Jubilee Australia Merges with The Australia Institute
It is with great pleasure that I inform you that Jubilee Australia has merged with The Australia Institute (TAI) and will be called the Jubilee Australia Research Centre (JARC) . The Australian Institute is a leading think tank on economic, social and environmental issues in Australia. The merger will assist TAI become more global and help JARC with its funding and capacity challenges as a small research unit. While JARC will function within TAI’s infrastructure, it will continue as an incorporated entity responsible for research, policy reports and debates on economic justice. It will continue to work with the National Council of Churches as its partner and the Jubilee brand and website will continue. As a previous Jubilee board member Anne Lanyon will be on the advisory group.
The PEJ Centre and the Columbans have a long history with the Jubilee movement. The photo shows a tableau we set up in Martin Place during the 2002 G8 Summit held in Sydney. It depicted the well-fed G8 countries ignoring the plight of the poor in heavily indebted nations. Interestingly I remember one man, on seeing the role play of young women with just a bowl of rice, come to them and say, “You should stop having so many children!” That comment alone is enough of a motivation for us to continue trying to challenge the structural injustice that oppresses, keeps people in poverty and destroys the natural world.
The very first co-branded research paper hot off the press is a new report on the decline of foreign aid in Australia. The next good news is that amid the growing debt crises and austerity measures hurting the poor, the UN General Assembly has approved a set of nine basic principles for sovereign debt restructuring processes, something Jubilee has been calling for. (Charity Ends at Home).
Collaboration with Christian Brothers
In an ongoing partnership with the Christian Brothers in the Our Wonderful World Weekends run by geologian and teacher, Br Kevin McDonnell at their Mulgoa Retreat Centre, Anne Lanyon enjoyed sharing a theological reflection with participants in the September program about “Fire”. Using verbs like, ‘originating’, ‘fueling’, ‘consuming’, ‘dispelling’, ‘shaping’ about fire as symbols of God’s action in the world, people shared their reflections around a fire. They were a great group.
Collaboration with Catholic Schools Office Broken Bay
Since the collaboration between the PEJ Centre and the Catholic Schools Office of the Diocese of Broken Bay began in 2000, there have been sixteen annual Year Ten Social Justice Days. Almost three hundred students from diocesan Schools came together on September 2nd to learn more about Laudato Si’. For the first time, each of the eight workshops were related to the same topic which was Care For Our Common Home. Anne Lanyon gave an overview about the issues addressed by Pope Francis and our faith response. The students were able to choose from practical workshops about ocean pollution, landcare, care of water catchments, climate change and threats to Pacific Island countries and Aboriginal connection to country. We trust these young people went from the day energised and supported by their teachers to implement some of their learning.
Video: Healthy Earth, Endless Growth – Are they compatible?
Just over two months have passed since the FEN multifaith forum, ‘Healthy Earth, Endless Growth - Are they compatible?’ We received excellent feedback on the issue of endless growth both during and after this forum, so FEN is endeavouring to keep the discussion on this important topic going. We have produced a short video summarising the forum which we hope will inspire others to consider the question - is a healthy earth really compatible with endless growth? View the video here.