Today we remember the humanitarian action of Captain Arne Rinnan and the need to work towards more just and compassionate asylum policy in Australia. In August 2001 a small Indonesian… Read More »2001: Rescue of 433 asylum seekers by MV Tampa
"When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why they are poor, they call me a communist."Dome Helder Camara Dom Helder Camara (1909… Read More »1999: Death of Dom Helder Camara
"In 1815, Mary Aikenhead, with Alicia Walsh, after completing their novitiate, founded the Religious Sisters of Charity in Ireland. They were the first, so-called Walking Nuns who visited the sick… Read More »1815: Founding of Sisters of Charity by Mary Aikenhead
Action Does your parish, school or Catholic organisation have a Reconciliation Action Plan? Today might be a good day to check on your progress, or to start the process of… Read More »1991: Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation Act passed by Parliament
"On this day in 1936, the last known survivor of the thylacine species, better known as Tasmanian tigers, is said to have died in captivity in Hobart, Australia, having only… Read More »1936: Death in Hobart Zoo of the last Tasmanian tiger in captivity
"On September 11, 2001, 19 militants associated with the Islamic extremist group al Qaeda hijacked four airplanes and carried out suicide attacks against targets in the United States. Two of… Read More »2001: ‘9/11’: Terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington D.C., killing nearly 3,000 people
"In the early years of European settlement on the Darling Downs relations between the two races were mostly friendly. However, by the 1840s relations had turned sour. The European settlers… Read More »1843: Battle of One Tree Hill near Toowoomba, QLD, between Aboriginal landowners and European settlers
Oodgeroo Noonuccal (Kath Walker) was born Kathleen Jean Mary Ruska, on Minjerribah (the Stradbroke Island). She was a poet, political activist, artist and educator. Oodgeroo Noonuccal means Oodgeroo of the… Read More »1993: Death of Oodgeroo Noonuccal (Kath Walker), Aboriginal poet, activist and artist
The Nobel Prize website explains that Peace Prze Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi is "the daughter of the legendary liberation movement leader Aung San. Following studies abroad, she returned home… Read More »1988: Formation of Burma’s National League for Democracy by Aung San Suu Kyi
What do you know about David Unaipon, the man on the fifty dollar note? He was a preacher, writer and inventor and was the first Aboriginal published author. David was… Read More »1872: Birth of David Unaipon, Aboriginal writer and activist