Political correctness compulsory for ALL political parties?

No diversity of opinion about homosexuals allowed, apparently.  Only a few decades ago homosexuality was illegal.  Now it is semi-sacred.  One would hope for a middle way some time:  Where what homosexuals do in bed is their business and people are allowed to say anything they like about homosexuals

BOB Katter's party has cancelled Bernard Gaynor's bid for preselection on the Senate ticket after he said he did not want his children taught by gay teachers.

Katter's Australia Party also accepted the resignation of Victorian candidate for the seat of Wannon, Tess Corbett, after she made similar comments and said gay rights would lead to acceptance of paedophiles.

The party's national director Aidan McLindon said Mr Gaynor had been suspended from the party and would not be eligible to contest Senate preselection.

"The party has made it perfectly clear on a number of occasions to all candidates and officials that KAP does not exist for individuals to air and promote their own personal preoccupations," Mr McLindon said in a written statement.

"For this reason and as a result of serious breaches of protocol the party has suspended Mr Gaynor's membership."

Earlier, Mr Katter refused to comment on the controversy, but said he backed the statement from his party.

The north Queensland MP said "everyone knows my position on this issue".  "I'm not interested in it one way or another," Mr Katter told The Courier-Mail.

But he took a swipe at Mr Gaynor, who is a former national general secretary of the party and is vying for preselection on the Senate ticket in Queensland, saying he had "a rather peculiar way" of trying to secure support.

Officials from Katter's Australia Party will hold an emergency phone hook up this afternoon to discuss whether to turf out Mr Gaynor and their candidate in the Victorian seat of Wannon Tess Corbett, who made similar comments to a local newspaper.

Earlier, KAP Senate nominee Bernard Gaynor issued the statement claiming the Prime Minister and Opposition Leader would support his views, but it was quickly followed by a brief, blunt statement from KAP National Director Aidan McLindon.

"Katter's Australian Party will not be used by people to air and promote their own personal preoccupations," Mr McLindon said.  "This position will be be communicated to all proposed and potential candidates and zone chairs across Australia."

Earlier, Mr Gaynor had issued a statement claiming Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott would both support his view that parents should be able to object to teachers who are gay.

"The Prime Minister of Australia and Opposition Leader would both agree that parents should be able to choose who teaches their children," Mr Gaynor said.

"I'm sure both of them would 100 per cent back the rights of parents if they had concerns over the values of teachers. This includes concerns over teachers who promote homosexual lifestyles, either actively or by example, to children."

"Furthermore, considering both Tony Abbott and Julia Gillard oppose gay marriage it makes perfect sense that they would also be uncomfortable with teachers promoting a lifestyle that has serious negative health consequences and is opposed to the values of the majority of Australians."

Overnight, Mr Gaynor refused to back down from a controversial tweet in which he declared he would not let a gay person teach his children.

Senate nominee and father of five Bernard Gaynor denied he was homophobic following his tweet which read: "I wouldn't let a gay person teach my children and I am not afraid to say it."

It comes after Bob Katter admitted regretting the homophobic advertisements that ran during the 2012 state election.

Mr Gaynor said: "If we value free speech and democracy then we would respect the right of Christians to hold their views about right and wrong. And as a Christian, the homosexual lifestyle is immoral."

"I don't think Bob would have a problem with me saying this. As a parent, we should have the discretion over who teaches our children."  Mr Gaynor has five children aged one to 10.

"It is my responsibility as a parent to ensure my children have good teachers.

"Bob's comments about the advertisements that ran last year is a completely separate issue."

After the State Election, Katter told an audience with former prime minister Kevin Rudd that we would regret homophobic advertisements aired by his party "for the rest of my days".

Mr Katter's Australia Party's ads, of a pixelated black and white image of an older gay man with a young lover, went to air during the Queensland election campaign.

Mr Katter said they were a "simple example of insensitivity" and "a political mistake of major proportions".

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Katter candidate's halal post sparks new storm

Given the Muslim attacks on Westerners, I would think that a desire not to help Muslims was perfectly reasonable

A candidate for Bob Katter's fledgling political party declared his preference for buying "guaranteed non-halal meat" so his money does not "go to the Muslim community".

Jamie Cavanough, who is standing for Katter's Australian Party in Sydney's most marginal federal seat, Greenway, is under fire for the apparently divisive comments he made to a community forum in one of the city's most ethnically diverse areas.

They emerged a day after a Katter candidate in Victoria, Tess Corbett, sparked outrage by likening homosexuals to paedophiles, saying they should be kept out of the classroom.

Mr Cavanough made his comments on Saturday, less than a fortnight after controversy in the Greenway community over plans for a supposed Muslim enclave, dubbed "Halal housing", in Riverstone.


Mr Cavanough posted on the Riverstone Community Group forum, which has 732 members on Facebook: "Can anyone advise me where I can buy Guaranteed NON halal lamb for Australia day."

When a forum user suggested he might try a butcher, Mr Cavanough replied: "have not asked yet, just wondering if anyone new [sic] of any, I would prefer to always buy non halal as proceeds of halal goes to the Muslim community."

In a separate post, he called on people to sign a petition against a supposed plan by the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, to scrap the name Australia Day in favour of Harmony Day, saying "the Muslim church is in favour of this". The Prime Minister's office confirmed there was no such proposal.

Mr Cavanough told Fairfax Media he was simply looking for a better deal on meat and his comments were not racially motivated.

"In my view, and it's not the view of any party, I want to be able to purchase a product that has not been faced to a god that I don't believe in and blessed," he said.

"Every time something is deemed halal they pay for the right. I have no problem with Muslims; I breed sheep and cattle and sell them to Muslims. I don't care what they do with them, I was just simply asking where I can purchase [non-halal meat]."

Labor's Michelle Rowland, the sitting MP for Greenway, which covers parts of Blacktown, Seven Hills and Parklea, said "my jaw has just dropped" when told of Mr Cavanough's comments.

"I think those comments are bizarre, I think they are out of line and I think they are totally inappropriate for someone seeking to represent the seat of Greenway, which is a diverse part of Australia," she said.

Mr Cavanough has been courting the conservative vote in the absence of a Liberal candidate in Greenway. Fairfax Media revealed recently that Liberal Party officials were waiting for Tony Abbott to give his blessing to one of a list of candidates in the must-win seat, with concern growing at the delay in choosing a candidate.

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Vic public hospitals cancel 1300 operations

ELECTIVE surgery for 1300 patients across three Melbourne hospitals will reportedly be cancelled over the next five months as the fallout from $107 million in federal budget cuts continues.

Western Health says 550 patients at the Western and Sunshine hospitals and 750 patients at Williamstown Hospital will not receive elective surgery as planned this financial year, Fairfax reports.

Thousands of elective surgeries are set to be cancelled across the state as hospitals slash services to cope with the federal funding loss.

More than 300 beds were being closed as federal Health Minister Tanya Plibersek and her Victorian counterpart David Davis negotiated a time to meet on the funding issue late Thursday, Fairfax said.

Mr Davis has said Canberra has cut $107 million from existing hospital budgets, while Ms Plibersek maintains Victoria will receive $900 million more in hospital funding over four years.

The cuts have prompted The Alfred to reportedly axe 300 operations, while the Royal Children's Hospital has announced it will have to slash 50 jobs.

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Hate speech warning as Dutch MP Geers Wilders faces protests

Hatred of Mr Wilders will certainly be on display

CONTROVERSIAL anti-Islamic Dutch MP Geers Wilders will face protests from Muslims and others in Melbourne next month.

The Baillieu Government has also warned that Mr Wilders could fall foul of the state's hate speech laws if he incites tensions.

Mr Wilders had been due to visit Australia last year but had to postpone the trip following delays in processing his visa.

He opposes the "Islamisation" of the Netherlands and has called for the banning of the Koran, which he equates with Adolf Hitler's autobiography Mein Kampf.

Mr Wilders was invited to Australia by a nationalist group called the Q Society.  A meeting is planned for Melbourne on February 19, and there are appearance dates in Sydney and Perth.

Islamic Friendship Association president Keysar Trad said he had been approached by Leftist groups about protests against the Right-wing politician.

Q Society spokesman Andrew Horwood said details of meetings would be released with only 48 hours' notice, for security reasons.  "We feel strongly that as a democracy we can't not talk about things because of the threat of violence," he said.

Mr Horwood said Islam was unlike any other religion, and his organisation was concerned that Australia, like Europe, was changing as Muslim numbers grew.

Victorian Multicultural Affairs and Citizenship Minister Nick Kotsiras said Mr Wilders had the right to free speech, subject to the state's racial and religious vilification laws.

Mr Wilders' Party for Freedom won 10 per cent of the vote at the Netherlands' last election in September.

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