Bartlett's Blog

Cardinal George Pell’s comments regarding the way he believed politicians who are Catholics should vote on legislation regarding stem cells got a lot of coverage in the mainstream media and on a number of blogs. Some people have suggested that the Cardinal's comments were improper interference with MPs deliberations, and even that he might be guilty of contempt of Parliament for his perceived inference that politicians who supported the ...

From a public and media point of view, the cloning/stem cell debate has been and gone in Australia, with legislation allowing such research passing both houses of Parliament in December. In the months leading up to the vote in the Senate, I wrote a number of times on this blog about my thoughts, and sought the views of the public. I also got myself some negative media by ...

There will be some important pieces of legislation being debated in the Parliament this week, although the focus on the Labor Party's reshuffling means you probably won't hear much about it unless you really go looking for details. Some of the main ones include: Medibank Private Sale Bill: It's self-evident what this one is about. You can read this old post of mine for more details. Major amendments ...

When I talk about animal welfare issues, I often feel I am running the risk that I will be accused of being more concerned about (non-human) animals than about humans. This is doubly so when I talk about the use of animals in experimentation. It was therefore irritating, although not totally surprising, that the “Hands Off Our Ovaries” group recently put out a media release saying “Senator Bartlett ...

Whilst I was checking out the results of the USA Congressional elections, I also had a look at the result of what the USA often calls 'ballot measures' – that is referendum questions on a wide range of specific issues. By coincidence, the state of Missouri (also the location of one of the 2 critical undecided Senate contests) had a ballot asking people whether they supported legalizing stem cell ...

Despite a general expectation that the stem cell legislation would not come to a final vote until Thursday at the earliest, the whole thing was debated, a small number of amendments considered and a final vote taken, all by 9.00pm tonight. The final vote was 34 – 32, which means if I had voted the other way, the legislation would have been defeated. (see the bottom of this ...

The Senate is the only House of Parliament sitting this week and the sole piece of legislation on the agenda is the Cloning/Stem Cell Bill. I gave my speech on the 2nd Reading stage of the Bill today, and will vote in favour of sending the Bill on for consideration in detail by the Senate. I have yet to decide how I will vote on the final ...

The report of the Senate Committee examining the stem cell legislation is released today, after three public hearings and nearly 500 public submissions. It is hard to know how many Senators and MPs are still undecided on the issue, but those that are will probably draw on the report for information to some extent. I was talking with someone from another party last week who assessed the Senate numbers ...

This fortnight is the final sitting period before the stem cell issue is debated in the Senate in early November, and the number of people giving lectures and forums seems to be growing all the time. I'm aware of four different seminars being held in Parliament House over the next few days. There's Emeritus Professor of Medicine T John Martin from Melbourne Uni, Professor of Medical Genetics Bob ...

A reminder for anyone in or near Brisbane tomorrow night (Monday) who is interested in the stem cell issue – there is a public forum being held at the University of Queensland’s St Lucia campus from 6.30pm to 9pm. There are three expert scientific speakers, including the current Australian of the Year, Professor Ian Frazer, and they will each bring different perspectives to the issue. The forum has ...

Things have moved to the next stage with the stem cell issue, with the Senate agreeing today to set up a Committee Inquiry into the possibility of amending the laws governing research in this area. The Inquiry is due to report back to the Senate on 27th October, and at this stage the Senate is likely to debate some legislation in the week sitting 6th November.

As I was heading into Parliament House this morning, I heard some coverage on ABC radio mentioning a briefing that was being held today with a leading researcher into adult stem cells. I am keen to hear as much factual information as possible to inform how I vote in the Senate on the upcoming legislation dealing with the regulation of embryonic stem cell research, so I was ...

Prior to the recent media frenzy over the leadership pout between John Howard & Peter Costello, the issue of stem cell research was one that was causing some internal friction within the Liberal Party. While media attention on that issue (and other matters of dissent) faded due to the preference for leadership soap operas, the concerns were still very strong. Federal Cabinet had decided in June that there will ...

The revolt by some Liberal backbenchers against the latest anti-refugee laws has led to the legislation being shelved until the parliament resumes in August. At the same time, legislation making changes to fuel tax procedures is up for debate in the Senate today, with a lot of concern that it will harm the biodiesel and ethanol industry. It is possible that Barnaby Joyce and maybe one ...