National News

HEADS of the Roman Catholic, Anglican and Greek Orthodox churches in Australia used the pulpit to pressure politicians to oppose same sex marriage ahead of a federal parliamentary debate. Two separate bills, from the Green and Labour parties, were tabled in parliament on 18 June, along with a standing committee report which made no recommendation to legislators. Most submitters supported ...

WORLD Environment Day, established by the UN in 1972 to stimulate worldwide awareness of the environment, is celebrated each year on 5 June. The theme in this International Year of Sustainable Energy for All is “Green Economy: Does it include you?” It raises the question: What is a green economy? We usually associate the economy and stewardship with financial arrangements. ...

UNITINGCARE Australia said the Federal Budget is fiscally responsible, fair overall and will deliver a chance at a decent life for more Australians. National Director, Lin Hatfield Dodds, said the suite of Budget initiatives promises a brighter future for families and unemployed Australians. "Reducing executive tax perks and golden hand-shakes, better targeting superannuation concessions, and deferring defence spending have enabled ...

ON Close the Gap Day, 22 March, the Uniting Church in Australia acknowledged that there is significant work to be done in overcoming the disadvantage facing many Indigenous Australians. Uniting Church President, Rev Alistair Macrae, expressed anger over the persistent disparities between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. “With a life expectancy gap of around ten years, infant mortality rates three times ...

THE Uniting Church in Australia has expressed its disappointment in the Senate Report into the Stronger Futures Legislation. General Secretary of the Northern Synod, Mr Peter Jones, who appeared at the Darwin hearings for the Senate Inquiry, expressed his concern over the harsh and disempowering legislation that the Senate Report supports. “Since day one of the Intervention, we have seen ...

THE national Assembly of the Uniting Church has developed a new online worship resource called Songs that Unite. Songs that Unite is a music website that supports the production and distribution of music resources to the wider church community and has a focus on serving those who are preparing a service of worship. The idea stemmed from the 2009/10 Assembly-run ...

2012 International Women’s Day on 8 March will see the installation of a specially commissioned sculpture of one of Australia’s most famous women at Melbourne General Cemetery. On Thursday, the intricate, bronze, life-sized sculpture of our newly sainted Sister Mary MacKillop will be installed at the cemetery’s architecturally groundbreaking Saint Mary of the Cross Mausoleum. It will provide a focal ...

SIXTY FIVE young leaders from all parts of the Uniting Church in Australia emerged inspired from the Uniting Church National Young Adult Leadership Conference in Sydney in February. The six-day conference brought together young adults from across Australia who were nominated as key leaders in the Uniting Church. It aimed to recognise, celebrate and develop the gifts and voice of ...

A new voice in the fight for poker machine reform, the Stop the Loss Coalition, was launched on 20 January along with a new research paper arguing that the gambling industry has grossly overestimated the financial impact of the proposed poker machine mandatory precommitment reforms. The paper, Rubbery Figures: An examination of the claimed and likely cost of poker machine ...

President of the Uniting Church in Australia Rev Alistair Macrae welcomed the report from the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People in January. Mr Macrae said the report signals a landmark opportunity in our journey towards reconciliation and was a necessary step following the moving apology delivered by the then Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, ...