John Murphy (Reid, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

During the last sitting period a number of us here in parliament had conversations with religious leaders who were representing a range of faith communities in Australia. These conversations concerned the very important issue of climate change. On Thursday, 2 June 2011, I had the great pleasure of meeting with Sister Suzette Clarke, the social justice coordinator for the Sisters of Charity; Mr Steve Denenberg, the executive director of the Australian, Asian and New Zealand Union for Progressive Judaism; Dr Beth Heyde, a member of the Public Affairs Commission of the Anglican Church of Australia; Father Charles Rue, a Columban representative in Australia for Justice Peace and Integrity of Creation; and Ashok Jain, representing the Canberra Jain community.

These people were brought together by the Australian Religious Response to Climate Change committee. They have offered the following statement, which I will now read to the House on their behalf:

Climate change is an unprecedented moral and spiritual challenge, which can only be met with determined, immediate action.

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