Aussies: Working to Make Indiginous Poverty History

Posted August 10, 2006 in News

The 2005 "Make Poverty History" campaign mobilised millions of people to work and pray against poverty for the world's poorest, especially on the African continent. But some church campaigners and other parts of Australian society have reminded us that there is still poverty of indigenous people that needs to be rectified. Campaigners want to remind us that entrenched poverty and social exclusion within our own societies also needs to be dealt with, and not pushed down church or others' agendas.

"The message is that you don’t get to choose between campaigning for improving the wellbeing of indigenous Australians and tackling poverty overseas. You don’t need to choose. They are part of the same agenda."

The Millenium Development Goals (MDGs) from "Make Poverty History" could easily apply to measuring the social and economic indicators of other vulnerables in our societies (e.g. Indigenous Peoples). Graeme Ring, who attended the Melbourne launch, comments that it is easy to become numb through the deluge of statistics. But he also points out that these are "real people experiencing real misery".

He won a place in my heart with this comment: "If you’re wondering what in God’s name pastors and priests are doing spending their valuable time campaigning for social justice, the answer is easy. They’re changing the world.”

Source: Ekklesia

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