‘Love is a verb’: Red Shield Appeal launch captivates Melbourne crowd
- kirranicolle
- 1 day ago
- 7 min read
Updated: 3 hours ago
BY KIRRALEE NICOLLE
By attending and supporting the work of The Salvation Army, those gathered at a gala lunch had chosen to be the hope that people needed in a cost-of-living crisis, a Salvation Army leader told invitees at the Melbourne Red Shield Appeal Launch on Friday.
Hundreds of dignitaries, executives and philanthropists gathered at Melbourne’s Fed Square to listen to stories of hope and healing while enjoying a three-course meal and live music. TV presenter Kris Smith was master of ceremonies, and the Welcome to Country was delivered by Wurundjeri Elder Uncle Perry Wandin.
Those in attendance included State Member for Footscray Katie Hall MP on behalf of the Premier of Victoria the Honourable Jacinta Allan MP and Minister for Housing of Victoria Harriet Shing MP, Senator for Victoria Jana Stewart, Salvation Army Territorial Commander Commissioner Miriam Gluyas, Chief Secretary Colonel Winsome Merrett and Victorian Divisional Commander Colonel Kelvin Merrett.
“We all have choices,” Colonel Winsome Merrett said in her address. “And by being here this afternoon and supporting our work, you’ve chosen to be the hope that people need. Your work alongside us to share the love of Jesus in practical and helpful ways makes a significant difference.”
As part of the proceedings, the Victorian State Government announced a pledge of $150,000 towards the Red Shield Appeal.
Representatives from Victoria Police and Fire Rescue Victoria were also in attendance.
The testimonial speaker, Priya*, told of her experience in a controlling and violent arranged marriage, where she was subjected to “every form of abuse; emotional, physical, financial, cultural, sexual and coercive”. She told how she was forced to deep clean the house each day before going to work. She said she was forbidden from using certain bathrooms or furniture, and was refused proper meals, forced to eat only leftovers and stale or expired food.
“It was a storm of torment that I couldn’t escape,” she said. “The emotional toll was unbearable. I felt like I was suffocating, not just physically, but also emotionally. I was broken.”
She told how, after the situation intensified and her fear turned to terror, she grabbed her passport and documents and ran for her life. After calling Safe Steps Family Violence Response Centre, she was connected with The Salvation Army, which provided her with emergency accommodation and then short-term accommodation.
“The first night in the emergency accommodation, even after all the fear and everything I just went through, it was the first time in months I felt an inch of happiness,” Priya said. “I sat down in a quiet room, made myself a hot plate of mac and cheese, and I turned on an old episode of The Big Bang Theory.”
She said that in the care of The Salvation Army, she began to come home to herself.
“I couldn't trust anyone, but day by day, everyone at the Salvos showed me what kindness and dignity feels like,” Priya said.
Priya said it now felt powerful to use her voice, which had once been silenced, to help others feel seen, heard and safe.
“Today my life looks very different, and I say this with a lot of joy and pride,” she said. “I am no longer a victim of abuse. I am a survivor. I’m an advocate and a woman finding herself, a woman finding her way back to herself. Apart from being successful in my professional career, I now work with the Victorian Government and organisations like The Salvation Army, where I can advocate for change and help change policies on meaningful projects that focus on mental health, family violence, safety for women and children, education and safety.”
Keynote speaker Shamal Dass, an investment banker and Head of Family Advisory and Philanthropic Services at JBWere, spoke about his background, growing up in Fiji before emigrating to Australia, and how his “big, loving, caring family” was his “greatest asset of all.” He said research shows that many people in Australia are not so blessed.
“A family like mine is worth its weight in gold, and no market can tell you its price or its value,” he said. “So, when those people without that family are suffering, where do they go? If they are fleeing violence, who do they turn to? Where do they go when they can't afford something as basic and dignified as a funeral for their loved one? They go to the Salvation Army and other amazing organisations just like them who do the work every day.”
Although his ancestors were born in southern India, Shamal described how he came to be born in Fiji to hardworking, middle-class parents who descended from those who were relocated from India to Fiji as part of an indentured labour scheme to develop the sugarcane industry.
Following the Fijian coups d'état in 1987, Shamal’s family spread to Canada, New Zealand and Australia. He told how his own family packed a container and arrived in Australia in October, with the jarring cold shocking to a family used to tropical temperatures. He described how, as a family of five, they moved into his uncle’s two-bedroom apartment.
“By some definitions of homelessness today, we were technically homeless,” Shamal said. “This I didn’t find out until about three years ago when I was on a board working on homelessness.”
Shamal said he first discovered the word philanthropy after he had established himself as an investment banker. He said he was stunned by the amounts of money people had and were able to give away or leave behind.
“I just kept asking two questions in my head: why were there so many people in so much need that we needed philanthropy? And then [the] second question was, how did all these funders and how did all these charities know they were even making a difference by spending that money? And that is the thing that has actually informed everything I’ve done since then in all my roles.”
Shamal said he wanted to talk about why a country of such unimaginable wealth as Australia had so much disadvantage.
“The story of the last 50 years is actually the story of capitalism as the dominant force in Western economies and, in fact, affecting the economies around it.”
Shamal described the history of capitalism from its inception in the 1450s on the island of Madeira, a Portuguese colony off the coast of Morocco.
“What makes capitalism distinct is the commodification of three things: the commodification of land, the commodification of capital and the commodification of people,” Shamal said.
Shamal said while there were differing types of capitalism, we live in a “perverse, hyper-realised, neoliberal version of it”.
“The reason it is different is because it has redefined people as consumers and economic agents,” he said. “There is very little room for human beings in this system. What we do is now defer to the deity-like wisdom of markets to tell us what is valuable and what is not through price.
“In this version of capitalism, winners and losers are just an outcome of the system. The markets decide inequity is acceptable, and in fact necessary, in this system to flourish. The narrative in our system is if you’re wealthy, it’s because of merit. If you are poor, then you must be some sort of unenterprising, weak, soft, undeserving fool because if you got it together, then you wouldn’t be, right?”
Shamal challenged those in the crowd to give to The Salvation Army to “send a signal to everyone that they’re worthy of compassion and kindness and dignity”, and not a “commodity or an output of the system”. He also asked them to leverage any role they held to help shape the system to be one that is more just, kind and reflective of who we are as a society. He then asked them to, most importantly, fulfil their duty to their neighbour.
“There is very little room for human beings in this system.”
“There are too many people suffering in the system, and we can hear the toll of the bell, and it is getting louder,” Shamal said. “We are all connected. We are all part of a greater, larger family and a community. So, when we see those statistics, it must move us to action. It must actually move you. Every woman who is sleeping on the streets, every child who is in jail, every young man who commits suicide should actually move us. It should hurt.
“In the immortal words of John Donne, ‘any man’s death diminishes me because I’m involved in mankind, and therefore, never send to know for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee’.”
Shamal ended his speech with the lyrics from a song by the band Massive Attack.
“If you forget all that I’ve said, I’m asking you to remember one simple thing, and it is best summed up by my favourite lyric from a song called Teardrop: ‘Love, love is a verb. Love is a doing word’.”
Commissioner Miriam Gluyas presented the Others Award to Design Group Australia for its 25 years of dedicated support to The Salvation Army, and the Eva Burrows Award to donors Geoff and Louise Barrow, who together with their networks raised more than $370,000 towards a Salvos Housing property for at-risk families in Victoria.
“To achieve that project last year was probably one of the most fulfilling things we’ve ever done,” Geoff said in his response. “So, we’d like to thank the Salvos for all the good work that you do all the time, and it’s been a real privilege to be part of it with you.”
*Not her real name
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