Common Grace submission to the Joint Select Committee on the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice Referendum, 21 April 2023 ____________   Dear Committee Secretariat, Re: Inquiry into the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice Referendum Constitution Alteration (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice) 2023 A Christian response to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander justice and a call for an Indigenous Voice to Parliament. Thank you for the opportunity to provide a submission to the Joint Select Committee on the Aboriginal and Torr ..read more

Budgets, whether federal or household budgets are always a statement of values. Making choices about what we invest and what we don’t reveals what drives us. As followers of Jesus, committed to seeing the flourishing of all people and all creation – we know it's important to understand the priorities of our nation and continue to engage our friends, our families our communities and our decision makers about how we can build a fairer, more just, more sustainable nation. This budget is a far cry from that vision, but it is moving us in the right direction. The 2023 Budget is a clear statement th ..read more

Domestic and Family Violence (DFV) knows no boundaries, with people affected across all ages, socioeconomic status, education levels, ethnicities, and languages.  But it is a gendered crisis. Women are far more likely to experience DFV than men. The latest Personal Safety Survey in 2022 by the Australian Bureau of Statistics found that 1 in 4 women experienced intimate or family violence compared to 1 in 8 men since the age of 15. And 1 in 5 women have experienced sexual violence, compared to 1 in 16 men. But DFV is far more complex and broader than just physical or sexual violence. It in ..read more

A transcript of Uncle Ray's reflection can be downloaded here.  “I think for Indigenous peoples, we do have a huge big issue with that word kingdom…because the only kingdom we’re aware of is the British kingdom…And so one of the things that we have done in translating in my language to try and work through this particular phrase of kingdom…we said ‘We on all the earth will dream the same as you dream in heaven’...’The time will come when God is boss’...God is ruler and the ways in which his power and authority is worked out through us and with us…he always seeks to work in partnership wi ..read more

A transcript of Aunty Sue's reflection can be downloaded here.  “Jesus said to them, pray that you will not fall into temptation. Now that can come out in many forms. It might be a time to think evil of other people. It might be a time to think about the wrongs that other people have done to us…the temptation of wanting to hang onto that anger…there are always those things that we hang onto that makes it really tough for us to forgive…Deliver us from situations where we hang onto all of this hurt and grief and loss. It’s always tough when it comes to forgiveness. Giving over to God is so ..read more

Back when I lived in Melbourne’s bible belt (the Eastern suburbs), I had the opportunity to house-sit for an American family living on the Mornington Peninsula. These friends generously invited others to ‘mind’ their home while they went back to the States to see family and friends over the Australian summer. There were no pets to mind, and not even really many precious plants to water; they were just community-minded people who knew that a week nearer to the beach might be a timely blessing to folk, especially those on lower incomes. They were used to having regular guests in their home, and ..read more

  A transcript of Aunty Ravina Waldren's reflection can be downloaded here.  “On our journey of faith when I think about the forgiveness for our trespasses as we think of those who trespassed against us, I often reflect on our journey. And it's our faith journey, learning to love one another and to forgive others who have done wrong by us… Forgiveness is about change of heart and allowing the Holy Spirit to guide us towards a more spiritual journey of forgiveness and to love and to care for each other and for compassion with each other.” Jesus' call for us to pray “forgive us our tr ..read more

A transcript of Safina Stewart's reflection can be downloaded here.  “My God wants to meet the needs of our soul, of our spirit, and of our physical spaces. My God is a God of justice that wants to give feeding, give health, nourishment, life and sustenance for my Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. My God hears our voice and the Word of God meets us in our need. Our God comes and enters into our spaces and helps us bring healing, helps all of us in community, in faith, to work for justice. It’s a prayer for me to continue to trust. It’s a prayer that reminds me that God is her ..read more

As we celebrate International Women’s Day 2023, Rev'd Canon Auntie Di Langham invites us to reflect on this year’s focus on equality. ______________________ What about equality? I think in our society, especially with Tiddas (sisters), we need to use the word equity. Equality suggests that we are all starting on equal footings at the same starting point, but equity acknowledges that we are not! There is a really good illustration with children all at a fence looking over. One person can see over the fence, but one needs a box to stand on and another two boxes to stand on! The boxes give us equ ..read more

  A transcript of Uncle Vince Ross' reflection can be downloaded here.  “The key words for me in that particular line…it speaks about listening without any distraction…when we are listening with that sort of attitude, we start to hear the message. In responding to God’s work, it’s just about saying ‘Lord, I don’t understand all this…You’re gonna have to continue to travel with me and show me the way I need to go’. This is the answer. These are the key words: listening, responding, and less of self and more of God”. “Your will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven”. In this line of th ..read more