Ice cream pictures

Lovely sunrise this morning and lone chimney standing in a paddock on Keirces Road where I dropped off pamphlets before school this morning.

The kids started their ice cream pictures today.

Bad fire today out at Waubra today.

We could see the smoke from the school.

The far right takes charge

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has requested an investigation into a taxpayer funded program aimed at helping LGBTI school students. The "Safe Schools" education program is set to be reviewed following fierce criticism from some Coalition backbenchers. Coalition MPs have been agitating against the program, saying it raises sexual issues which are inappropriate for teenagers and young children. 

Usual suspect, Senator Cory Bernardi told the ABC that the program was seeing children “being bullied and intimidated into complying with a radical program”. Senator Bernardi has called on the government to withdraw funding for the program. It’s not about gender, it’s not about sexuality...it makes everyone fall into line with a political agenda. Our schools should be places of learning, not indoctrination. Senator Bernardi said Mr Turnbull has asked Education Minister Simon Birmingham to investigate the issue. According to him: "Homophobia should be no more tolerated than racism, especially in the school environment," Senator Birmingham said. However, it is essential that all material is age appropriate and that parents have confidence in any resources used in a school to support the rights of all students, staff and families to feel safe at school.

" Labor senator Penny Wong says the program was a bipartisan program designed to keep children safe at school. "We all want our children to be safe," she says and adds that she hopes the "sensible people" in the Liberal Party will prevail. "This is not an ideological debate. This is about making sure people are safe. Nobody should go to school and feel unsafe." This is pretty significant and not just for the tens of thousands of students it affects. 

From Daniel Andrews

Meanwhile a West Australian liberal MP West Andrew Hastie (yeah, the one who won the bi-election)  has popped into Parliament to add his thoughts to the matter. “Sexuality is a matter that children should learn about from their parents, not their schools, he says. The Safe Schools program is "ideological big government reaching into the lives of private Australians", Mr Hastie says, and should be defunded. 

It is an example of Mr Turnbull bowing to pressure from a constituency many of his supporters thought he could lead the Coalition away from. We are seeing a very different Mr Turnbull at the moment - both in his more aggressive style and in his decision to back away from "controversial" (for want of a better word) ideas and policies. 

Chalk up another win for the Australian Christian Lobby.