From The National Aboriginal And Torres Strait Islander Ecumenical Commission
“On Social Justice Sunday we call on all Australians to reflect on the continuing plight of Indigenous Australians and then commit to action,” said Mr Graeme Mundine, Executive Secretary of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Executive Commission (NATSIEC) of the National Council of Churches in Australia (NCCA).
“Social Justice Sunday, which this year will be celebrated on September 24th, is a time for all Christians to come together and focus their attention on a specific area where injustice prevails.
“This year the member Churches of the National Council of Churches in Australia have chosen to turn their attention to the continuing disadvantage experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders.
“In support of the campaign to Make Indigenous Poverty History the NCCA calls on us all to ‘rectify the poverty and neglect which stands as a constant rebuke to our much vaunted values of fairness’”, Mr Mundine said.
“NATSIEC supports this call to action and is, itself, calling on the Federal Government to adapt the Millennium Development Goals to apply specifically to Australia so that like the poverty stricken people on other continents, Indigenous Australians can also hope to be lifted out of poverty by 2015.
“We cannot, in all good conscience, continue to stand by and watch our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples be denied access to the same level of resources, wealth and well being that all other Australian citizens have.
“Too often we think that injustice is something that happens overseas, but we are blind to the every day suffering in our own backyard. Often it is easier to understand the suffering of those in ‘developing’ countries, but the fact that there are people living in worse conditions in a rich and wealthy nation such as Australia is a situation we should all be ashamed of and must commit everything we have to changing.
“I urge you to heed the call this Social Justice Sunday and put Indigenous Australia at the centre of your concerns and take action to Make Indigenous Poverty History,” Mr Mundine concluded.
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Bishop Saibo Mabo, Deputy Chair of NATSIEC will launch the Make Indigenous Poverty History CD-ROM of campaign resources on September 13th at Parliament House 1S3 at 11.00.
The Rev. John Henderson, General Secretary of the NCCA will also launch the NCCA’s Social Justice Statement at this time. The NCCA statement and further details about the Make Indigenous Poverty History campaign is available at www.ncca.org.au/natsiec/miph
To arrange comment: Graeme Mundine 0419 238 788.
