Six places of worship in the key electorate of Boothby and three religious buildings in Sturt have put up banners calling for stronger climate action in a show of unified concern at this election. They span a wide range of traditions including Quaker, Muslim, Sikh, Anglican, Catholic and Uniting Church.
Peter Cranwell from Blackwood Uniting Church in Boothby says concern over the climate is a major concern in his faith community and many others.
“These are times when we badly need leaders who will recognise the reality of climate change and the effect it is having right now.”
“Plenty of people are finding things hard financially at the moment too. There is a recognition that that means we need to vote for parties and candidates that have a clear plan to tackle the climate problem and do so in a way that also helps keep costs down. Not everyone is offering that.”
“Our banner says ‘Bold climate action by 2040 starting now’. Our church has recognised that we need to get emissions to zero by 2040, not 2050, and that we need to be getting on with it urgently.”
“The experts are saying nuclear energy won’t be built until the late 2030s at best. So it just won’t address the climate crisis soon enough. There is such a thing as being too late.”
“They’re also saying it will drive our power bills up. Solar and wind are cheaper and being built right now.”
“We are not actually political people. It’s just that this is so clearly a faith and justice issue. Our neighbours in the Pacific and the Torres Strait are threatened by their homes going underwater. Here in South Australia we are looking at this awful drought. We’ve seen cyclones and floods in Queensland lately too.”
“We can’t look away. We need to act.”
In Boothby the places of worship that have put up banners are Blackwood Uniting Church, the Church of the Trinity (Clarence Park), St Therese Catholic Church, Kingswood Catholic Church, Holy Innocents Anglican and the Masjid Omar Bin Alkhattab (Marion Mosque).
In Sturt the climate banners are flying outside the Glen Osmond Gurdwara, Morialta Uniting Church and the Quaker opportunity shop.
The banners are part of a national faith-based campaign organised by the Australian Religious Response to Climate Change (ARRCC) in which more than 200 places of worship have put up climate action banners and more than 90 that have been handing out climate-themed signs for people to put up in front of their homes.
Leaders from several religious traditions including the President of the Uniting Church in Australia, Reverend Charissa Suli, the President of the Multi Faith Association of South Australia and Chair of Religions for Peace Philippa Rowland, and the Anglican Archbishop of Brisbane the Most Reverend Jeremy Greaves and put out a joint video message last week encouraging Australians to vote on the climate issue.
Media enquiries
Tim Brunero
0405 285 547