Annual Meeting of the Josephite Justice Network

The weekend of 30th March – 1st April saw the gathering of the members of the Josephite Justice Network at Mary MacKillop Place, North Sydney. Each Josephite Congregation and Province from Australia & New Zealand was represented.

The work & decision making of the weekend brought about an ongoing commitment to the issue of Making Indigenous Poverty History. The Network was fortunate to hear from two Josephites who are working at the grass roots level in this area, Kenise Neill from Sth Australia and Marianne Zeinstra from Victoria.

Both Kenise & Marianne are members of the Congregational Aboriginal Committee. This year is the 40th Anniversary of the Referendum allowing Federal Government to grant citizenship rights to Indigenous Australians. At the same time Australian & New Zealand governments are currently refusing to sign the United Nations Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

The Justice Network has formed its strategies of education, lobbying and networking with this in mind. There was also a decision to respond to the call to address the need for climate change and it was fortunate that our meeting took place on the same weekend as ‘Earth Hour!’

The members of the Justice Network now return to their Congregations & Provinces with an awareness and commitment which comes from working in solidarity with others.