Edited by Donna Freeman and Shireen Morris
$32.99
La Trobe University Press

The Uluru Statement from the Heart gets support from this collection of essays from religious figures around the country, including some from the Liberal Party.

Contributions mention the long relationships between Aboriginal people and some religious communities, such as Sikh and Afghan Muslim cameleers in the 19th century.

Others, such as the essay from Coptic priest and scholar Antonios Kaldas, talk about the shared pain of being minority communities in their own countries, destined to be ruled over by the descendants of later arrivals.

Contributions are not limited to local figures, with the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams discussing the violence of colonialism, the folly of the concept of Terra Nullus and the importance of indigenous stewardship over lands under threat from environmental degradation.

Regardless of your religious beliefs, or lack of them, Statements From the Soul takes a deep insight into The Voice and is a welcome development in a debate that is at risk of being just another battle in left-right culture wars.