THE heads of six of Australia’s Christian Churches and leaders of the Jewish and Islamic faiths have failed to receive a favourable response to their recent call on Prime Minister John Howard for a national forum on poverty.
The leaders, including Australian Catholic Bishops’ Conference president Archbishop Francis Carroll of Canberra and Goulburn, sent a letter to Prime Minister Howard last month, urging him to support the idea.
The Anglican, Lutheran and Uniting Churches, Baptist Union, Greek Orthodox Church, the Jewish community, and the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils were represented as the signatories.
Circulated to state premiers and territory chief ministers, the letter called on the leaders to support a national forum aimed at developing a national strategy for the reduction of poverty, with particular mention for the elimination of child poverty.
The letter said if current trends of wealth distribution continued, Australia was in danger of losing its traditional character, based on notions of a fair go and mateship.
The heads of the various Churches in Australia, particularly the people who work in charitable agencies which deliver services to the poor and disadvantaged, see the depths of despair and deprivation of many Australians each day,’ it said.
The Church and faith leaders said Australia urgently needed a national forum to develop a national strategy to reverse these trends and to focus on management, within Australia, of the effects of global developments on the nation.
They sought Mr Howard’s support and leadership for the development of the idea.
