12th September, 2013
The Catholic Church in Australia has joined its voice with those protesting the Coalition Government’s planned cuts to foreign aid, likening the cuts to a rich man chasing a beggar to recover crumbs from his table.
The Age newspaper reported yesterday that John Ferguson, executive officer of the Australian Catholic Social Justice Council, described the proposed move as unworthy of a civilised nation and that it was clear "Australia is the rich man and Lazarus is at our gates" – a reference to a story Jesus tells in chapter 16 of the Gospel of Luke about a meeting between a rich man and a beggar, Lazarus.
"A reduction in aid funding could be seen as the rich man pursuing Lazarus to take back the crumvs that have fallen from the banqueting table," Mr Ferguson was quoted as saying.
The proposed $4.5 billion cut to foreign aid – announced shortly before last Saturday’s election – has already been sharply criticised by groups including Micah Challenge who said that under the Coalition Government, this would see Australia’s projected foreign aid move backwards from a projected 0.37 per cent of gross national income this year to 0.32 per cent over the next four years.
On Wednesday, the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference issued its annual social justice statement in which it said it was a "critical time" in the fight against global poverty.
Bishop Christopher Saunders, chairman of the Australian Catholic Social Justice Council, said that with a change of government, a seat at the United Nations Security Council, and with the country set to host the G-20 economic summit in Brisbane next year, Australia "has a historic opportunity to be a force for peace and generosity in the global response to poverty".
~ www.socialjustice.catholic.org.au
– DAVID ADAMS
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COALITION PLAN TO CUT FOREIGN AID A "BROKEN PROMISE
TO THE GLOBAL POOR", SAYS MICAH CHALLENGE… | more…|
