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 Over the past couple of years NSR&J (National Social Responsibility and Justice) has been conscious of the need for a more recognisable name that reflects its deep roots in the Uniting Church in Australia and the nation wide collaboration that informs many of our responses to significant social and ecological issues. In March 2003, the Assembly Standing Committee approved a change in the name of the agency to “UnitingJustice Australia”, and today we are officially launching that name. Who could have predicted at the last Assembly in Adelaide the events of September 11, the subsequent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the declaration of the so called “global war on terror’, the deepening of our xenophobic response to refugees and asylum seekers or the emergence of tensions with North Korea around nuclear proliferation? If ever we were challenged as a church to reflect on and work for a global culture of peace, then surely now is the time. So in the context of the events I have outlined, and the WCC’s (World Council of Churches) declaration of the ‘Decade to Overcome Violence’, “peace-making” and how we can creatively respond to violence will be a major focus of our work in the next triennium and a dedicated Task Group will be established to pursue this issue. Our second major focus will be in the area of justice for indigenous Australians. In a context where some of the momentum for reconciliation seems to have been lost and where many indigenous people still wake up every morning to blatant racism and injustice, we will seek to re-engage in the struggle of indigenous Australians in partnership with Congress and Covenanting – again through the establishment of a dedicated Task Group. Another component of the vision of UnitingJustice Australia – namely, “ecological justice” – will also be pursued through the formation of a dedicated Task Group. Alongside the continued development of liturgical, theological and educative resources in this area, we will continue to lobby the Australian government to ratify the Kyoto protocol and to address other issues related to climate change and its implications for human communities and the ecosystems within which we live, move and have our being. UnitingJustice Australia will continue its advocacy and lobbying on behalf of refugees and asylum seekers imprisoned in our Detention Centres or living in our communities on temporary protection visas. Our present government’s determination to reduce these people to “non-person” status makes it imperative for us to continue to defend their humanity and to work towards their acceptance by the wider Australian community who put this government in office. We will also engage in the national debate about these issues with a well developed theological exploration and critique of the fear and xenophobia being expressed in our national life, the rise of the “god of national security”, and the construction of “the other” in recent public discourse in Australia and the world. In addition to these major areas of work, UnitingJustice will give attention to issues such as the impact of globalisation, the ever increasing inequality and poverty experienced by the majority of the human community, the full inclusion of all people in the life of the church and nation, and how Christians might engage as citizens to ensure the perpetuation of a robust and genuine democracy in Australia. Wherever possible our work as an agency will be done in collaboration with other Assembly agencies, Synod Social Justice staff and justice committees and staff-persons in other churches and the National Council of Churches. We are also working intentionally to build a wider network of people who can contribute to and support the work of UnitingJustice through e-mail groups and by other means. In all of this work UnitingJustice will retain its commitment to high quality research, engaged theological reflection, effective networking and solidarity with those who are most marginalised or excluded in our church and society. In closing I want to pay tribute to the significant and committed leadership given to UnitingJustice and to the wider church by the out-going chairperson, Rev Bev Fabb and to thank Bev for the quality of her input, the insights she has shared that are grounded in her daily ministry and the time she has given to the work of the agency. UnitingJustice Australia, will remain faithful to the gospel of Jesus Christ in pursuing social and ecological justice and peace in Australia and the world. |
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