Victorian Bushfire Appeal Funds Function
As the Victorian Bushfires Appeal comes to an official close this 17th of April, a $50,000 cheque, raised by various Australian Muslim communities under the auspice of Muslim Aid Australia, was presented to the Hon Laurie Ferguson, Federal Member for Reid and Parliamentary Secretary to Multicultural & Settlement Services. Acknowledging and appreciating both the substantive and symbolic value of the contribution he then presented the cheque to Red Cross NSW’s Executive Director, Mr Lewis Kaplan, who also expressed words of thanks particularly as the effort represented their tagline of “the power of humanity”:
“Thank you very much indeed for this generous gesture an important and significant amount of money.”
Lewis Kaplan also reported the latest on the Appeal and the Recovery effort, highlighting their relief at being able to revise downwards the death toll numbers from over 200 to 173, but still a tragic outcome together with 7000 homeless, 2000 homes destroyed, along with destroyed businesses and community infrastructure. Regarding the road ahead, Lewis Kaplan surmised that:
“ It will take some many months before reconstruction is completed, probably more like some years. We expect that the funds that have been donated will be mostly expended by the end of the year.”
Mr Iman S.I. Partoredjo, the Executive Director of Muslim Aid Australia said:
“The Victorian bushfires of February 2009 this year had shocked and shaken the whole nation. But so too had it galvanized us all, and revealed again, esp in times of such crisis, the moral fibre that binds us, as Australians, as Humanity”.
He went on to say that it:
“. . . had galvanized the Muslim community at large to share the grief for, and the call to, this national crisis: This was one domestic concern we could not ignore”.
The Hon Laurie Ferguson in his address at the function importantly stated that:
“it is those groups that go beyond their narrow limited selves, to the broader society, that i think get more respect from people. And the fact that you’ve done this . . . , the fact that you went out to people who probably include very few Muslims quite frankly in that population in rural Victoria, this is so symbolic to Australian society. It is so important not only because it is right, but it is important as a symbol of national acceptance. . . You gain so many points for the community that people see your activity beyond the narrow. So on those words thank you very much for this effort; it’s part of a huge national binding together activity, work, commitment, money from people. And it’s great to be associated. . .”
The various Australian Muslim communities participating in this effort were the Islamic Council of NSW (the umbrella body of the state’s mosques and associations), the Voice of Islam Radio (broadcasting from the Bankstown-Canterbury districts), the Australian Council for Islamic Education in Schools (the umbrella body of Independent Muslim schools in Australia), the Muslim Community of Brisbane, and the Muslim Aid constituency Australia-wide. Mr Khaled Sukkarieh, Chairman of the Islamic Council spoke with passion saying:
“Muslims like all Australians felt with their heart for the Victorians, and regardless of race or creed we wanted to work hand in hand with the relief effort”
Muslim Aid Australia is an Australian-based INGO (international non-government organisation) working in both disaster response and in long-term development primarily focused abroad. It is a signatory to the Code of Conduct of both the International Federation Red Cross/Crescent Societies’, and of the Australian Council For International Development (ACFID). ACFID is the umbrella body of Australian INGOs. Muslim Aid Australia’s operational ethos is to serve humanity irrespective of race, colour, creed, or political belief. Notwithstanding its international focus, the organisation has been increasing its attention to domestic concerns. One such other local initiative was with Sydney’s homeless in support of Mission Australia.