Alexander's Secret

 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/02/alexander-downer-from-fishnets-to-foreign-minister

He's Not Listening

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Howard

Dog Fight in the Bear Pit

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clover_Moore

To Comb Or Not To Comb, That Is The Question

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Clarke_(Australian_politician)

Iemma v. Debnam

 

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2007-03-24/debnam-concedes-defeat-in-nsw/2225118

One Trick Tony

 

https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/pms-strategy-to-expose-abbott-the-one-trick-pony-20130131-2dnsy.html

Castro's Critique

 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/jan/25/fidel-castro-idiocy-us-republicans

Holier than Thou

 https://www.smh.com.au/national/the-more-the-holier-another-jensen-leads-flock-20021118-gdftzc.html

Apocalyptic Peter

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Australian_dust_storm

Not So Thrilling

 

https://www.smh.com.au/national/downer-a-golfer-one-day-thriller-writer-the-next-20070430-gdq0wl.html

Power Play

 

https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/power-play-shows-little-faith-in-religious-right-20111202-1obft.html

Unforgivable

 

https://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/final-report

Alexander's Little Secret

 

Perhaps Alexander's little secret should have remained secret. 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/02/alexander-downer-from-fishnets-to-foreign-minister

The Hubris of Tony Abbott

In ancient Greece, hubris (ὕβρις) was an intentional act of wanton violence, shaming or humiliation inflicted on another person to degrade them, as well as the serious crime of spiritual defiance of the gods. In its modern use, hubris denotes overconfident pride and arrogance, often associated with a lack of humility. 

It's that Simple

  

Julia Gillard v. Tony Abbott

Obsolete Men?

In an article titled “Babies from Bone Marrow” appearing in Discover magazine, it was reported that “the North East England Stem Cell Institute just took a step toward rendering men obsolete”:

http://discovermagazine.com/2007/jul/babies-from-bone-marrow

Advice for Tony Abbott from Niccolò Machiavelli

“The first method of estimating the intelligence of a ruler

is to look at the men he has around him.”

- Niccolò Machiavelli

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/02/23/2499270.htm

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2009-02-23/gillard-labels-pyne-mincing-poodle/305818

Machiavellian Tony Abbott

Barry O'Farrell's Second Crossing

At the time of creating this cartoon in 2012, the construction of a second airport for Sydney had been a contentious issue for many years. The existing airport had been at capacity and beyond for a considerable period of time and an additional airport was desperately needed. Because of the potential loss of votes in an electorate where such a facility would be established, the then Premier of New South Wales, Barry O’Farrell, proposed that Sydney’s second airport be located in Canberra, the capital city of the Australian Capital Territory, to be linked to Sydney via a Very Fast Train (VFT) service. If approved, not only would the new airport not be in Sydney, it won’t even be in New South Wales. It would be hundreds of kilometers away, in Canberra! I couldn’t help but wonder, when Premier O’Farrell proposed a new harbour crossing for Sydney, if he is intending that it too be located in Canberra!

https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/10bn-tunnel-for-8bn-sydney-rail-20120620-j2jcu

Fred Nile's Legacy

Tony Abbott Revealed

Tony Abbott was the then Leader of the Opposition in the Australian Federal Parliament and was quoted as saying of the then Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, “Julia Gillard won't lie down and die”. He has also been linked with other comments about Julia Gillard such as, “Ditch the Witch” and “Juliar (sic) . . . Bob Brown’s B*tch” (see pic below). The poodle’s comment in this cartoon, relative to disrupting parliament, relate to the Opposition’s practice of constantly disrupting Parliament by bringing motions for the suspension of standing orders each day. Such motions were often made by Opposition frontbencher, Christopher Pyne, who Julia Gillard once referred to as a mincing poodle.

 Tony Abbott [R] with Microphone

https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/gillard-wont-lie-down-and-die-says-abbott-20120529-1zfxj.html

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/video/2015/jun/23/killing-season-gillard-ditch-the-witch-abbott-rudd-abc-video

Tony Abbott's Politics

 

Villainous Peter Jensen

The Most Reverend Peter Jensen was the Anglican Archbishop of Sydney, Australia. His restrictive, ultra-conservative brand of evangelical Christianity was what drove him to make reference to himself as a villain and an idiot, in terms of popular culture. He opposed the ordination of female priests, the consecration of female bishops, stem cell research, and absolutely anything whatsoever to do with the equal rights of the law-abiding, tax-paying, gay and lesbian citizens of Australia.

http://www.abc.net.au/compass/s2701075.htm

The Reverend Fred Nile

The Reverend Fred Nile was an Australian clergyman and politician within the New South Wales Legislative Council. He had clearly never heard of the separation of powers. He was widely known for his spiteful, venomous, ongoing campaign against the law-abiding, tax-paying, gay and lesbian citizens of Australia. His contention was that homosexuality was a “lifestyle choice” that was “immoral, unnatural and abnormal”. I wonder what Jesus - who never once mentioned homosexuality - would make of the bitterly misanthropic pronouncements of The Reverend Fred Nile and his ilk. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Nile

Tony Abbott's Gorilla Gait

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilDn9BWsFnI

The Simian Peter Jensen

https://www.abc.net.au/am/archive/articles/2006/10/24/s1772283.htm

The Attention-Seeking Peter Jensen

Archbishop Peter Jensen was the Anglican Primate of Sydney. Among other things, he was opposed to the ordination of female priests and the consecration of female bishops. He also opposed equal rights for gay and lesbian citizens. He was consistently outspoken in expressing his venomous opinions.

https://www.abc.net.au/am/archive/articles/2006/10/24/s1772283.htm

Alan Jones Revealed

"Jonestown: The Power and the Myth of Alan Jones" is the unauthorised biography of Sydney radio broadcaster Alan Jones, written by highly respected Australian author and investigative journalist Chris Masters. To quote Alan Jones' Wikipedia page: "Extracts of the book published in The Sydney Morning Herald concentrated largely on Jones' sexuality, questionable behaviour while Senior English Master at The King's School and the 'cottaging' incident in a London public toilet. The book claims that Jones is a homosexual and that his denial of this is 'a defining feature of the Jones persona'." Not that Jones' sexuality should be anyone's business but his own. The operative word here, however, is "denial". His choice to remain in the closet, I guess. That is, of course, presuming that Masters' claims are correct. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonestown:_The_Power_and_the_Myth_of_Alan_Jones

It's an abomination!

And it’s not only the keeping of slaves that’s endorsed by the Bible. Here are some other teachings of the Bible that you may not have been aware of:

* Children who swear at their parents should be put to death. (Leviticus 20:9)

* If a couple have sex while the woman is having her period, they should be deported. (Leviticus 20:18)

* It’s OK to keep slaves and make them your property. (Leviticus 25:44-45)

* Men are forbidden to have haircuts and trim their beards. (Leviticus 19:27)

* It is forbidden to eat pork. (Leviticus 11:7)

* You’re not allowed to plant two crops in one field and cannot wear combined fabric blends. (Leviticus 19:19)

* It is an abomination to eat prawns (shrimp), lobsters, oysters and other shellfish (Leviticus 11:10-12)

* It is an abomination (same as eating prawns) for two men to have sex together (Leviticus 18:22, 20:13)

And we haven't even touched on the circumcision thing. I trust you’ve all been circumcised.

Why have we selectively discarded most of this and only retained the homophobic references?

Certainly, all of the above quotations are from the Old Testament. But Saint Paul also condemns homosexuality in the New Testament in his writings at 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 and Romans 1:26-27. It must be remembered that Paul was not one of  the original twelve disciples chosen by Jesus. He never knew Jesus. Paul converted to Christianity after Jesus had been crucified. Up until then, he'd been actively engaged in the persecution of Christians. It would appear that his default personality type was discriminatory and persecutory. If he had known Jesus personally, perhaps he may not have been quite so quick to judge and condemn.

The four Gospels are the true jewel in the crown of Christianity. It’s in the Gospels that we read the authentic message and very words of Jesus Himself. And let us not forget that Jesus NEVER once mentioned homosexuality. If it is such an abomination, as claimed in Leviticus and by Saint Paul, why did Jesus never mention it?

Venomous

At the time, Sydney's Anglican Archbishop Peter Jensen had been making yet more of his venomous homophobic pronouncements. I wonder what Jesus would make of him.

https://www.abc.net.au/am/archive/articles/2006/10/24/s1772283.htm

Proud Ego

Jonestown

I drew a couple of satirical cartoons about Sydney radio shock-jock, Alan Jones, after reading Chris Masters' highly acclaimed exposé, "Jonestown - The Power and the Myth of Alan Jones".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonestown:_The_Power_and_the_Myth_of_Alan_Jones

Applause for Tony Abbott

I acknowledge Phillip Coorey's column in the Sydney Morning Herald on 16 May 2011 for giving me the idea for this cartoon. In the same column, Phillip Coorey also observed that if Julia Gillard got married, Tony Abbott would call it a stunt. 

Anglican Primate Peter Jensen

The then Anglican Primate of Sydney, Archbishop Peter Jensen, often voiced his opposition to the ordination of women priests and the consecration of women bishops. And what he had to say about gays and lesbians probably doesn't bear mentioning in a polite blog such as this. I wonder what Jesus would make of him?

Tony Abbott's Statesmanship

Julia Gillard rests her case.

Julia Gillard's Pet Poodle

Before Julia Gillard became Prime Minister of Australia, when she was still the Deputy Prime Minister, she famously referred to Christopher Pyne, the Manager of Opposition Business in Australia's House of Representatives, in somewhat less than glowing terms. Under the banner headline "Gillard Labels Pyne 'Mincing Poodle'", here's how Australia's ABC News reported the event: 

The Federal Government has spent question time taunting the Opposition over its recent infighting. Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard mocked the Coalition for choosing Christopher Pyne as the manager of opposition business, rather than Tony Abbott, who did the job in Government. "In a choice between macho and mincing I would have gone for macho myself," she said. "The leader of the Opposition faced with the choice of a doberman or the poodle has gone for the poodle." 

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/02/23/2499270.htm

Persona Non Grata Peter Akinola

Peter Akinola was the Anglican Archbishop of Nigeria. Another one who had clearly never heard of the separation of Church and State.

To quote from Wikipedia: In September 2006, the Standing Committee of the Church of Nigeria, headed by Akinola, issued a Message to the Nation, taking up ten political controversies in Nigeria, among them a bill regarding same-sex relationships: "The Church commends the law-makers for their prompt reaction to outlaw same-sex relationships in Nigeria and calls for the bill to be passed since the idea expressed in the bill is the moral position of Nigerians regarding human sexuality." The bill in question, as well as criminalising same-sex marriage, also proposed to criminalise "Registration of Gay Clubs, Societies and organizations" and "Publicity, procession and public show of same-sex amorous relationship through the electronic or print media physically, directly, indirectly or otherwise", on penalty of up to 5 years of imprisonment. The proposed legislation was formally challenged by the United States State Department as a breach of Nigeria's obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Some western supporters justify the legislation on the basis that it does not support the stoning to death of homosexuals under the Sharia code.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Akinola

That which we call a rose . . .

Fred Nile's Camouflage

The Reverend Fred Nile was a clergyman and also a Member of Parliament in the New South Wales Legislative Council. He had clearly never heard of the separation of powers. He was an outspoken homophobe, who attended Sydney's Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade for many years, in order to pray for rain. Oh, and yes, Fred Nile does have very big, bushy eyebrows.

What's in a Name?

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose

By any other name would smell as sweet."

Romeo & Juliet (Act II, Scene II)

William Shakespeare

Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder

Ah, "Celebrity Chef", my favourite oxymoron.

Gay Adoption

Elton John in Tobago

https://www.reuters.com/article/lifestyle/tobago-christian-leaders-want-elton-john-banned-idUSN26406779/

What a Dump!

Meanwhile, overheard at a somewhat lackluster Roman orgy near you, the man is exclaiming in Latin "Quid gurgustium" ("What a dump"), to which the woman appears to be concurring by responding "Me transmitte sursum Caledoni" ("Beam me up, Scotty"). 

Papal Platitudes

Tony Abbott Under Threat

At the time, Tony Abbott was the Leader of the Opposition in the Australian House of Representatives. He was known for his homophobic sentiments. In 2009, he infamously stated that he felt threatened by gay people. 

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2010-03-09/abbott-still-threatened-by-homosexuality/356168

Consul Sarah Palin

From the time of the 2008 US Presidential election.

Desalination