The Age has reported that Indonesian officials reported that two boats of asylum seekers were intercepted by Australian naval or Customs vessels in recent days and their 20 passengers put together onto one wooden vessel and pushed back towards Indonesian waters. The asylum boat’s crew reportedly told Indonesian navy investigators that two Australian warships put three extra people on board ...

The Queensland Government has urged Australians to boycott American company Ben and Jerry’s ice cream for supporting the World Wildlife Fund’s (WWF) save the reef campaign. In a media statement yesterday, Environment Minister Andrew Powell said the company has damaged the reputation of the reef and jeopardised jobs and tourism dollars. “Another company has signed up to the campaign of ...

The Queensland Synod of the Uniting Church in Australia strongly condemns the recent violence in South Sudan. Children were among the dozens of internally displaced persons attacked by gunmen on 17 April while sheltering at a UN site in the central South Sudanese town of Bor, capital of strife-torn Jonglei state. In recent months thousands of people are believed to ...

The reunion of a man and his horse highlighted the importance of animal therapy in aged care, write Hayley Campbell and Albert D’Aprile. It was a magical moment one Remembrance Day when former 5th Light Horse Regiment Maleny Troop Quartermaster Bob Allen was reunited with a horse called Benny. Benny and Bob’s special relationship came to light at Blue Care ...

Phil Smith is a lay pastor in an ecumenical school in Caloundra on the Sunshine Coast. With the support of the Caloundra Uniting Church, he is  helping to grow a new faith community called BELLS. We are based on Australia’s Sunshine Coast in a new real estate development where there is no church building. I work half time for the ...

This July, long-distance athlete David Holleran of Mundubbera Uniting Church will run across the Great Victoria Desert, the epic last leg to a 19-year journey. Ashley Goetze reports. Everybody has a story, you only need ask. Dave Holleran is your typical Aussie bloke. Family man and owner of David Holleran Cleaning Services, it could be easy to miss that this ...

This Anzac Day, remember those who continue to pay the price for serving their country. Dianne Jensen reports. “I still don’t see the people we killed in ambushes and stuff; I don’t see our guys who were killed or wounded yet I was there. It is like being in a car accident but you don’t remember anything about it.” Rev Jack ...

Like a voice crying in the wilderness, Frederika Steen AM won’t be silent about Australia’s treatment of asylum seekers and refugees. Dianne Jensen reports. “I have looked into their faces, I know their names and I have heard their stories of suffering. What else could I do but speak out?” Refugee advocate Frederika (Freddie) Steen doesn’t mince her words when ...

The Christian tradition of giving something up for Lent could provide a new perspective on life and faith. Dianne Jensen talks to families about Lent Event. Uniting Church congregations don’t have much corporate memory when it comes to the Lenten practice of undertaking 40 days of repentance and self-denial, culminating in the joy of Easter Sunday. Frankly, it’s been a ...

The Uniting Church is working to support the people of the Philippines through its agencies and partner churches after the devastating arrival of super typhoon Haiyan, but needs your help, writes Marnie Frost from UnitingWorld. Super typhoon Haiyan—one of the worst storms ever recorded—crossed the Philippines on Friday 8 November, killing, injuring and displacing thousands of people and destroying whole ...