Australian PM withdraws as speaker for the ACL after it's 'Smoking healthier than being gay' commen - Polidicks

[quote] [B][h2]Gillard pulls out of Christian Lobby event[/h2] [/B] Prime Minister Julia Gillard has withdrawn from speaking at the Australian Christian Lobby's conference in October over its leader's "offensive" comments about homosexuality. Ms Gillard, an avowed atheist, was due to address the conference on October 6 in Canberra on the topic of "religious freedom in a secular democracy". But she has now pulled out because of what she described as an "offensive" comment by ACL boss Jim Wallace that smoking is healthier than same-sex marriage. "There are a range of deeply held views in the community on the issue of same-sex marriage but it is the responsibility of all parties in this debate to be respectful and responsible in any public comments they make," Ms Gillard said in a statement on Thursday. "I believe yesterday's comments by Jim Wallace were offensive. "To compare the health effects of smoking cigarettes with the many struggles gay and lesbian Australians endure in contemporary society is heartless and wrong. "Although everyone is entitled to their own view, these statements reiterated again today on behalf of ACL are totally unacceptable. "In light of this, I believe my attendance at the conference would be inappropriate." Mr Wallace made the claim in a debate on marriage equality with Greens leader Christine Milne at the University of Tasmania on Wednesday. Answering a question from a student on the relevance of his views, he said health statistics among the gay community were worse than those for smokers. "I think we're going to owe smokers a big apology when the homosexual community's own statistics for its health - which it presents when it wants more money for health - are that it has higher rates of drug-taking, of suicide, it has the life of a male reduced by up to 20 years," he told the audience. "The life of smokers is reduced by something like seven to 10 years and yet we tell all our kids at school they shouldn't smoke." Australian Marriage Equality spokesman Alex Greenwich said national leaders should "not endorse groups that engage in such anti-gay extremism". "The Christian Lobby made it clear they want to base their campaign on fear and not facts," he told AAP. "They keep on going further in the direction of extremism." Source: [URL]http://news.brisbanetimes.com.au/breaking-news-national/gillard-pulls-out-of-christian-lobby-event-20120906-25fz8.html[/URL] [/quote] WIN!

It's true though. I was married to a guy and lost all my limbs in a horrible gay accident.

I don't know much about politics down under, but it sounds like Julia Gillard is pretty cool.

[QUOTE=IKTM;37558628]I don't know much about politics down under, but it sounds like Julia Gillard is pretty cool.[/QUOTE] she's really not. Politicians here are no better than politicians in any other western country. This was less of a passionate response by Guillard and more of a calculated one I'm betting.

[QUOTE=IKTM;37558628]I don't know much about politics down under, but it sounds like Julia Gillard is pretty cool.[/QUOTE] Shes horrible, her party spend all the money the previous party had made...and now are back for the money and are looking for us to pay up...carbon taxes...mining tax....tax this...tax that...though the other choice is horrible too but at least his the lessor of two evils.

[QUOTE=O'Neil;37558692]Shes horrible, her party spend all the money the previous party had made...and now are back for the money and are looking for us to pay up...carbon taxes...mining tax....tax this...tax that...though the other choice is horrible too but at least his the lessor of two evils.[/QUOTE] Hahaha do you read the herald sun?

Don't really read the newspaper anymore since i have the internet.

[QUOTE=O'Neil;37558692]carbon taxes...[/QUOTE] The Carbon Emissions Trading Scheme isn't just a tax. The tax threshold for middle to low income earners was raised significantly -- to give these socioeconomic brackets more money. If you own a property (farm), you can get your property assessed for the amount of trees per metre -- you are then allotted tokens that are tradable to companies so that they can offset the carbon produced in their factories. One farm around my area had 10sq km's of tree's -- he got $400,000. He will receive this every year.

[QUOTE=MrEndangered;37558599]It's true though. I was married to a guy and lost all my limbs in a horrible gay accident.[/QUOTE] kinky

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82x9pzHkHK4[/media]

[QUOTE=JaegerMonster;37558670]she's really not. Politicians here are no better than politicians in any other western country. This was less of a passionate response by Guillard and more of a calculated one I'm betting.[/QUOTE] Not really a hard choice. Christian Lobby is pretty useless here, was going to go and make peace with them despite her being an Atheist, but they said something retarded again so fuck them. Not like anyone who thinks gayness is a health risk or any of the other stupid shit they believe would vote for her anyway.

[QUOTE=O'Neil;37558692]Shes horrible, her party spend all the money the previous party had made...and now are back for the money and are looking for us to pay up...carbon taxes...mining tax....tax this...tax that...though the other choice is horrible too but at least his the lessor of two evils.[/QUOTE] Every time Rinehart, the richest woman in the world complains about how our workers are paid too much is just that little more I believe the mining tax is a long time coming.

Glad she did those remarks were outrageously offensive

[QUOTE=Devodiere;37559389]Not really a hard choice. Christian Lobby is pretty useless here, was going to go and make peace with them despite her being an Atheist, but they said something retarded again so fuck them. Not like anyone who thinks gayness is a health risk or any of the other stupid shit they believe would vote for her anyway.[/QUOTE] Sure. Just pointing out before anyone pats her on the back, that like most politicians, this isn't done out a passionate statement or her personal belief, it's done to curry favor with the public. If this were 1970 Australia, she'd be propping the christian lobby up on her shoulders and supporting their comments, despite herself being an atheist.

[QUOTE=MrEndangered;37558599]It's true though. I was married to a guy and lost all my limbs in a horrible gay accident.[/QUOTE] Those sex swings sure are dangerous.

[QUOTE=JaegerMonster;37559882]Sure. Just pointing out before anyone pats her on the back, that like most politicians, this isn't done out a passionate statement or her personal belief, it's done to curry favor with the public. If this were 1970 Australia, she'd be propping the christian lobby up on her shoulders and supporting their comments, despite herself being an atheist.[/QUOTE] says who? as much as we like to say "all politicians are bastards" they actually aren't, i see no reason to believe gillard is merely trying to manipulate public opinion. after all, if she's only trying to curry favor, then why has she expressed her opposition to gay marriage despite the repeated public ire it draws?

Well the guy who said it is dumb,smoking kills your lungs while being gay is just a hormone defect.

This is all the more funnier for me because in Czech, you don't say "suck a cock" but "smoke a cock", normally.

[QUOTE=MuTAnT;37559508]Every time Rinehart, the richest woman in the world complains about how our workers are paid too much is just that little more I believe the mining tax is a long time coming.[/QUOTE] Yes, but does she take in account of the higher living expenses in Australia?

[QUOTE=IPK;37560580]Well the guy who said it is dumb,smoking kills your lungs [B]while being gay is just a hormone defect.[/B][/QUOTE] uhhhhhh [editline]6th September 2012[/editline] pretty sure being gay has nothing to do with hormone concentrations sorry try again

snipped to prevent thread derailment.

[QUOTE=BoysLightUp;37560402]says who? as much as we like to say "all politicians are bastards" they actually aren't, i see no reason to believe gillard is merely trying to manipulate public opinion. after all, if she's only trying to curry favor, then why has she expressed her opposition to gay marriage despite the repeated public ire it draws?[/QUOTE] Because if she openly supported gay marriage she would lose favour of some voters and gain the support of others and sees it as too radical a move to make when her hold on power is tenuous at best. NOTHING in politics is done as a passionate statement of personal belief - everything is done either to gain public support, or as a reflection of public opinion or increasingly a reflection of corporate opinion also - People who express their passions strongly in politics offend too many people to make it to PM.

[QUOTE=Bradyns;37559011]The Carbon Emissions Trading Scheme isn't just a tax. The tax threshold for middle to low income earners was raised significantly -- to give these socioeconomic brackets more money. If you own a property (farm), you can get your property assessed for the amount of trees per metre -- you are then allotted tokens that are tradable to companies so that they can offset the carbon produced in their factories. One farm around my area had 10sq km's of tree's -- he got $400,000. He will receive this every year.[/QUOTE] That's a really smart idea.

[QUOTE=IPK;37560580]Well the guy who said it is dumb,smoking kills your lungs [B]while being gay is just a hormone defect.[/B][/QUOTE] No, it [URL="http://www.apa.org/topics/sexuality/orientation.aspx#"]fucking isn't[/URL].

[QUOTE=O'Neil;37560681]Yes, but does she take in account of the higher living expenses in Australia?[/QUOTE] Well I have no idea if you were asking that question rhetorically but I suspect she was not. If she expects the mining population of Australia to work for $2 an hour with the same living expenses I honestly have no idea how that would work without them literally starving to death.

[QUOTE=1legmidget;37562349]No, it [URL="http://www.apa.org/topics/sexuality/orientation.aspx#"]fucking isn't[/URL].[/QUOTE] Well we actually don't really know what causes homosexuality. Hormones are probably one of the causal factors but certainly not the only one.

[QUOTE=DainBramageStudios;37565100]Well we actually don't really know what causes homosexuality. Hormones are probably one of the causal factors but certainly not the only one.[/QUOTE] Hormones are a factor, but implying its a defect is just stupid.

just like how [URL="http://i572.photobucket.com/albums/ss166/SebMcMeb123456/heavymetalwarning.png"]heavy metal music is dangerous[/URL] being FP's biggest faggot is very dangerous but necessary I take one for the team so FP doesn't have to in my butt one butt slip and everything will be over

[QUOTE=IPK;37560580]Well the guy who said it is dumb,smoking kills your lungs while [b]being gay is just a hormone defect.[/b][/QUOTE] I almost shed a tear for the gray matter you were born without.

[QUOTE=1legmidget;37565237]Hormones are a factor, but implying its a defect is just stupid.[/QUOTE] Well "defect" is meaningless in an empirical sense since it doesn't actually reduce to anything, it's a value judgement more than anything else.