Keywords: Getting Back On Mission
-
AUSTRALIA
- Barry Gittins
- 19 July 2019
7 Comments
The regulations these guys have to abide by — the behavioural hoops they need to navigate — are designed to protect them, the volunteers and the property of the host churches. It is an ethical dilemma, the ceding of normally inviolate personal freedoms for the use of the facilities. I don't know how I would feel about it if I was in their shoes.
READ MORE 
-
AUSTRALIA
- Julie Edwards
- 28 May 2019
6 Comments
Almost two years have passed since the youth justice royal commission prompted by the abuses at Darwin's Don Dale youth detention facility. Yet many of its recommendations remain unrealised, largely due to a lack of federal funding support. In the meantime, youth justice has remained at the crossroads in many parts of Australia.
READ MORE
-
ARTS AND CULTURE
- Barry Gittins
- 17 April 2019
4 Comments
This journey outwards is threatened by demagoguery. The UN's treaty declaring 'celestial bodies shall be used exclusively for peaceful purposes' has been challenged by sabre-rattling by Donald Trump, with his declaration that 'it is not enough to have American presence in space; we must have American dominance'.
READ MORE
-
AUSTRALIA
A proposal to take decisions around welfare payments out of politicians' hands is the best way forward. If the major parties are going to put supporting the most vulnerable in the 'too hard' basket, let an independent commission determine the rates at which various welfare payments can allow people to live a dignified life.
READ MORE
-
ECONOMICS
- David James
- 04 December 2018
7 Comments
The problem goes much deeper than a few crooked operatives and it will not be fixed by changing the corporate 'culture'. The fundamental evil is the arithmetic of compound interest. Interest on debt rises exponentially, while economic activity is linear. That means that sooner or later those in a weaker position are unable to pay.
READ MORE
-
RELIGION
- Frank Brennan
- 10 September 2018
As leaders like Gough Whitlam and Patrick Dodson have attested, if we are to imagine and strive towards New Horizons for Justice and Solidarity, we need conviction, perseverance, capacity for compromise, relationships of trust, humour.
READ MORE
-
RELIGION
- Frank Brennan
- 16 July 2018
3 Comments
'Kristina Keneally was unapologetic in putting the place of women in our church front and centre. And so we should.' Tropical and Topical, 2018 National Catholic Principals' Conference, Cairns Convention Centre, 16 July 2018.
READ MORE
-
AUSTRALIA
Pinning all the blame for poor behaviour on deliberate individual choice is a fundamental attribution error. We need to rise above the salacious gossip and the spectacle of corporate beheadings to understand what drives behaviour in powerful people, take a more reasoned approach and achieve sustainable change.
READ MORE
-
RELIGION
- Frank Brennan
- 04 July 2018
77 Comments
Philip Wilson has been sentenced to 12 months' detention for concealing child sexual abuse. It's very likely that he will appeal his conviction and sentence. An appeal may well succeed, but that's not the end of the matter. This has been a six-year saga relating to events which occurred more than 40 years ago. Emotions are running high.
READ MORE
-
INTERNATIONAL
- Olga Segura
- 01 February 2018
6 Comments
In his address Trump stated that throughout his first year, 'we have gone forward with a clear vision and a righteous mission: to make America great again for all Americans'. If America is to live up to this, the president must not ignore the issues faced by Americans of colour. Our experiences are what truly built this country.
READ MORE
-
RELIGION
- Frank Brennan
- 11 September 2017
2 Comments
The real call of Everyone's Business is to move beyond them and us to admitting that there is only us. If we are truly to build an inclusive and sustainable economy, it can't be just those in full time paid employment who are part of that economy. We take seriously the principles of neo-liberalism, letting the market decide. But we set limits on the market for the common good.
READ MORE
-
RELIGION
- Frank Brennan
- 30 August 2017
6 Comments
'There was one controversy in which Lionel Bowen was involved that does provide good lessons for the contemporary Catholic considering the desirable law or social policy on a contested issue - lessons for the citizen weighing what is for the common good. Back in 1979 there was debate in the Parliament on a motion which was framed to stop Medicare funding of abortions. Bowen, a strict Catholic, was strongly opposed to the motion. He did not think the motion was about abortion. He thought it was about money.' Frank Brennan's 2017 Lionel Bowen Lecture
READ MORE