everyone was totally happy, in particular the group known as the “A” team which is comprised of among others, Tony Abbott, Eric Abetz and Kevin Andrews. This is not a team your scribe would care to play in as there doesn’t seem to be a team player in the group. Presumably their best move would be the “hospital pass” to an unpopular member of the team, but when you take into account their professed strong religious beliefs, one would have to assume they are also adept at the “Hail Mary.” This is a randomly-directed offload often over the head to no-one in particular, usually as a large front-bencher with mean intent approaches ever closer at full speed. This week’s dedication is to the “A” team, and is Billy Idol’s popular little ditty, “White Wedding.”
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By the time this column is printed, the report from the Royal Commission into the Institutional Abuse of Children should have been handed down. This will be a sobering document to digest over Christmas. Many people have high hopes for this Royal Commission, others will be cacking themselves. We will all know very soon.
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The various churches may be bracing themselves for the fallout from the Royal Commission, but one of them has hit the news recently for another reason. A number of former wives of Anglican ministers have joined together and spoken out about their abusive husbands, gaining support from each other that was not given to them from the hierarchy of the church. Why the finger should be pointing at Anglican ministers is not clear. Some of the wives are pointing to the Moore Theological College, Sydney which appears to be a common thread in many of their stories. Surely in this day and age the ministers are not being taught a literal reading of a select biblical text in isolation? That is the sort of thing that extremists do, to justify anti-social or terrorist activities. Whatever the reason, the wives are speaking out, possibly emboldened by events overseas and locally with the #MeToo campaign. We may not have heard the last of this one yet.
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The USA special prosecutor slowly and methodically grinds on, seeking to ascertain whether the Trump camp had any help from the Russians during the last presidential election. The recent death of former London call-girl Christine Keeler brought into focus how Russian strategies have changed over the years. Readers may remember Christine as the paramour of John Profumo, at that time the Secretary of State for War in the British govt. What he didn’t know was that she was also keeping close company with a Russian agent. To my knowledge it was never established whether classified information was exchanged via pillow talk, but it didn’t matter when the story broke. Profumo was forced to resign and the Macmillan govt was on the way out. Whether possible Russian involvement causes a similar outcome in the USA remains to be seen. The techniques might be different but the end result may turn out to be the same. As the Boney M song “Rasputin” concludes, “Oh, those Russians!”