Event	A Symposium on Muslims, Jews and Christians
Location	Brisbane Muslim School, 724 Blunder Road, Durack
Time	6PM, Saturday, November 5, 2005.

Acknowledgments

- Traditional custodians of the land

- Phillip aspinall, anglican archbishop of brisbane and primate of australia

- Brian Finnigan, Auxilliary Roman Catholic Bishop of Brisbane

- Rabbi Uri Themal, Rabbi of Temple Shalom Gold Coast

- Keysar Trad, Chairman of Islamic Friendship association of Australia

- Campbell Newman, Lord Mayor of Brisbane

- Geraldine Doogue, Facilitator

now, more than ever, we need people of goodwill from all faiths to come together to focus on our shared values.

I’m delighted that this symposium has as its theme “An open look at what brings us together” and I trust that you will find a great deal of common ground in the course of this evening’s presentations.

These three great religions originated in the middle east.

They each proclaim that there is only one god and each of them sets out a code of conduct which would be acceptable to all reasonable people.

yet they are in conflict, especially in the ancient holy land which is sacred territory for all three systems of faith.

unfortunately that has often been the case – extremism and intolerance have been features of the histories of all three religions.

it is usually only a very tiny minority in each religion that adopts extreme attitudes and behaves accordingly.

However, the consequences can be terrifying.

So the need for dialogue has never been greater and I congratulate everybody involved in organising this symposium.

It is from such small steps that we can begin a process of healing and understanding to make the world a safer place.

Intolerance and hatred have no place in our society; mutual respect and understanding are the values we should all be striving for.

I know that everybody here tonight shares that view and I look forward to seeing it disseminated throughout your congregations.

I now declare this symposium officially opened.