We gather on Palm Sunday, less than a week from the tragic events of Good Friday.

This is also a time when members of other faiths are seeking spiritual renewal. Just a fortnight ago our Muslim friends concluded the season of Ramadan, a time for fasting reflection and community and for generosity towards those who have less than we do. Just last evening our Jewish friends began the Festival of Passover, a time to remember the blessing of freedom and liberation.

Central to all spiritual and religious traditions and indeed human experience is the quest for hope. Hope motivates, it gives us a reason to get out of bed in the morning and strive for a better future. Hope connects, it causes us to reach out to others who share the same passion. Hope is about ‘we’ not just about ‘me’.

But where hope is absent, fear and anxiety flourish. We retreat into our own isolated world, worried about those who we think might take it from us. Tragically, those who live without hope, end up stealing it from others.

And that is the story of so much policy and practice towards refugees and asylum seekers over the past decade, both in Australia and abroad.

According to the UNCHR the number of people living as refugees has almost doubled over that period from 19 to 38 million.

That could have been an opportunity for us to expand our horizons, to spread rather than deny hope. Far too often we’ve built walls rather than bridges.

So we’ve seen thousands detained in offshore detention in conditions that were unsafe, unhealthy and inhumane.

We’ve seen precious lives lost as a result of suicide, murder and medical negligence.

And while progress has been made in some areas, there is still work to be done. There are still 140 people being held in offshore detention in Papua New Guinea and Nauru who must be brought to the Australian mainland.

Today in particular I call on the government and the opposition to commit to expanding the Community Refugee Integration and Settlement Pilot Program (CRISP) as a matter of urgency.

CRISP gives groups of locals, including those with a faith background, the opportunity to welcome refugees into their community, supporting them from day one of their Australian journey.

Increasing the number of places under that program to 2,000 and making them in addition to and not a replacement for other places under the humanitarian intake would be a powerful and tangible investment in a better tomorrow.

The theme of today’s rally is ‘Say Yes to Refugees!’

I would add… Let’s say yes to a just future.

Let’s say yes to community.

Let’s say yes to working together for a world and a nation and a city and a neighbourhood where all are welcome.

Let’s say yes to hope. R