To Mr Drum, I am writing to you this evening regarding Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s announcement today that any Asylum Seeker who arrived by boat after mid-2013 would be permanently banned from entering Australia (As reported by ABC News). I am horrified by this announcement. There are so many things wrong with this it makes…
Tag: asylum seekers
Prayer for Asylum Seekers
In Australia, Asylum Seekers has been a major, divisive issue for a long time. Just recently, following a High Court appeal, Churches around Australia are offering sancturary to Asylum Seekers living in the community, offering them protection from being deported to the regional processing centres in Nauru and Manus Island (Papua New Guinea). In response,…
Power to the Powerless
It’s December 1st, 1955. A sensibly dressed woman in her forties gets on a bus in the early evening. Despite having spent all day bent over an ironing board in the basement tailor shop at Montgomery Fair department store, she carries her swollen feet and aching shoulders erectly. She sits in the first row of…
Happy New Year?
As I viewed the multitude of Happy New Year posts, and posts reflecting on our years, I noticed a bit of a trend. A lot of people were commenting on how this year was really tough. And you know what, I hear that. Liesl and I have had a really tough year, a trial by…
Reforming Society (Vision and Mission Part 5)
This is part five and the final part in my Vision and Mission sermons at The Salvation Army Devonport. View all of the sermons here. The reading for today was Luke 4:14-30. What will you fight for? This speech is one of the most famous quotes of The Salvation Army, and has served for years as…
Lament for Manus
Our God, Our God, we have hit a low point in our nation. In our fear, we have put people in situations where they have faced the very thing they were fleeing. In our fear, we have caused people to be hurt, we have caused people to die and blamed it on the very people…
An open letter to our new Prime Minister
Dear Mr Abbott, Firstly, congratulations on being elected our latest national leader. You ran a very professional campaign, and defeated an opposition who was trying hard not to implode, whilst trying to destroy themselves at the same time. So you are now the elected official to lead our country into the next three years. And…
What now for asylum seekers?
A couple of nights ago, I attended an event that looked at the issue of asylum seekers, and where to now. The event was very well attended – they were expecting about 30 people, but instead had about 100. One of the big things I took out of this was an understanding of the two…
Advance Australia Fair? (part 3)
In the little sung second verse of the Australian National Anthem, we find the words, For those who come across the seas, we’ve boundless plains to share. However, despite this being part of our national anthem, part of the words that we claim to aspire towards, there is significant evidence that as a nation we…
A call for a humane Asylum Seeker Policy
There’s lots of talk at the moment about Asylum Seekers, as both political parties released policies to “stop the boats” of asylum seekers, and how they are treated. Both of the policies include mandatory detention, locking up asylum seekers while their claims are processed. While I can understand why this is necessary to ensure security,…
