Guest Post: Julia Gillard, the Millennium DevelopmentGoals, and the Aid Budget

by Max Collison.

When a federal budget is being prepared it’s a fair guess that different interest groups are going to be advocating for more money. It’s also a fair guess that every advocate is going to be wishing they knew someone who had real influence in the budget process.

“If only I could have the ear of Treasurer Wayne Swan for ten minutes, I’m sure he would understand why <insert cause> needs more budget allocation.”

Even better, what if the Prime Minister really ‘got it’ in regards to the issue being raised!!

“Same Love” (or, “Christians, Marriage, and the Uncomfortable Tangling of Church and State”)

Social media has been ablaze of late with sometimes calm, often manic arguments for and against same-sex marriage. The usually (more-or-less) gentle stream of such ‘discussions’ (I use the term loosely) has risen to a fast-flowing torrent in light of the U.S. Supreme Court hearing challenges against the Federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), and California’s Proposition 8. You may have noticed those cute little pink on red ‘equals’ signs popping up all over the place in social media profile pictures.

Now, I am a Christian. Admission of this fact puts me in an interesting position because it seems, at least from the arguments I have witnessed, that my options are therefore quite limited.