A message from our minister Rev Di Esbensen …

Reflection for RAR and Grandmothers against Detention of Refugee Children on 24 October 2018 – International Children’s Day – Hargreaves Mall Bendigo

We gather in this place on Dja Dja Wurrung, Jaara, land – we stand side by side with others across this incredible country asking loudly and courageously for justice, compassion, inclusion and hospitality.

We may come inspired by philosophers like Peter Singer, who says, ‘Whether [helping refugees] is done through a utilitarian approach based on clarity and consistency in our moral thinking or a Marxist method that seeks to uncover the socio-economic causes of the crisis – is less important than the need for us to engage with an emergency that touches all of us, (all of humanity).’ We may come inspired by doctors, who, in their thousands, are speaking out for the health and wellbeing of the children and their families on Nauru. We may come inspired by the heart of every faith that calls for the welcome, nurture and wellbeing of the stranger. Or we may come motivated by any number of other reasons …all of which have us gather in a regional city in this country, to demand justice for the most vulnerable, who have been locked away on a Pacific island with little resources and no Government compassion.

We are here to say the life of every child matters …the life of every family matters – and the children and families who have been on Nauru – some of them for 2,231 days – matter. It matters that children have stopped eating, it matters that children have stopped talking, it matters that children are in a place of utter hopelessness, it matters that children are beyond thinking that life is meaningless and that taking their own lives is the only way out, it matters that we are here: because when a group of people from a whole range of life experiences, with a whole range of philosophies, politics and faith demanding change, things can change; when many diverse groups of people and individuals come together and demand change, things can change.

At the heart of our humanity lies the commitment to justice, compassion, inclusion, respect and welcome. So when people like us recognise that in the politics and will of our country, these attributes are missing, we are compelled to stand up, speak out and demand change. We can reassert the humanity of this country again, but only when the human beings detained on Nauru and Manus, are brought here and given the opportunity, nurture and support to rediscover health, freedom and hope … will our humanity be restored.

One day there will be a person of integrity who will stand up in this nation and say to another group of abused and terrorised people, ‘we are sorry.’ But for how many will it be too late?

In my faith tradition, the gospel says that the way in which we treat ‘the least’ – the hungry, the thirsty, the destitute, the sick, the imprisoned, and the stranger in the land …is the way we are treating Jesus. This is the Jesus who sees the vulnerability in the parents of refugee children and who expects every other adult to keep them safe, to support them, as they seek to go and create a safe and nurturing place for their families. This is the Jesus who says to every one of us: stand up, speak out, take action and always expect more – it is the least we can do for the least of these.

Rev. Di Esbenen