Club meetings held on the 1st & 3rd Tuesday monthly.
Check our Upcoming Events calendar for meeting registration details (luncheon, hybrid or Zoom) or any changes.
Rotary has 7 Areas of Focus. Research identifies 8 Pillars of Positive Peace in well-functioning countries. The UN has 17 Sustainable Development Goals. As Rotarians we abide by the 4 Way Test seeking Truth – Fairness – Goodwill – and Benefit to all concerned in what we think, say and do. In the end, when the objective is a safe, peaceful, and sustainable world where everyone can achieve their potential, all of this is connected. We’ve been exploring these connections in the club and there is more to come in the weeks ahead.
Climate Consciousness
At our 20 September meeting Justice Brian Preston, Chief Judge of the NSW Land and Environment Court, told us that taking action to address climate change requires us to cultivate climate consciousness. He explained how climate activism, driven largely by students and young people, is moving into the legal sphere. Landmark cases abroad forcing governments to act in the interests of future generations have had a ripple effect. Just last week the UN Human Rights Committee found that Australia’s inaction on climate violated the civil and political rights of a group of Torres Strait Islanders. Community groups have also successfully challenged some mining developments in the courts on climate risk grounds.
We were told that we needed to cultivate a mindset of stubborn optimism to take action, collaboration to satisfy collective needs and wants, and radical regeneration of ourselves and nature, shifting our action compass from self-centric to nature-aligned.
NSW Plastics Ban and The Circular Economy
The RCS Climate Action Group (CAG), led by Thelma Raman, is doing its part to promote climate consciousness.
Environmental science and community concern about plastics has resulted in new laws being passed that ban or severely limit the use of plastics in our everyday lives. Some of these laws come into force on 1 November 2022. The CAG will host our next club meeting – over Zoom – on 4 October. Our guest speaker will be Ebony Johnson who will discuss what is behind the NSW Plastics Ban and how it will affect us all.
The ripple effect continues 10 October when the CAG will meet to discuss how the Circular Economy can reduce waste and promote sustainability, with guest speaker Professor Usha Iyer-Raniga. Learn what you can do to play your part.
Abolishing Nuclear Weapons
Vladimir Putin is threatening to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine. Kim Jong-un has passed a law enshrining the right to automatically use pre-emptive nuclear strikes if he feels threatened.
Many consider nuclear weapons a deterrent because their use would lead to unthinkable and therefore impossible ‘mutually assured destruction’. But the deterrent effect assumes that rational actors are in control - and there is reason to believe these days that this is not the case.
The UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons aims to stop the escalating nuclear threat. Learn more at our 14 October lunch meeting with guest speaker Gem Romuld, Australian Director of ICAN – the International Coalition to Abolish Nuclear Weapons – winner of the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize.
Aboriginal Harbour Heritage Tour
Deborah Hill and the RCS social committee have organised an event that gets us out and together in nature while expanding our cultural awareness.
Join us on Saturday morning 8 October as we admire the beauty and history of Sydney Harbour through the lens of the Gadigal. You will stroll along the stunning Sydney Harbour foreshore while listening to stories of Gadigal lifestyle, traditions, history and connection to country and community.
Peace in the Middle East
Ambitious? You bet.
Project Rozana is a people-to-people peacebuilding project that aims to improve relations in Israel/Palestine by focusing on improved health care training and delivery in Gaza and the West Bank. Rotary has been supportive in the background for several years, but its recent partnership with the Institute of Economics and Peace has moved that involvement to a higher level.
We will learn more about the successes – and challenges – of this project that connects Rotary principles, health, capacity building and peace from its founder Ron Finkel AM at a lunch meeting in November.
Details to follow.
And other things...
Rotary was there when the United Nations was founded in 1945 and it remains an important feature in our work
work. Geoffrey Little is organising the 2022 United Nations Day Gala Dinner at Parliament House on 21 October in conjunction with the United Nations Association of Australia (NSW)
Our Centennial Project, Rotary Give Every Child a Future, is now 92% funded. With your help we can achieve our goal to vaccinate 100,000 children in nine South Pacific countries.
Our club has always had a strong focus on supporting youth. Keep this up by donating to our YES! Youth Encouragement Scholarships.
Remember to visit our Facebook page and click to like the posts. Deborah Hill from our communications committee has been busy with posts. Thanks Deborah!
