Members and Candidates of all political persuasions on the matter of our social responsibility to our children.

With the leading light of christianity (the Catholic church) being simply unwilling or unable to develop and deploy a single universal policy on child safety and protection in the light of the global clergy abuse crisis why is it that our governments have not intervened or addressed this issue which goes to the heart of what we all do it for - our children.

This church is unable to provide the same care and attention to those harmed by clergy abuse as it provides to its own clergy members when they have been harmed?

This church is unable to achieve balance on these basic human principals in the area of child safety.

When we fail our children to such a degree these inabilities are called failure. Universal, total and complete failure in these most basic of parental responsibilities - social responsibilities which are near and dear both emotionally and biologically to each and everyone of us through our investment into the future via our children.

Is there room in a society for a religion to be permitted to preach that it is the one and only true church and is the only true way to eternal life and to put forth its myriad views in regards all things spiritual, parental, social, sexual and reproductive in our society whilst it is incapable of deploying what is universally understood to be the basis of good parenting and the first basic step or requirement in regards ensuring the protection and safety of children on a wider scale? These are issues for our politicians just as they are issues for each and every adult and parent in our country.

No person respects the current response of the catholic church to the clergy abuse issue. No person respects the lack of  response to this problem by our elected politicans.

Every individual with an interest in humanity can only point out some aspect where this response can be or needs to be vastly improved or an aspect where the church or government has failed itself, christianity, democracy, human rights and the individual men, women and children of each country on our planet and their future children. This applies to every individual one of us and is a universal criticism and is a universal acknowledgement of failure of both government and religion.

What benefits can a failed church or religion bring to our society if it is unable to implement and uphold these few basics for the safety and benefit of our current and future children? What benefit does a mute and immobile government bring the people when it fails to act in the best interests of our children?

If this church is unable to bring these few basic human things into our society should we permit it to continue to exist in its current form? Or should we regulate it until it is able to act consistently in an appropriate manner.

Instead we have a Prime Minister who deals with different religions in regards abuses by and in religious institutions and their teachings with a differing approach.

The Prime Minister on Islamic preaching in regards wife beating and rape.

"Under no circumstances is sexual violence permissible or acceptable in Australia - under no circumstances."

"Australia will not tolerate these sort of remarks. They don't belong in modern Australia, and he should stand up, repudiate them and apologise."

The Prime Minister on Catholicism in regards children raped by Catholic clergy.

"This is a matter for the church and I respect the internal judgements of the church. I don’t stand outside the church and provide them with public lectures in terms of how they should behave...".

These failures bring concern to the great majority of Australians who simply seek to live in a safe, peaceful and harmonious society and to be able to raise their children in a safe environment without the need to have concerns over the safety of their children with their clergy and the concern caused over the repeated failure of our governments to address this obvious social deficit.

In light of the public failure of the Catholic church and now the public failure of the Prime Minister, The Federal Government, State Governments, Labor and Liberal parties as well as those others who failed to speak out when these criminal matters were raised so often. What are your stated plans and policies in regards the management of the failure of religions to self regulate in regards the protection from sexual abuse of children by clergy? What policies do you envisage in regards social justice, restorative justice, compensation and regulation to ensure this never occurs again?

What are your stated plans and policies in regards ensuring the sexual safety, protection and legal rights to the justice we all deserve and expect for our ourselves and our children as a result of these social, religious and political failures? What time-frames do you have for the release of your policies and their implementation to ensure that the rights of our children are never again held to ransom because of dysfunctional governmental and dysfunctional religious activities?

John A Brown