Queensland Synod News

The Uniting Church in Australia has warned that Tony Abbott’s denial of Australia’s discriminatory past promotes a disturbing and socially divisive doctrine which could erode historical facts of national importance. Uniting Church President Rev. Alistair Macrae said the comments made by the Leader of the Opposition revealed a very selective reading of our nation’s history and ignored Australia’s legacy of ...

 The Australian Government has failed the Australian people with its decision to delay any further work on an emissions trading scheme, says the President of the Uniting Church in Australia, Rev. Alistair Macrae. “The Australian community gave this Government a mandate for strong action on climate change when we elected them in 2007. As a Government they have failed us ...

The Uniting Church has today voiced its disappointment at the Federal Government’s refusal to proceed with the development of a Human Rights Act for Australia. “The Government’s response to recommendations from the National Human Rights Consultation, released today by the Federal Attorney General, is a lacklustre attempt to lift Australia’s commitment to human rights to a reasonable level,” said Rev. ...

An Easter crucifixion re-enactment in an Australian shopping mall so upset some consumers that police were called in to shut down the display because it was considered offensive. Yet, five days after the action, the police were said to have apologised for their handling of the situation. Some Christian believers said the police action raised questions about the freedom of ...

From Pope Pius IX to Benedict XVI, the Vatican now has online 142 years of documents, including unofficial texts relating to the period during the Second World War. From 25 March the official site of the Holy See site (www.vatican.va) is offering access to the documents from the resource library and they include papers of popes and of the Roman ...

At the Fundraising Institute of Australia National Awards last month, Lifeline Community Care Queensland was honoured with an Excellence in Fundraising award for the infamous Lifeline Brisbane Bookfest. Billed as the biggest book fair in the Universe, and titled “23 years on: Increasing the success of the Lifeline Bookfest”, the winning submission described Lifeline Bookfest as one of Brisbane’s iconic ...

Engaging Youth in afterschool activities isn’t always easy. Handing them an aerosol-can may sound counter-intuitive but for those who have been part of the latest Wesley Mission Brisbane’s Youth and Community Combined Action program (YACCA) the results have been not only eye-catching, but also life-expanding and outstanding for all of the participants. The YACCA project, which is run for people ...

UnitingJustice Australia has joined a growing international movement calling for the introduction of a tiny tax on financial transactions – the Robin Hood Tax. This week, UnitingJustice Australia, along with Jubilee Australia, World Vision Australia, Oxfam Australia and Greenpeace Australia Pacific are among over a dozen local organisations to announce their support for the Robin Hood Tax. The Robin Hood ...

The Indigenous arm of the Uniting Church in Australia has today labeled the comments made by Tony Abbott and Wilson Tuckey concerning acknowledgement of Indigenous traditional owners of land as nothing more than an opposition desperate to maintain its relevancy. National UAICC Administrator Rev Shayne Blackman and UAICC Chairperson Rev Ken Sumner said the venomous and archaic comments were deeply ...

President of the Uniting Church in Australia, Rev. Alistair Macrae has condemned the recent comments by Opposition Leader Tony Abbott and other Opposition members concerning the acknowledgement of traditional Indigenous ownership of land as ignorant and destructive. Tony Abbott has criticised Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and his Ministers as engaging in “tokenism” and unnecessary political correctness when they acknowledge traditional ...