Media Release
March 21, 2005
UniSA asks - Can compassion go global?
The wasted images of coastal villages from Sri Lanka and Thailand, to the Maldives and Indonesia blasted their way into homes across the world after the December 26 Tsunami. The spontaneous human response to give arose almost as suddenly and forcefully.
Chief Executive of World Vision Australia, Tim Costello, and long time campaigner for social justice in Australia, believes the universal compassion and generosity exhibited in response to the tsumani is something we need to capture long term.
At the inaugural ‘Focus on Rights’ public lecture from UniSA’s Hawke Centre, Tim Costello will discuss how global compassion that transcends traditional racial and religious barriers may well be evolving as the ethical foundation of globalisation.
Tim Costello will deliver his address at the Adelaide Town Hall tomorrow, March 22 from 5.30pm.
“In the aftermath of the tsunami we were witness to some of the most unimaginable suffering of hundreds of thousands of people across Asia, and then a corresponding outpouring of sympathy,” Costello says.
“The Australian Government and many, many, Australian people responded with unprecedented generosity and that was repeated around the world.
“Help was provided without a thought about race, religion or national affiliation – it was a human response on a world scale.”
Costello will argue that while globalisation has long been associated with the commercial world, mass communication of a natural disaster on the scale of the Boxing Day Tsunami has unearthed an ethical aspect of globalisation in response to our universal vulnerability. Costello believes it is something we must build on.
Named Victorian of the Year in 2004, Tim Costello studied Law and Education at Monash University before completing a Masters of Theology at Melbourne College of Divinity and becoming a Baptist Minister.
He established a vibrant ministry in St Kilda between 1986 and 1994 and was elected Mayor of St Kilda in 1993.
In 1995 he was appointed Minister of the Collins Street Baptist Church and Executive Director of Urban Seed, a not for profit organisation providing outreach services to the urban poor. He has been a social justice campaigner on a range of issues including homelessness, poverty, problem gambling, reconciliation and substance abuse.
Author of several books including Streets of Hope, Finding God in St Kilda, and Tips from a Travelling Soul Searcher, he was appointed Chief Executive of World Vision Australia in March 2004.
The public lecture is free but places need to be reserved by telephoning 08 8302 0215. More information about this Hawke Centre lecture is available online at www.hawkecentre.unisa.edu.au
Media contact
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Michèle Nardelli office (08) 8302 0966 mobile 0418 823 673 email michele.nardelli@unisa.edu.au