The Native Title Act 1993 (Cth) (NTA) is a law passed by the Australian Parliament that recognises the rights and interests of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in land and waters according to their traditional laws and customs. It established a process for claiming and recognising native title lands and waters in Australia. The NTA aims… Read More »1993: Passage of Native Title Bill by the Australian Senate
At the end of the 19th century, Australian colonies had concerns about who was migrating to Australia. With a rise in the number of migrants from China and the Pacific, many colonies passed tough immigration legislation. The Immigration Restriction Act was one of the first Commonwealth laws passed after Federation. It was based on the… Read More »1901: Enactment of Immigration Restriction Act (White Australian Policy)
In The Wik Peoples v The State of Queensland & Ors; The Thayorre People v The State of Queensland & Ors HCA 40 ('Wik'), the High Court held that native title rights could coexist on land held by pastoral leaseholders. The High Court decided that: - a pastoral lease does not necessarily confer rights of… Read More »1996: Wik High Court decision
"The face of God has been revealed in a human face. It did not appear in an angel, but in one man, born in a specific time and place. By his incarnation, the Son of God tells us that salvation comes through love, acceptance, respect for this poor humanity of ours, which we all share… Read More »Christmas Day
Prayer of Pope Benedict from Deus Caritas Est Holy Mary, Mother of God, you have given the world its true light, Jesus, your Son - the Son of God. You abandoned yourself completely, to God's call and thus became a wellspring of the goodness which flows forth from him. Show us Jesus. Lead us to… Read More »2005: Pope Benedict’s XVI’s encyclical Deus Cartias Est (‘God is Love’)
The Indian Ocean tsunami traveled as much as 3,000 miles (nearly 5,000 km) to Africa, arriving with sufficient force to kill people and destroy property. The epicenter of the 9.0 magnitude quake was under the Indian Ocean near the west coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra, according to the USGS, which monitors earthquakes worldwide.… Read More »2004: Devastating tsunami in South Asia, killing 200,000 to 300,000 people
Read The Story of the Holy Innocents "The Holy Innocents are few in comparison to the genocide and abortion of our day. But even if there had been only one, we recognize the greatest treasure God put on the earth — a human person, destined for eternity, and graced by Jesus’ death and resurrection." Franciscan… Read More »Holy Innocents
"Pope John Paul II’s 1987 social encyclical Sollicitudo rei Socialis marks the twentieth anniversary of Populorum Progressio. Sollicitudo rei Socialis is also known by the English title On Social Concerns. It was the first major Catholic Social Teaching document to mark the anniversary of a social encyclical other than Rerum Novarum." Source: Social Spirituality Read an introduction to Sollicitudo rei Socialis Read… Read More »1987: Pope John Paul II’s encyclical Sollicitudo Rei Socialis (‘On Social Concerns’)