Archbishop Mark Coleridge of Brisbane has written a Pastoral Statement on the Referendum. In response to the announcement of the referendum date, Archbishop Coleridge writes, “In response, we need first to see the truth of the suffering of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and the disadvantage many experience today as a result. Justice demands that we seek to rectify this disadvantage and its consequences.”
As a vote on an Indigenous Voice to Parliament nears, Australia’s bishops have encouraged Catholics to read and discuss the Uluru Statement from the Heart – the document from which the Voice proposal emerged. The annual Social Justice Statement speaks about the place of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples in Australian society.
Ajmer Singh Gill is president of the National Sikh Council of Australia and a contributor to Statements from the Soul: the moral case for the Uluru Statement from the Heart. Here, Sardar Ajmer Singh Gill gives an account of support by Sikhs for the Voice to Parliament.
Australians will soon be asked to vote in a referendum asking ‘Do you support an alteration to the Constitution that establishes an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice?’
Frank Brennan has been an advocate for Indigenous rights for 40 years. Here he shows the difficult path travelled by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders and their supporters to get to this question.
Statements from the Soul is a new book comprised of a collection of essays from diverse religious leaders and thinkers advocating the moral case for the Uluru Statement from the Heart and for a First Nations voice to be enshrined in the Australian Constitution. Moderated by prominent journalist Patricia Karvelas, presenter of ABC’s RN Breakfast, Statements from the Soul panel discussion will feature some of the contributors on why a First Nations voice to parliament is necessary not only legally and politically, but also morally. Tuesday 21 February 2023 at 6:15pm at The Craig Auditorium, Trinity College, Melbourne
