Uniting Church in Australia Uniting Church in AustraliaI grew up in the Methodist Church and in 1977 most of the Methodist, Presbyterian and Congregational Churches decided to unite. I had a lot of fun in youth groups, singing in choirs and, of course, moving every 5 years! I once saw the word "itinerant" in the dictionary while I was looking up another word and one definition read "a Methodist Minister"! I met my oldest friend 30 years ago at a church youth club and we have remained close friends all this time. (Is this a record?)
I currently attend church in Hazelbrook which is in the Central Blue Mountains Congregation in New South Wales. It is part of the wider Uniting Church in Australia.
Here are some links that you may be interested in seeing.
Bible Software from Parsons Technology; Christian Resources on the Internet; Compass; Koorong - Books, Bibles, Music, software & more; Net Ministries; The Cyber Hymnal - Worship & Teaching Resource.
Australian Labor Party
I am a member of the Mid Mountains Branch of the ALP.
Politics is one of my passions. I don't always agree with my party's policies but, on the whole, I think the ALP is the best of the bunch. One of the things important to me is for our government to apologise to the "Stolen Generation" so we can move forward into reconciliation, and the Coalition Government is not interested in that. Their complete disregard for our indigenous people was shown in the attempt to remove their right for negotiation of land rights. I also feel that they don't recognise the needs of the disadvantaged, and they have cut so many benefits for pensioners and the disabled that it makes me worry about their future under the current government.
Other federal issues of concern to me are:
1. The lessened powers of the Industrial Relations Commission. Here is where the proper work of conflict resolution and reforms, and the setting of minimum award wages should be done.
2. The complete disregard of environmental issues eg the refusal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions; the increase in woodchipping; and the uranium mine at Jabiluka in the Kakadu National Park - not only is uranium mining immoral, but to mine land against the wishes of the traditional owners is, I feel, wicked.
You can visit The ALP Website to keep up with the latest news.
Australia is the only country that I know of that has a three tier government system: Federal, State (NSW), and Local (Blue Mountains City Council). I think it would be a good idea to eliminate the state governments and delegate more authority to the local governments, as is done in other countries.
This page is still under
construction.