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Arroyo & Peters Set Inter-Faith Dialogue Agenda
Scoop News: Arroyo And Peters Set Inter-Faith Dialogue Agenda – Oh To Censor
By Joseph Barratt - AUT
The opening of the 3rd interfaith dialogues, at Waitangi New Zealand on Tuesday saw calls for the media to self-regulate amongst statements of praise for New Zealand.
The interfaith dialogues aim to bring together moderate religious groups to increase understanding of each other. The ultimate goal is to reduce religious radicalization and terrorist activities.
The dialogues are sponsored by New Zealand, Australia, Indonesia and the Philippines in the wake of the 2004 Bali bombings and are attended by states from around South-East Asia.
Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo praised Helen Clark calling her a “catalyst for change” and then went on to say that the Philippines looked up to New Zealand in its treatment of its indigenous people.
The call for voluntary media regulation was also advanced by President Arroyo who brought back issues identified in the last inter-faith dialogue in Cebu, Philippines.
President Arroyo claims that work has been done to educate and encourage increased understanding between faiths but “in the field of media there is much work to do”.
“We renew the call for codes of conduct and standards for the exercise of media responsibility,” president Arroyo said, then calling for more ”dialogue between the media and faith communities”.
Winston Peters had earlier criticised protesters outside the treaty grounds saying that they were disrespectful to the marae and the people of Northland claiming that “freedom of speech has certain limitations”.
Which led President Arroyo to reference Mr Peters by saying, “In a democracy there are responsibilities and there should be codes of conduct in exercising our rights and liberties.”
The Philippines in recent years has come under pressure from the United Nations and Amnesty International for 'political killings' which are often attributable to the Philippine military.
The opening also saw Alexander Downer, Australian foreign affairs minister, announce Cambodia as the next host for the inter-faith dialogues.
Cambodia is a majority Buddhist country and according to Mr Downer the move is seen to embrace the diversity represented by the inter-faith dialogues.
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