Liberal? A very confusing word? or a word used confusingly? In the US the liberals are associated with the desire of real freedom in social policies, in Australia, the only liberalism being applied is for the rich to make more money on the back of everyone else... The rest is stuck in the dark ages of deliberately misunderstanding the moires of humanity. In the US, the fight is between the Liberals and the conservatives... In Australia the Liberals are the conservatives... And they hug the cream-cake like uncle Scrooge.

Quote from Wikipedia:
""Liberalism is an ideology, philosophical view, and political tradition which holds that liberty is the primary political value. Broadly speaking, liberalism seeks a society characterised by freedom of thought for individuals, limitations on power, especially of government and religion, the rule of law, the free exchange of ideas, a market economy that supports relatively free private enterprise, and a transparent system of government in which the rights of minorities are guaranteed. In modern society, liberals favour a liberal democracy with open and fair elections, where all citizens have equal rights by law and an equal opportunity to succeed...""

Not on your Nelly here... In Australia, the overall system is quite "liberal" but the party presently in power shaft this notion with easy hypocrisy. The Australian Liberal party is one of the most conservative and narrow-minded party in the western world... It sells tight-arsed moral values that contradict the open heart liberal ideals. Sure, the party representatives spruik a lot of rhetoric about freedom this, liberty that, etc. but it's mostly about money, and when it comes to the nitty-gritty like accepting refugees, or recognising equality — even in a small way — in regard to same sex union, the steel curtain falls down the front of the shop as if Jesse James was in town... and not Jesus Christ whom the "Liberals" often profess to follow...

Yes, the Australian government under the "liberals" has given sour lip service to transparency and to liberalities in many of its operations... Religion bigotry is oozing out of the mouths of its ministers on many issues, including abortion pills — all totally in opposition to the "Liberal" ideal. Thus the Liberal party of Australia together with its short-changed midget side-kick — the Nationals — should be renamed as the LIARS party (Liberal In Australian Rhetoric Supremacy) since it has appropriated many a good word to change their meaning, according to the colour of the day, to the opposite of their original intent.

Yes, on the subject of the recent vote on gay relationships, I was about to blast Mr Fielding from the Family First Party for his backward position... but really It's the entire LIARS party that deserves a solid brush up the curly bristles.

There is approximately 660 million gay people in the world... They cannot be ignored.

Of these about 2.2 million live in Australia. They deserve the same rights as every body else.

The LIARS party, which rejects their right to be a legally recognised item, is quite lucky that gay people do not often stay where they are born since more often than not they are "persecuted" by either their own family or other town folks... Thus some big bastions of the LIARS party could mostly swing to the Labor party should the gay people stay where they were born — despite some gay people being very conservatives.

Imagine in marginal seats: the proportion of gay people, about 10 per cent naturally, would mostly swing against the LIARS party no sweat... But gay people in small country towns do suffer from rejection... Too often, young adults that are gay commit suicide as a solution to this non-acceptance.

What is the problem in recognising that gay people who love each other should be entitled to civil union?.. No problem... This would enable gay people to share their wealth and to care directly for each other in sickness and joys... as the true next of kin. End of story... Natural.

Adopt kids? Why not?... "La Cage aux Folles" .... This very funny movie blows a lot of misconception out of the water and mirrors the humanity of the situation...

But oh no, the LIARS party will have no bar of that! Under dubious bigoted narrow-minded pretexts, the LIARS people are afraid of catching it. Hey! being gay is not a disease, And at least one member of your family is gay... The recognition of gay marriage would not even scratch the ideal of marriage "for procreation"... Marriages often end up in divorce, because many people think marriage is just an official screw with not much more commitment than a honeymoon and zero understanding of proper partnership. Most people who are committed, either in gay or hetero relationships, will last the distance. In fact most gay relationship will sustain more than hetero relationship because many gay people understand commitment better.

So please, you-the-little-minded-"liberals", open your heart to become a true Liberal. Understand that humanity is diverse and not everyone lives exclusively for making more money. Let civil union be for all committed people, gay or otherwise. And please do not quote the Bible to justify another bout of hypocrisy... Thank you.