While some women's groups have expressed outrage at the idea that an institution which is opposed to abortion should be given public money to counsel women -- many of whom may be non-Catholics -- liberal-minded Australians see this as an example of interference by the 'Christian Right'.

Eva Cox, the chair of the Women's Electoral Lobby, Australia, thinks that it is unethical of the Catholic Church to take up the contract because "the Catholic Church is opposed to terminating pregnancies.''

''Centacare have been more than capable for decades of delivering professional services to people in trouble, regardless of the perspective of the people who need the help and regardless of any particular values the church might have,'' Abbott, a devout Catholic argued. He has promised that Centacare's helpline would be monitored to ensure impartiality.

''There's a spectre haunting Australian politics it seems -- the spectre of faith," notes political scientist David Burchell. "Many liberal minded Australians complain about what they see as the tightening links between political conservatism and the burgeoning ranks of non-denominational Christians."

Head of the journalism programme at the University of Technology in Sydney, Prof. Wendy Bacon, argues that the government move is reflective of Prime Minister John Howard's subtle efforts to push a right-wing Christian conservative agenda into the public domain. "As a feminist I find government funding of a Catholic organisation to provide counselling on abortion a backward step,'' she told IPS. "But that reflects the Howard government's agenda in the welfare sector of funding a whole lot of Christian organisations to deliver welfare services.''

Abbot has argued that Australia's abortion rate -- estimated at 84,000 cases a year -- is far too high and that Centacare's 24-hour pregnancy counselling hotline was the best way to help women make informed decisions.

"Once upon a time, women who found themselves pregnant were culturally conditioned to have the baby and have it adopted out," he said in a media statement. "These days there is very different cultural conditioning. This is particularly the case for women who have got their whole lives ahead of them or under management -- a baby, or an extra baby is a terrible inconvenience."

But Sunday Telegraph columnist Sarrah Le Marquand responded: "Certainly, as a young woman, I would take serious offence at the notion of middle-aged men -- driven by ideology -- restricting my right to obtain genuinely independent information."

Abbot's announcement of the funding, spread over a four-year period, has also rekindled charges that Australian politics was going the U.S. way with conservative religious lobbies influencing government policy, especially in the welfare sector.

Howard has promoted so-called Christian 'family values' through public policy initiatives such as laws against gay marriages, government funding for chaplains in the school system, tax rules that favour families over singles, support for the Iraq war, questioning the credibility of Muslim asylum seekers and restrictions on the access of single women to IVF treatment.

In addition, the winning of a senate seat in the last federal election by the Christian evangelical 'Family First Party' and the public declaration of his Christian faith by the newly elected federal opposition (Labour Party) leader Kevin Rudd has alarmed many Australians who are either secular or non-Christian.

Burchell points out that the Howard government's Christian agenda has been selective in choosing issues like sanctity of life (abortion) and gay marriages as major components of 'Christian values', while allowing single mothers to drift into poverty at a time when the government is flush with cash. In comparison, the Rudd agenda espouses social justice values to social policy such as virtues of cultural diversity and opposing the war in Iraq.

"Social justice is not lacking in secular politics," argues Bacon. "There is a strong argument that social justice emanated from the humanist, secular tradition and this is what should be used to oppose the Howard agenda."

Graeme Lyall, former chairman of the Buddhist Council of New South Wales, agrees. "To consider social justice to be exclusively a 'Christian value' is offensive and discriminatory to those of other faiths," he said in an interview with IPS. ''The Buddha had quite a lot to say about the relationship of the state to the constituents, especially in the Sigalovada Sutra (sermon). The problem with many so-called 'Christian politicians' is that they don't bother to learn about and respect the beliefs of people of other faiths."

Bacon argues that the Howard government has promoted the 'war on terror' as a Christian ethical issue and that the evangelical churches and the right-wing of the Catholic church have "exploited this to drum up political support for their agenda.''

Source: IPS - Inter Press Service News Agency