WE may have a new prime minister this year.
If so, voters are entitled to know where he/she stands on the important moral issues of the day.
Opposition leader Tony Abbott has told us that unlike Kevin Rudd, who conducted doorstop interviews outside church, his Catholic faith is a matter for him.
That may not be enough.
He has been equivocal about abortion and it’s still not certain if he will prohibit a conscience vote on same-sex marriage.
Does he believe that the only true marriage is between a man and a woman?
If it’s yes, why not say so?
And does he believe that euthanasia is wrong?
Is he worried about the nervous Nellies in his own party, dead scared of offending anyone?
Or the secular humanists, who say that religion should never interfere with politics?
A stand on these issues would doubtless enrage the feminists and provoke hostility from the Canberra Press gallery.
Out would come the standard terms of abuse – homophobic, redneck, reactionary.
But who cares?
People are far more likely to support someone who has beliefs and is prepared to stand up for them.
They are tired of politicians who hedge their bets and give “qualified support” to this or that belief, often in mealy-mouth language.
It would set him apart from a prime minister whose only interest lies in stitching up deals to stay in The Lodge.
This country would then have a firm choice.
P.C.Wilson
Miami, Qld
