Well he was experiencing some difficulty with his PPL scheme, and was slowly sinking in the polls; and still needed to convince the most gullible; the emotive fairer sex, he actually gave a tinker's dam about the better half of the human population!
And let's be perfectly fair, he has a Wife and Daughters; females, who mean the world to him!
A very wise man once said, you can fool some of the people all of the time!
So blame yourselves ladies, if you were taken in by a politicians promises; and your, I believe, cleverly manipulated emotional response!
It's your own stupid fault ladies! You were the innocent trusting fools taken in!
The answer here is to neither forget nor forgive the unforgivable; and simply put the incumbent last on the ballot paper, if only to ensure the next several govts are one term wonders!
At least until we get a new breed of pollie, who promise what they intend to deliver; when and how, come hell or high water!
If they were our employees, and proved that dismal, patently unscrupulous and inept as very highly paid (supposedly professional) employees, we would be entitled to give them the right royal chop! What say you?
Rhrosty.

Rhrosty
As you have strong opinions on every conceivable controversy, and now (correctly) express contempt for opportunist professional politicians, I'm sorry to see you leading Evelyn astray. You should be arguing that, if we are to have compulsory voting, we should be able to record a valid vote for "none of the incompetents".

I am all for trying to assist mothers to keep their babies if at all possible, as I know how awful the pain of adoption is for both mothers and their children.

However, there are many instances, mainly in poorer overseas countries, where there are orphaned children and babies available for adoption.

I agree with this Government in making adoption more accessible for overseas babies.
This author seems to think all prospective adoption babies have been torn from their unwilling parents, when that is not always the case.

Surely unwanted or orphaned overseas babies deserve the chance of an Australian upbringing?

There are not, actually thousands of "orphans" around the world. In some countries, such as Korea, a child is labelled an "orphan" if his or her parents are not married. Imagine if that happened in Australia and then we said that all Australian "orphans" were "available" to be adopted into other countries. Sometimes parents and family members in other countries place a child in an orphanage during times of poverty or famine, with the intention of going back to collect the child when their circumstances improve. Sometimes by the time they go to collect the child, an adoption has taken place without their consent. We have to look at the bigger picture and realise that the children are the future of any country and it is our job to help other countries to sustain their families and their communities, rather than conspiring to destroy them and denying these children the right to grow up among their own people, in their homeland.

Louisa you can't possibly know every abandoned or orphaned child's circumstances in other countries, and neither can I.

However, one only needs to see documentaries or news reports to show us the state of some of the overseas orphanages or childrens homes, to know that the kids are better off out of that environment at least.

You suggesting we don't allow overseas adoptions 'just in case the parents return to collect them' is a little naive.
If there are many loving prospective parents here in Australia willing to adopt these poor kids, then I think any cultural issues can be dealt with appropriately as well.

I'm sorry that you feel that the "cultural issues" can be dealt with so easily. Separation from one's parents, family, community, culture and country is not something that people just "get over". Sadly many grow up with a sense of shame around their culture and country of origin, because some people seem to think that "an Australian upbringing" is such a great prize and this shame can translate into being ashamed of who they are. Some also grow up with the expectation that they should be forever grateful for having been "rescued", which causes them a great deal of discomfort. In the long term, they often feel that they don't "fit" anywhere. When Australia apologised for past adoption separations, there was a group of adults who had been adopted into Australia who wanted to receive an apology also, as they didn't choose to be taken to another country and brought up in a different culture with people to whom they are not related. Sadly some people have not grown out of the old colonialist view that it's better to grow up as a stranger in an affluent country than to grow up among one's own people. Countries like Australia should be helping less affluent countries, not taking their children from them. If children are living in unacceptable situations in other countries then we have a moral obligation to share our expertise and experience with those countries, as well as our wealth. I accept that not everyone agrees with me but I would appreciate it if you did not misquote me, as this does not assist the discussion. I didn't suggest that I knew the circumstances of every child in an orphanage. Nor did I say that children should stay in orphanages "just in case" someone comes back for them.