Merry Christmas!  Peace on earth, and goodwill to all – that’s how the Christmas message goes, and my goodness, do we need to hear it this Christmas season!  It is hard to recall, let alone imagine, a time in the last 2000-plus years that the Middle East has been so lacking in peace, so torn apart, as it is today.

We may be safely 13,400 kilometres away, but the same seeds of malice are being sown in our community.  I was heartbroken to have Jewish people in Mallee tell me they don’t feel safe due to open anti-Semitism in the Australian community.  We must condemn it. The fire-bombing of a Melbourne synagogue must shock us into consciously rebuilding the civility we used to take for granted in our country.

Thankfully, the Christmas message sets out the template for us – vulnerability, forgiveness and generosity come to mind.  It might shock you to know, for instance, that while I am a member of The Nationals representing Mallee, I have people I consider friends on the Labor side of politics.  I have been overjoyed by what Dr Mike Freelander (a Sydney MP and medical doctor) and I have achieved as co-chairs of several Parliamentary Friends groups, particularly advocating for children dying with incurable cancers.  Much of what this government has done to provide access to medicines and potential cures owes to that spirit of bipartisanship, where MPs work across the aisle for the common good.  We agree often. You might not see it in the evening news, in the white-knuckle debates we have over critical topics like energy that our future hinges on – and you certainly don’t see it in Question Time.  Aged care reform and protecting children online are recent bipartisan moments for the common good or ‘common-wealth’ if you like.

The Christmas truce on the Western Front in 1914 saw carolling soldiers lay down their weapons and see the humanity in their opponents.  Our children, grandchildren and - if we are honest with ourselves – we, too, need to experience more peace and kindness.  And so I wish you a safe and peaceful Christmas.

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