We’re Better Than This

wbttaus

Over 700 children are currently detained indefinitely by the Australian government and there’s a rising number of people who are standing up and saying we’re better than this.

We’re better than this Australia is a movement to draw people’s attention to the reality of life for children in detention camps at the behest of the Australian Government. The people behind We’re Better Than This is an alliance of informed Australians who – no longer able to say, “I didn’t know there were so many children in mandatory detention being treated so inhumanely by our Government”- find themselves now no longer able to stay silent.

This isn’t a political movement as both sides of politics have been part of the problem. Now it’s time to find a solution and release children from detention. It breaks my heart to know that for many children, life behind razor wire is all they know.

No other country in the world holds children in the way we do, and the United Nations is very, very concerned about Australia’s policies. – Professor Gillian Triggs, president of the Australian Human Rights Commission

As a country we have stood up and pointed the finger at human rights abuses in other countries and I believe we need to keep doing that, but our protests don’t carry much weight when we continue to lock children away when they’ve committed no crime.

On Christmas Island, visiting doctors found children showing serious signs of both physical and mental deterioration. On the island of Nauru, UN inspectors deemed the conditions inhumane and unsuitable for children, while a Transfield Services intelligence report detailed several cases of child abuse and self-harm. – The Guardian

If you want your voice to be heard, there’s more information and a bunch of resources at the We’re Better Than This website.



Do you think some of your friends would enjoy reading We’re Better Than This? Please use the buttons below to share the post. Thanks.

An Incredible Year

rwanda

On this day last year I began a new chapter in the journey of my life. I began working at Compassion Australia so that I could do more to see children released from poverty in Jesus’ name. It’s a move I’m so glad I made and I’m looking forward to what the year ahead and hopefully many others ahead will bring.

In the past twelve months I’ve spoken to hundreds of people about Compassion’s work and the huge difference it is making in 26 nations around our world. I’ve sat in the homes of people who are living in extreme poverty. I’ve prayed with them, heard their stories and discovered the changes that Compassion has been able to bring through partnership with their local church.

In February I visited Indonesia. In July I traveled to Ethiopia and Rwanda. Back in 2008 I visited Compassion’s work in Haiti and Dominican Republic. Each of the places I visited in those countries revealed a different kind of poverty. Each was bursting with the hope of a brighter future.

The following is something I’ve said before and is just as true today as it was when I began working for Compassion on this day in 2013.

I don’t work for Compassion because it’s a job. I work for Compassion because I am convinced that there is no more effective organisation serving the world’s poor. I have seen no other method of working with those in poverty that even comes close to the way that Compassion is working.

If you’d like to help me celebrate my one year work anniversary please consider sponsoring a child through Compassion today. I can absolutely assure you it will make all the difference for a child as you help release them from poverty in Jesus’ name.



Do you think some of your friends would enjoy reading An Incredible Year? Please use the buttons below to share the post. Thanks.

The Maddens and Music Memories

maddens

How times have changed. (This is code for, “I’m getting old.”)

Back in the day when I used to go to many, many concerts, I could never have imagined sitting near a couple of young girls texting and Facebooking their way through a live show. Mainly because those things didn’t exist back in the day, but I just couldn’t imagine paying to see a concert and then not watching the stage for 90% of the night.

Anyway, enough reminiscing …. at least for a couple of paragraphs.

Last night Pauline and I headed to Crown Theatre to see The Madden Brothers. It was a great show with heaps of humour, fun, great musicianship and some amazing vocals. It was great to hear a bunch of Good Charlotte songs as well as the brothers’ more recent music.

Seeing a great band playing live was a great reminder of some of the dozens of concerts I’ve seen over many years. I’ve put a bit of a list together of some acts I’ve seen. I know that I’ve forgotten several over the decades but here’s a large selection of the live music I’ve experienced. Most were concerts but some, like Tina Arena’s 3 songs in a shopping centre, were shorter performances.

Not all have been personal favourites. Some were support bands for other acts that are listed here. Sometimes the support acts were better than the main act. Some I’ve seen several times with others only once. As you’ll see there are even a couple of ‘kids’ bands that I saw with Emily and James when they were very young.

I don’t get to as many concerts as I’d like these days so the list is a bit ‘retro’.

Adam Hall and the Velvet Playboys, Amy Grant, Aneiki, Angry Anderson, Australian Crawl, Billy Joel, Birtles, Shorrock Goble, Bob Carlisle, Bob Dylan, BogarnisCarman, Clannad, Cliff Richard, Colleen Hewett, Daryl Braithwaite, David Bowie, David Meece, DC Talk, Diana Krall, Dion, Dire Straits, Divinyls, Elton John (with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra), Elvis Costello, Feargal Sharkey, Gangajang, Garth Hewitt, Genesis, Glen CampbellGrace Knight, Hi-5, Hoi Polloi, Hoodoo Gurus, Hothouse Flowers, Human NatureINXS, James Morrison, James Reyne, James Taylor, Jimmy Barnes, Joan Armatrading, Joe Jackson, John Farnham, Jon English, Kate Ceberano, Keith Green, Kenny Marks, Larry Norman, Leslie Phillips (now Sam Phillips), Linda Ronstadt, Lloyd Cole and the Commotions, Lou Reed, The Madden Brothers, Margaret Becker, Mental as Anything, Motels, Neil Diamond, Newsboys, Olivia Newton-John, Paul Kelly, Perfect Strangers, Phil Collins, Randy Stonehill, Ray Charles, Ray Davies, Rez Band, Robert Cray Band, Rogue Traders, Ross WilsonRoxette, Sade, Sensitive New Age Cowpersons, Simple Minds, Spandau Ballet, Split Enz, T-Bone Burnett, The Angels, The Saints, The Wiggles, Tina Arena, Tom BurlinsonTom Petty & the Heartbreakers, U2, Van Morrison, Vijay Benedict, Violent Femmes, WA Symphony OrchestraWendy Matthews, Whiteheart

I’d be interested in hearing about a few of the concerts you’ve seen. How many do we have in common? How many of the acts that I’ve listed here have you seen live?

I tried to list a few of my favourites but it was too hard to narrow down.

By the way, if you went to any concerts with me that I’ve missed, please let me know. I’ll probably update the list from time to time as I remember more.



Do you think some of your friends would enjoy reading The Maddens and Music Memories? Please use the buttons below to share the post. Thanks.

The World’s Most Awkward TV Interview

mollycharles

In my years of working in the media I had the opportunity to interview a very wide variety of people. From politicians to music legends and even a Tour de France winning cyclist, an absolute highlight for me, and while not every interview was brilliant, I’m thankful that I never had a moment like this one.

Ian “Molly” Meldrum’s interview with Prince Charles is legendary. I can’t watch it without cringing for Molly. It’s incredibly awkward but such great television. Great to see that after all these years Prince Charles has a wonderful sense of humour about it all.

This video is worth watching all the way through.



Do you think some of your friends would enjoy reading The World’s Most Awkward TV Interview? Please use the buttons below to share the post. Thanks.