Media Release: Penalty rates and freedom of religion

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14 October 2015

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Penalty rates and freedom of religion


Abolishing penalty rates might cause freedom of religion problems and damage both families and faith communities, according to Dr Gordon Preece, chairman of the Social Responsibilities Commission of the Anglican Church in Melbourne.

Dr Preece says large employer groups are lobbying governments to cut Sunday penalty rates, ignoring the wide community preference for Sunday as a shared day of rest, a shared day of worship for many, and the importance of compensation for those deprived of it, often the poorer members of society.

His concern will be discussed by the annual synod, or parliament, of the Anglican Church in Melbourne at St Paul’s Cathedral this week, involving several hundred clergy and laypeople.

“It’s not just that Sunday is a day of worship, but the Church should stand with those, religious or not, in protecting special shared days of rest,” Dr Preece says.

For Christians, Muslims and Jews, weekly worship is a required religious duty, but preserving penalty rates protects the whole community.

“Resting on the seventh day is built into creation. Human history shows people need that time of rest – it is built into their rhythms. When the French Revolution tried to give a day of rest every 10 days instead of seven it proved unworkable and they had to abandon it.”

The motion on penalty rates is one of many discussions at the synod on social justice, including refugee policy, euthanasia, family violence and gambling.

On refugees, Dr Preece commends the government for reducing the loss of asylum seekers’ lives at sea and for nearly doubling the intake, and calls for bipartisan support for accepting 27,000 refugees by 2017, as recommended by the Federal Government’s expert panel in 2012.

His motion to the synod deplores ongoing revelations of abuse of refugees on Nauru and Manus islands, and the legislation penalising whistle-blowers who do their professional duty by pointing out such cases.

Melbourne Archbishop Philip Freier says the synod gives Anglicans the chance to raise matters of public interest where they think the Church’s view should be noted.

Building religious goodwill

7 October 2015

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Building religious goodwill

With religion tensions again in the news at home and abroad, it is easy to overlook the vast amount of goodwill between religious groups and their role in building peace, according to Anglican Bishop Philip Huggins, president of the Jewish Christian Muslim Association.

“In many of our communities there are strong networks of interfaith friendship,” Bishop Huggins said.

The three faith communities will celebrate and cement their unity with a spring-time walk between their places of worship on Sunday, October 11, at 2pm.

The walk begins at an Anglican church, St Peter’s Eastern Hill, on the corner of Albert and Gisborne Streets. After a reflection and prayer of peace, those taking part will cross the road to the East Melbourne Hebrew Congregation Synagogue at 488 Albert Street, then walk to the Albanian Mosque at 765 Drummond Street in Carlton North, pausing for prayer and reflection in each. Walkers will have the chance to ask questions at each place.

The JCMA has been building common understanding about the Abrahamic faiths since 2003. Its schools program gives teachers and students an opportunity to challenge the stereotypes and misunderstandings they may have about people from different cultural and religious backgrounds.

For more information, please contact JCMA Executive Officer Ginette Everest on 0400 211 221 or (03) 9287 5590.

 

The October issue of TMA available

The October issue of TMA (The Melbourne Anglican) will be available at St. George’s from Sunday October 4th . This issue includes:

  •  The faith story of Malcolm Turnbull. Roy Williams, author of In God they trust? The religious beliefs of Australia’s Prime Ministers 1901-2013, considers the religious beliefs of our new Prime Minister;
  • Anglican responses to the Syrian refugee crisis and the Government’s decision to allow 12,000 Syrian refugees into Australia;
  •  Is Australia right to bomb Syria? The Revd Dr Gordon Preece considers the ethics, dangers and complexities of the Syrian crisis;
  •  A special ‘Transforming Lives’ feature on a project which has led to children in detention on Nauru receiving books and letters from all over Australia;
  •  A special supplement celebrating Chinese ministries within the Diocese of Melbourne;
  •  Removing SRI (CRE) from the school curriculum will only further cultural amnesia, argues the Revd René Knaap;
  •  Professor Graeme Clark’s mission to bring hearing to the deaf – a review of a new book about the man who invented the bionic ear.

 

 

 

Huggins: Asylum seekers need bipartisan amnesty

melb_ang2The Anglican Church is urging the Government and Opposition to extend to asylum seekers in detention the bipartisan approach seen recently over Syrian refugees and people-trafficking.

The Church says a bipartisan approach could work in areas such as education, work-rights, and removing children and families from detention without encouraging people-smugglers.

Melbourne Bishop Philip Huggins has written to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten calling for “some kind of bipartisan amnesty”.

He says both parties’ policies are now similar, both supporting admitting an extra 12,000 refugees from Syria, both eager to prevent people-trafficking.

Asylum seekers now in Australia or off-shore detention centres could also benefit from a bipartisan approach, says Bishop Huggins, chair of the Anglican Church’s General Synod Working Group on Refugees and Asylum seekers.

“There is plainly no third country which will be taking these asylum seekers. It seems most are refugees and therefore can’t be returned to their original home-land,” Bishop Huggins wrote.

“It is cruel to leave their fate undetermined and to treat them, in effect, just as collateral damage from the previous effort to shut down people-trafficking. Unless you agree on a plan together, their current plight will continue. Some kind of bi-partisan amnesty is needed.”

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