Federal Election Resources
The approaching Federal Election involves and affects us all. As Australians and as Christians, we are challenged to reflect on some of the values and issues we want our country to consider as we face this particular period in our history.
Here are some resources that will hopefully help to thoughtfully be able to think through voting options, and assist in guiding you through the many and varied conversations that will take place before and after the election.
The Refugee Council of Australia (RCOA) released as a part of their ‘choose humane’ campaign an assessment of parties and policies that can be found here
The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference have released a statement entitled ‘Politics in the Service of Peace‘ which outlines the permanent principles of the Church’s social doctrine and contains a prayer for the election.
NetAct, a project of Catholic Social Justice, Welfare and Educational Agencies has prepared these reflection sheets in response to a number of current discussions. It seems that the human and Christian dimensions of these issues are often ignored in the ongoing debate and political wrangling. This is of particular concern in the current climate when conviction politics has been replaced by retail politics. Many are asking, not what are the values that underpin our decisions, but what sells most effectively and will be of greatest benefit to the individual. The recent budget is a classic example of this development.
To counter retail politics, the NetAct Kit invites communities to reflect on issues from the perspective of our humanity and our faith, rather than the from standpoint of political rhetoric. We hope that it will engender new conversations. If you believe that it would be helpful, would you kindly distribute this Kit to your communities with an encouragement that it be distributed to parish, social justice and educational groups, discussed in community and social justice gatherings, or shared with friends.
Jesuit Refugee Service (Australia) has released their election statement Strangers No More, which follows the spirit of Pope Francis’ and the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference’s (ACBC) call for Catholics to recognise ‘our fear of the Other’ and boldly seek a culture of encounter with those we do not know.
CAPSA released a federal election statement, has 10 principles that we advocate by, and our toolkit for action can be found here
CommonGrace have prepared a number of actions and questions you can ask during this election.
