Source: Australian Ministers 1
Good morning, everyone.
I begin by acknowledging the traditional owners and pay my respects to Elders past, present and emerging, and to all First Nations people joining us here today.
Friends, I am delighted to be representing the Prime Minister at this event again this year, as I did last year.
Thank you, Max, for enlightening us in such an articulate and authentic way. I’m sure that everyone here, like me, will think about grace differently today and in future days.
This event brings people together across beliefs, party lines and civil society. It demonstrates that there’s more that unites us than divides us.
As the Member for Greenway in North West Sydney, I represent one of Australia’s fastest growing, multi-faith, multi-lingual, multi-cultural electorates – a place where people of all faiths and cultures live side by side, enriching our local communities and our country.
But some of you might ask: what is the connection between communications and faith? Why is the Communications Minister here?
Well, to faith, communication is fundamental. The early Christians were always writing letters – for example, of the 27 books in the New Testament, 21 are epistles, or letters, many of which were written by Paul.
Some letters were addressed to individuals, while others were sent to churches in various cities. Letters to the Romans, the Corinthians, the Ephesians, the Thessalonians, and the list goes on.
Now, Paul was the great communicator. In fact, he shares the same Feast Day as Peter. But to my mind, while Peter may have been the CEO, the rock, the first Pope, Paul was the COO. And, as we know, the Chief Operating Officer is the one who does the hard yards.
He was travelling around the Mediterranean being imprisoned, rejected, but he was always communicating. And without a formal postal service, many of these letters were delivered by hand by the travellers and couriers of the day. And it was international mail – not par avion, by aeroplane, but by donkey, camel and boat.
And that brings me to faith.
Faith has long been about communicating with people and connecting to share wisdom and teachings.
Fast forward to the 21st century and during the COVID-19 pandemic, there were congregations, be they Muslim, Hindu, Jewish and Christian, utilising the National Broadband Network to bring people together in faith with video conferencing and streaming services of church and other supports.
Australia Post has never been busier, as people showed one another their care by sending cards and packages.
For me, it was sending my best Jewish friends in Melbourne who were locked down for significant holidays, gifts of honey and bagels, which I ordered online.
But personally, what was most important to me, was observing my devout Catholic father, Frank, attend mass virtually every day. He would tune into different masses around Australia, and, for a man in his 90s who had always been close to God, he had never been closer.
And he was calling me and telling me about his daily mass. And, for the record, his favourite exotic location was from the Darwin Cathedral, with a homily he said brought him to tears and genuinely in God’s presence.
At a time when we were particularly concerned about the elderly, protecting them from the virus, as well as the isolation, and creating and keeping safe, the power of broadcasting medium in televising religious gatherings as well as keeping us informed of world events really came to the fore.
Recent events demonstrate the extremely difficult times that people are experiencing around the world.
Almost three years since Russia invaded Ukraine and more than a year on from the horrific attacks in Israel, we have seen such devastation and despair, including today in Lebanon, my husband’s homeland.
It is the job of the media over television, radio, print and digital to communicate these harrowing, confronting images and stories – stories that test people’s faith, test their faith in humanity, but which must be told.
And it is the role of faith leaders to help their communities draw upon their faith, to make sense of the world, and to reach people using all available platforms to spread love, understanding, peace, hope and grace in this world of conflict and complexity.
Now, technology and digital media has changed the way we worship, connect and learn about faith.
But the online environment can also test our values and expose people, particularly children, to online harms.
And when it comes to spreading messages, the unfortunate reality is that the internet can, and is, used to spread fear, intolerance, hate and violence. Generative AI and algorithms mean that harmful or false messages can now instantaneously spread and take hold in a matter of hours.
This is why the Government- why I’m sure the Parliament- is working to assert our Australian values with laws in the online environment to make platforms more accountable for their actions.
While the challenge of online regulation is great, it’s imperative that our resolve is greater. And I have the utmost faith in Australia’s democratic institutions, in our public service, our Parliament, the judiciary, the media and the Australian people to ensure Australia’s will is done online.
In closing, friends, last year you might remember this event coincided with my 25th wedding anniversary and I reflected on how love and sacrifice are the same thing.
This year, I’ve reflected on how there’s so much that challenges our faith, but how it is actually faith that gets us through.
Let’s keep coming together in prayer, let’s keep communicating, and let’s strive towards the central call in all of Saint Paul’s letters, which is to keep the faith.
Thank you.
MIL OSI News –