Stuff the Privelege's Committee. The boofheads of Parliament have been treating their superiors, the People, with contempt for too long. Personally, I've never walked into a state House of Parliament.....I don't visit houses of ill repute! From now on, if we say to our MP "I won't vote for you if you vote for such & such": then we can be hauled before this bunch of losers.

francis, where and how did you form the opinion you were superior to a politician?

What a non-issue! The whole political system is based on threats to MPs. If they defy the party line, they are likely to be suspended, disendorsed or expelled by their own party.

I too am concerned with some of the comments of the ALP right who gave the fingers up to Cardinal Pell.

I can't see the difference between an ALP Caucas decision being 'forced' upon parliamentarians and a mere note of warning from the Church.

Obviously the former is far more dangerous both in frequency and substance to ordinary citizens.

Perhaps the Greens should be searching for ways to ensure that party caucasing doesn't continue to undermine democracy?

Reality Check: "I can't see the difference between an ALP Caucas decision being 'forced' upon parliamentarians and a mere note of warning from the Church."

I suggest you educate yourself on the difference between a democracy (eg Australia) and a theocracy (eg Iran).

"Obviously the former is far more dangerous both in frequency and substance to ordinary citizens."

If ordinary citizens dislike what the government is doing then they can vote to remove them. Last time I checked Catholics (let alone all other Australians) can't vote Cardinal Pell out.

This however is a problem created by these "Catholic" politicians. By being Catholics they "out-source" all their opinions of moral and ethical issues to a group of old men in Rome. If they want to disagree with the views Pell is pushing, perhaps they should reconsider their devotion to the Church.

It is clear that Pell's comments are out of line with the community's expectations of the Church's involvement in politics. But the Church can only have influence over the government if the politicians let it.

The main thing is that Pell's veiled threats didn't work. For yonks in this country Catholics have been using contraception, having abortions, coming out as gay and now voting on medical research the Vatican doesn't approve of. Most Australians believe in a God but they don't put up with ugly drag queens telling them what the church's party line is.

Bad luck, Pell. This ain't Iran. Deal with it.