GordonMoyes.com

Billy Graham celebrated his ninetieth birthday this week. Graham has preached in person to more than 215 million people in more than 185 countries during his more than 70 years of ministry. Billy Graham is believed to have spoken face-to-face with more people in more places than any other person in history.

This week Dr Jim Nixon Pendlebury, the honorary treasurer of Wesley Mission Sydney for 40 years, decided to retire and not seek re-election. His has been an extraordinary term of service, not only in its length of time but also in its growing complexity and detail. In his years of service he has overseen the accounting and raising of more than a billion dollars in New South Wales alone, which has been used to serve the needy in our State.

Many people here today will be familiar with the work of English parliamentarian William Wilberforce, especially since the release last year of the film about his work against the slave trade called Amazing Grace. Another social reform Wilberforce championed was the founding of the first Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, an institution that has been replicated around the world and which is a very important part of our community here in New South Wales, reflecting the compassion of people through the humane treatment of animals.

I rise today to tell you about a very special aid organisation that performs real miracles throughout the developing world. The Christian Blind Mission International is a Christian international development organisation whose primary purpose is to improve the quality of life of people with disabilities, as well as to reduce the risk of disability, particularly for people living in the poorest areas of the world. In fact, Christian Blind Mission is the largest organisation in the world working with people with disabilities.

I rise to tell you about a worthwhile program that has been running in the Northern Beaches area over the past 3 years, to address community grief and loss. Established first in early 2005, this program is dedicated to “helping people say yes to life again” after every kind of loss. The program enables, educates, and empowers grieving people at a low cost, potentially making it available to everybody who needs it.

Tonight I am pleased to inform the House of another excellent church-based initiative set up to offer practical assistance and friendship to a particularly vulnerable segment of our community—the women who survive by selling themselves on the streets of Sydney, particularly around Kings Cross. I will not try to civilise what they do by calling it “the sex industry”. It is not a regular, decent industry with set hours, safe working conditions, sick leave and public holidays. It is a harrowing last resort for desperate people.

Tonight I inform the House of a great initiative to combat alcohol abuse in our community. In an age where the community is plagued by binge drinking, especially among youth, and the emergence of alcohol-related violence in bars, pubs and clubs, it is important to mention the positive and successful stories that come from effective partnerships between local communities, Christian churches and local police.

Last week I had the privilege of hosting a book launch here in Parliament House. Caroline Fraser launched her first novel, Jocelyn’s Journey, published by Ark House Publishing, a wonderful story of love and triumph told against the tragic history of colonial Australia. It was my privilege to write the foreword to her book.

In 2007 Mission Australia conducted its sixth annual survey of young Australians. This survey was for those aged 11 to 24 years and explored what young people value, what concerns them, where they turn for advice and support, their level of engagement in the community and who they admire. Close to 29,000 young people from communities across Australia participated, providing a rich source of information on some key areas of their lives.

Reverend the Hon. Dr Gordon Moyes: The Earth Hour saw a remarkable response from average people. People all over the world joined millions in Sydney in turning off lights for one hour last Saturday night. More than 1,700 companies turned off their lights and half of the consumers on the national grid did the same. It was reported that more than two million Victorian families flicked switches and turned off appliances last Saturday night, resulting in a 10-per cent drop in energy use across Melbourne.