Think of the children
It is heartening to see a political showdown in the NSW Parliament to protect habitats under which koalas can flourish, but an even more vulnerable national treasure is under attack.
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Under the cover of COVID commotion, legislation is being proposed in the NSW parliament that will compromise the environment in which our children are educated, putting their lives and welfare at risk.
The Anti-Discrimination Amendment (Religious Freedoms and Equality) Bill 2020 contains a number of alarming provisions which will mandate discrimination against many vulnerable Australians including LGBTIQ in addition to divorced and unmarried people, as well as women.
Legislation upholding public values that defend taxpaying citizens will be trashed in favour of tax exempt religious institutions under the guise of "religious freedom ".
In any sustainable social environment, economics and ethics naturally demand that publicly funded bodies reflect public values. Educational institutions should model contemporary national values or commit social vandalism in placing a generation of students on a collision course with their own community.
Federal "religious freedom" legislation has stalled but this latest attempt by religious and social conservatives in NSW is a Trojan horse that needs to be scratched in the race for religious prerogative running on that brutal track that mows down safe places for children under the tractors of religious freedom.
Perhaps if we put NSW children into koala suits they might find political champions to defend their futures against those who place the interest of institutions above the welfare of individuals
Father Peter MacLeod-Miller, St Matthew's Anglican Church
IN OTHER NEWS:
Speak up to save koalas
Koalas are on track to become extinct by 2050 if we don't stop cutting down their trees and destroying their forests. If the Nationals get their way, that could happen in the next decade.
The National Party under leader John Barilaro has dictated environmental policy to the Liberal Party and the whole state for the past decade. His actions show he is the mouthpiece of the minerals industry, multinational irrigation corporations and big agribusinesses.
They have ramped up land clearing, defended feral pests, bungled water management, and intensified logging after the bushfires. Now they want to tear down the koala planning policy, one of the government's few positive environmental initiatives.
This policy is one small measure to ensure koalas don't become extinct in NSW, and it actually gives landholders more certainty and more information about critical habitat on their properties. People who have lived on the land for generations love the bush and share our goal of ensuring koalas survive and thrive into the future.
The National Party has escalated its war on koalas and there is a very real risk the Liberal party will cave into the Nationals' demands if the public does not speak up. Time is running out to protect our koalas - contact your senators now.