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Australia’s Primate shows support for First Nations Peoples
November 10, 2017
Archbishop Philip Freier, Primate of the Anglican Church of Australia, has signed a joint statement expressing disappointment in Federal Cabinet’s decision to reject the Uluru Statement from the Heart. Below is a news article from his website: http://www.anglicanprimate.org.au/press/pm-please-think-again/
PM, please think again
06 Nov 2017
The Anglican Primate of Australia, Melbourne Archbishop Philip Freier, has joined hundreds of other leading Australians in signing a joint statement expressing disappointment in Federal Cabinet’s decision to reject the Uluru Statement from the Heart, which proposed creating an Indigenous advisory body to Parliament.
The statement, prepared by epidemiologist Professor Fiona Stanley, a former Australian of the Year, and Australian Council of Social Services CEO Dr Cassandra Goldie, urges the Government to reconsider its refusal. The Australian newspaper reports that nearly 1000 emininent Australians signed the statement in just a few days. Read the report here.
The signatories say they support the Uluru Statement by First Nations peoples, and urge the Parliament to make it a national priority.
“Many First Nations peoples that we know and respect are again experiencing a governmental rejection of their views. First Nations voices are the only ones who can truly explain and ameliorate the historical intergenerational traumas, the marginalisation, the hurts and all their consequences,” the statement says.
“We strongly support progressing Australia’s First Nations peoples’ right to a say in the decisions that affect their lives.”
It concludes: “We do not want Australia to continue on a path of policies and associated expenditure on interventions and activities that are proving ineffective in many situations. Giving First Nations peoples a say in the decisions that affect their lives will provide an opportunity for doing things differently and more productively, by simply listening to the advice of people who are affected, and by allowing First Nations peoples to claim their rightful place in the nation.”
