Weekend Wrap for 9 November 2025

Jacqueline Maley: Baby Priya brought compassion to the parliament. Then four men hijacked the debate
"Politics can be a cynical and nasty business, but outbreaks of grace and compassion do occur. One happened on Wednesday during a parliamentary debate for the second reading speech of “Baby Priya’s Bill”. MP after MP rose to speak with sensitivity about one of life’s most devastating experiences – the birth of a stillborn baby. ... The bill had bipartisan support, but several male MPs used the debate about this sensitive issue to shoehorn in their objections to late-term abortion – on which more later. ... But four Coalition MPs were more qualified in their support for the bill. They were conservative MPs Andrew Hastie, Barnaby Joyce, Henry Pike and Tony Pasin. They didn’t have to speak during the debate. But as men who feel strongly that women shouldn’t be allowed to have late-term abortions – incredibly rare events which occur only for the most extreme of medical and psychological reasons – they felt they must speak up." (2 Nov 2025)
Read more at The Age

Jill Nash: I’m 86 – this bill to restrict voluntary assisted dying is cruel and callous
"I am 86 years old and a longstanding advocate for the rights of the elderly, including those in aged care. Like many others, I was elated when the NSW voluntary assisted dying (VAD) laws passed in May 2022. It gives us immense comfort to know that VAD is an option, should we need it. I am, therefore, horrified and alarmed that NSW parliament could even consider Susan Carter’s bill allowing aged care providers to force dying residents from their homes if they choose VAD. It overturns the express provisions in our VAD laws which ensure that aged care residents can access VAD and can die peacefully in the place which has become their home – a place which is their emotional sanctuary at this crucial time of their lives and where they have the right to dignity, autonomy and to access any legal medical treatment they choose. This includes VAD. Allowing aged care providers to place religious ideology above the rights of residents will make VAD virtually impossible to access for many dying residents." (4 Nov 2025)
Read more at The Age

Chip Le Grand: Less is more when it comes to extending vicarious liability for historical child sex abuse
"...the High Court was asked to decide whether vicarious liability, a well-established common law principle which holds employers responsible for the harm caused by people they employ in the course of their jobs, should be extended to the Catholic Church and its clergy. The High Court found that it shouldn’t because priests are not employed – in a strict, legal sense – by the church they serve. It rejected submissions by DP’s lawyers that because the relationship between clergy and a religious order is 'akin to employment', vicarious liability applied. ... The ACT last week became the first jurisdiction to legislate in response to Bird v DP. Its new laws extending vicarious liability to anyone 'akin to an employee' and 'associated with an organisation' were welcomed by survivor advocates. ... Although Catholic priests would be captured by the proposed laws, some people in positions of responsibility – and with access to children – in other religious and community and sporting organisations would not." (6 Nov 2025)
Read more at The Age

Chris Breen: Albanese promised smaller classes for public schools. Where are they?
"Public education is in an unacknowledged crisis. Public schools educated 77% of all students in 1966, it is now just 56% in NSW and falling. Two thirds of the growth in student numbers since the year 2000 has gone to private schools. Ex-Coalition Prime Minister John Howard once attacked public schools claiming they should just be a “safety net”. Tragically this is the direction in which we are headed. ... The crisis of public education is fundamentally a product of funding inequality. ... The Albanese Labor government claims its school funding plan will deliver smaller classes, but it hasn’t and won’t this election cycle, nor the one after. As occurred with the promised Gonski program, an incoming Coalition government might scrap any anticipated funding plan." (7 Nov 2025)
Read more at the AIMN