December 19, 2014
Former Brisbane Lord Mayor – and ALP stalwart – Jim Soorley ventured into Queensland’s conservative heartland on Thursday to be the guest speaker at the Mayor’s Charity Christmas Lunch.
A packed Kingaroy Town Hall heard the former Catholic priest explain that Christmas was usually a time to reflect on the past year: what we have done well, and what we have done less well.
It was also a time for the nation to reflect: What are we doing well and what are we doing not so well?
He railed against the legal system, ie “Why would we spend $70,000 a year to keep a white-collar criminal (like former-MP Gordon Nuttall) in jail when a violent criminal (like Sydney siege gunman Man Haron Monis) is out on bail?”.
“Have we got our values right?” he asked.
Mr Soorley also bemoaned the loss of “mateship” in Australia, wondering aloud on what actually happened inside the Lindt Cafe in Martin Place. Why did some hostages choose to escape, while one chose to fight?
He said Australian values had changed.
“We are thinking of ourselves, not so much of the team,” he said.
He said a selfishness had developed in Australia in recent years, and this was also linked to the attitude to farmers and refugees.
Should there really be the need to debate who should pay for the drought: the government or the farmers?
He believed the community had a responsibility to support farmers who were desperate.
“That Australia has kids in prisons for being kids and running away from a desperate situation is not a country that I can be proud of,” he said.
“I understand that it’s complex. That we must be reasonable, we must protect our borders, but that should not excuse putting kids in prison where they are damaged for the rest of our lives.”
Mr Soorley said rural and regional Australia were preserving the real values of Australia, which were under challenge in the cities.
On many issues Australia was seeing “polarisation and selfishness”, but the Kingaroy lunch was the exact opposite.
“This gathering is a community coming together to say ‘ok, we must reach out and care for those who not as well off’,” he said.
“I want to congratulate this community, the mayor, the councillors, the businesses who have got in behind this, and most importantly you the community.”
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Compere Cheryl Dalton, who is chair of the Mayor’s Community Benefit Fund, said all the funds raised from the lunch would be distributed as vouchers to local people in need.
She thanked SupaIGA for donating the food for the day and the community groups who had offered to help.
Anonymous donors had provided cash injections of $1000 and $500; raffles on the day raised $1000 and an auction of two theatre tickets, donated by Jim Soorley, raised $600.
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I think Australia’s values started changing about 1974
What a stupid thing to say, comparing mateship and the decisions made by people involved in the Lindt cafe tragedy and remember, we only have the police and media reports of what happened. Easy for him to “preach from the safety of the pulpit” as opposed to staring down both barrels.