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The Liberal reshuffle has few implications for Libertarians. We retain the highest taxing treasurer as treasurer and the most socially conservative Prime Minister since the war as PM, so what's new? What should be the real news at the moment for Libertarians, and it is not good news, is the appointment of George Pell to the position of cardinal within the Catholic Church. This has implications accross the globe as John Paul II has now appointed all but five of the present caste of cardinals, thus ensuring a conservative succession. Like Pell, the other recent appointees are doctrinally orthodox, so do not expect to see any progress on the admission of women to the priesthood, or on freedom of choice in relation to artificial contraception or sexuality etc. Pell himself has been a major thorn in the side of Libertarian Catholics in Australia, undermining many of the freedoms gained at Vatican II. He has de-emphasised the primacy of individual conscience, cut down on free speech within the church, and attempted to impose a repressive moralism and authoritarianism on the laity and priesthood alike.
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