Anglican Action Centre for Social Justice

Media Release

13 November 2015

Use the golden rule: Love your neighbour as yourself when making Laws

Anglican Action calls for a culture change in Parliament, where the golden rule of ‘love your neighbour as yourself’ and showing compassion for everyone are at the centre of all law making.

Vulnerable refugees who arrive in Australia in desperate circumstances, or marginalised New Zealand citizens who have been living in Australia, and who have their families there are being held in Detention Centres.

“Detaining people as they wait for immigration decisions to be made is appalling” says Anglican Action Missioner, Karen Morrison-Hume.

“We need a Prime Minister with the courage to demand of Australia that they enact policies based on the “golden rule” which would cause them to show love and compassion to the people being held in detention centres in what is otherwise a violation of their human rights and common decency.

“We need a Prime Minister who will model the “golden rule” of radical equality in the way he talks about all New Zealanders, and to value them, including those who have committed crimes.”

“We need a Speaker of the House who upholds a culture shaped by the “golden rule” of radical compassion to all members, especially those who show the courage to voice their stories of sexual violence.”

Through labelling the people who have offended as rapists, child sex offenders and murderers, they are denied their true humanity, limiting their potential to successfully reintegrate after serving their time.

By ejecting a number of women MPs from the house of Parliament, the people who are victims of sexual offences have been denied a voice, reinforcing the silencing of abuse in a climate of diminishing funding for victim support services.

Irrespective of what people have done, human rights are universal and need to be up held universally.

Ends.

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