The Uniting Church of Australia has lost up to $5 million in a major swindle, which is being investigated by police.
It could be months before the full extent of the theft becomes clear, as accountants look into exactly how much money has disappeared.
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Australian authorities said motorists who refused to take off face-covering veils such as the burqa when asked to do so by police could be sent to jail for up to a year.
“It’s nice not to be the silent referent to other people’s description of migrants as ‘the marginalised” and ‘the oppressed.’ I’m sure a lot of Australians – migrants and home grown alike – feel the same” says Robert Hiini, who migrated from with his parents from New Zealand to Australia when he was 15. “It Read more
Police, security guards, an alcohol ban and a morning game of rugby were all used to prevent two Catholic secondary schools from engaging in another brawl at their annual fixture in Sydney on Saturday. The match was between Marist Brothers, St Joseph’s College in Hunter’s Hill (Joeys) and the Jesuit St Ignatius’ college (Riverview). The measures Read more
He still believes in God, but Fr Peter Kennedy does not believe in Jesus, rather considering him to be a fable. Kennedy, dismissed from his Queensland parish for unorthodoxy such as allowing women to preach and blessing same-sex marriages, hasn’t entirely given up on God, although he does not believe He intervenes in the lives Read more
A proposed law change by Australian Independent Senator, Nick Xenophon, requiring priests to disclose the sins of penitents, has been dismissed by Fr Brian Lucas, Secretary of the Australian Catholic Bishops’ Conference. “His proposal does nothing to protect children and flies in the face of a fundamental right of people to practice their religion,” Father Read more
The Atheist Foundation of Australia is urging Australians with no religious affiliation to tick the “no religion” box in the up-coming census. Billboards urging Australians with no religious affiliation to tick the “no religion” option have begun to appear around parts of NSW and the foundation has launched a website urging Australians to tick the “no religion” Read more
Australian Muslims want interest-free loans for religious reasons, and recognition of sharia law as it applies to banking practices and family law. These are the main outcomes from a survey of Australia’s Muslim leaders and revealed by the Sun Herald newspaper. Imam Yusuf Parker, from the Alhidayah Centre in Perth, said Islam forbade the charging or Read more
‘Today, unfortunately, it seems that every possible barrier is put in the way of asylum seekers and refugees who come to Australia seeking protection from persecution,” she said. ”They also seek the fulfillment of their fundamental human rights and ultimately a better quality of life in a free and democratic society.” said Judith Troeth in her valedictory Read more
No blackboards, 200 students in a mega-classroom, agile learning areas, open-plan rooms where much larger groups, and sometimes even the whole school, learn under one roof are increasingly part of the Catholic school system in the Sydney diocese of Parramatta. With a stated goal of closing the last traditional classroom within 5 years, executive director of Read more