Keywords: Jesuit Refugee Services
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ARTS AND CULTURE
- Andrew Hamilton
- 25 August 2023
1 Comment
Failed Ambitions offers a complex exploration into the history of institutions for individuals with mental illnesses and intellectual disabilities. The book addresses the evolution of attitudes towards these communities, highlighting ongoing struggles with public stigma, systemic neglect, and the importance of giving voice to marginalised individuals.
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AUSTRALIA
- Andrew Hamilton
- 27 July 2023
6 Comments
In a society quick to categorize children as either good or bad, reform efforts seem caught in a cyclical battle. Children often fall victim to these broad definitions, especially those from disadvantaged groups. What factors cause these cycles of progress and relapse, and how can lasting reform be achieved?
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AUSTRALIA
- Andrew Hamilton
- 20 June 2023
5 Comments
Observing World Refugee Week and the Referendum on the Voice to Parliament together is appropriate because the First Peoples and later refugees have suffered in similar ways. Jordana Silverstein's latest book draws striking parallels between Australia's colonial past and the modern treatment of refugee children.
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RELIGION
- Andrew Hamilton
- 03 April 2023
6 Comments
Easter is a story of unlikely victory, which underlies the hope that inspires Christians to link the Palm Sunday March to the plight of refugees and to walk with them. This hope acknowledges the power of evil in the world which drives people out of their country, yet it refuses to be intimidated by such evil or to allow it to pass unchallenged.
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AUSTRALIA
- Andrew Hamilton
- 23 February 2023
8 Comments
The Robodebt Scheme's Royal Commission revealed ethical insensitivity and a disregard for the rule of law by administrators. Suicides of vulnerable people were ignored in the quest for revenue, which may indicate a more extensive corruption of government and administration.
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AUSTRALIA
- Andrew Hamilton
- 16 February 2023
After years of intense debate, Australia has now offered permanent residence to people with Temporary Protection Visas (TPVs), which caused great suffering and were part of a deterrence policy. However, this decision is just an incremental step towards a more humane refugee program that respects secure borders and the humanity of people seeking protection.
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ARTS AND CULTURE
- Andrew Hamilton
- 09 February 2023
3 Comments
The plot of Kate Solly’s very enjoyable first novel, Tuesday Evenings with the Copeton Craft Resistance turns on the conflict between good and evil, represented respectively by the generous desire to turn Catholic property over to refugees and the vicious desire to prevent the project by portraying refugees as Muslims and Muslims as sinister and alien.
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AUSTRALIA
- Andrew Hamilton
- 21 December 2022
4 Comments
In 1939, King George VI gave an encouraging Christmas address, speaking after the Declaration of War on the Nazis. The future was uncertain, with no assurance of survival. In Australia we do not face the same immediate threat, but we do share the same uncertainty.
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AUSTRALIA
- Andrew Hamilton
- 29 September 2022
8 Comments
Recently many people have expressed disquiet about the trend to authoritarian rule throughout the world. They have good reason for doing so. In the world we are entering, the freedom of citizens in the State depends on the will of Governments that will have no enforceable obstacle to withdrawing such freedoms on suspicion of future misconduct and not just for punishment of past, proven misconduct.
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AUSTRALIA
- Andrew Hamilton
- 21 September 2022
1 Comment
July marked the tenth anniversary since offshore refugee processing was introduced in Australia, a step that marked a change in Australian policy from an uneasy balance between respect for people in need and the pressure to deter further arrivals. The principle of deterrence is deeply corrupting because it is based on the conviction that it is acceptable to punish one group of people in order to deter others.
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AUSTRALIA
- Maeve Elrington
- 02 August 2022
3 Comments
Former detainee, Kurdish-Iranian refugee Mostafa ‘Moz’ Azimitabar, seeks compensation from the Federal Government for what he alleges was unlawful detention. Detained offshore in Papua New Guinea (PNG) and in Australia for almost eight years, Moz is seeking compensation in the Federal Court of Australia for the physical and emotional toll of his detention, particularly from the final 14 months of detention in two Melbourne based hotels.
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RELIGION
- Geraldine Doogue, Greg Craven, John Warhurst, Julian Butler
- 17 June 2022
3 Comments
After four years, the Fifth Plenary Council of Australia is nearly at a close with the second and final assembly in July. So what has been the significance of the Plenary Council so far, and what can we expect from the final session? In this Roundtable, Geraldine Doogue, John Warhurst, Greg Craven and Julian Butler reveal their hopes and expectations for the process and discuss likely outcomes.
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