I need an Aussie icon

[primroseburrows]

Hey, Australians? Tell me about this guy because I think I love him a little. He's a Conservative? Woah. I can't think of another conservative in public life, with or without a capital C, who'd be so blatantly pro-birth choice. Go him!

Comments

[primroseburrows.livejournal.com]

Most conservatives are more left than American ones, so, yeah, I'm not surprised. Also, the fact that Australia's Liberals are the conservatives has always been half confusing and half amusing.

Question time is like Canada's Question Period, right? Now, see, I love that, because we don't have anything close to it, and it's v. amusing (even if not a whole lot gets accomplished). Case in point:



Thanks for the link! I haven't looked at it yet because I have to go out, but I will when I get back. I just can't imagine an national ban on home birth. That's just, I mean. Wow. Even the US asshats haven't done that yet.

[melpemone.livejournal.com]

Exhausted and heading to bed, so I'll check out that vid when I get up, but yeah, Question Period and Question Time are the same thing. The grand histrionics on display regularly get on my nerves, but I'm very grateful to have it all the same. :)

That said, our Deputy PM, Julia Gillard, is fantastic at Question Time. She's outright terrifying, and I adore her. :D

It's not technically a ban, as such, although the outcome would amount to the same thing - if I understand things correctly they're planning to overhaul the insurance structure in the health system, and one of the side effects of this overhaul would be that midwives would no longer be covered when working outside the hospital arena. I'm reasonably certain it's illegal to practice midwifery without indemnity insurance, so. In any case, it would only drive home births underground and this is dangerous for everyone involved. I suspect whoever drafted it didn't think through the consequences and now the gov't feels compelled to save face. But I honestly don't think it'll pass. Of course, I'm not a midwife, or even a parent, so I'm not following it as closely as I could be.