Teresa Gambaro (Brisbane, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Citizenship and Settlement) Share this | Hansard source

On indulgence: it is with very great pleasure that I speak today on the canonisation of sister Mary MacKillop. Some hundreds of pilgrims in Brisbane gathered at St Stephen’s Cathedral on Sunday, where Mary MacKillop practised her religion more than 140 years ago. She is indeed a remarkable woman, and many of the speakers before me have mentioned her dedication to the poor, those who suffered and those in rural communities. She was born in Fitzroy, Victoria, in 1842 and was educated at a private school in Fitzroy and by her father. She received her first Holy Communion in 1850 at the age of eight.

She started work at a very young age as a clerk in Melbourne and later became a teacher in Portland. Because her family were of very poor circumstances, she took a job as a governess in 1860 at her aunt and uncle’s farm at Penola in South Australia, where she looked after and taught their children. As if that were not enough, she taught the other farm children on the Cameron estate as well. During this time, her work brought her in contact with Father Woods, who had been the parish priest in the south-east since his ordination in 1857. MacKillop stayed for two years with the Camerons of Penola before she accepted a teaching job. She taught in Portland in Victoria in 1862. Father Woods was very concerned about the lack of education in South Australia, particularly the lack of good Catholic education, so in 1866 he invited MacKillop and her sisters Annie and Lexie to come to Penola to open up a Catholic school. They started from very humble beginnings and opened up in a stable. After a bit of renovation by their brother, the MacKillops started teaching more than 50 children. At this time Mary made a declaration of her dedication to God, and she began by wearing black.

In 1867 MacKillop was the first sister and mother superior of the newly formed Order of the Sisters of Saint Joseph of the Sacred Heart, and she moved to a new convent in Adelaide. The same year, at the age of 25, she adopted the religious name of Sister Mary of the Cross. Many people have spoken about the history of Mary MacKillop and the sisters and their endeavours, particularly about the fact that there was no ownership of personal belongings, their faith that God would provide for them and their emphasis on poverty and helping others.

Everyone in Australia at the moment has a link to Mary MacKillop. It is befitting that I mention the Queensland link, because she did serve for a time in Queensland. She arrived in Queensland on 31 December 1869 after an invitation from Brisbane’s first Catholic Bishop, James Quinn. She was one of five sisters of St Joseph who rented a house in South Brisbane. They rented a house in Tribune Street, but the house was so very small that they then moved to a hotel in Montague Street, South Brisbane. In 1870 they opened up three schools in Brisbane for poor children and another school in Maryborough. During her time in Brisbane, MacKillop was the head teacher at St Mary’s School in South Brisbane, before she returned to Adelaide in April 1871. It is befitting to mention her legacy in Queensland, and the previous speaker, the member for Moreton, spoke about the number of schools that were set up, including the one that I just mentioned in South Brisbane. There were a number of schools throughout Brisbane and in country areas like Claremont, Rockhampton, Ipswich, Mackay, Allora and Pittsworth.

Mary MacKillop made a number of trips to Brisbane and Queensland in her life, establishing schools, convents and orphanages. She was a strong-willed woman, and there is no doubt that she had altercations with the church. That caused her to be asked to leave Brisbane by the mid-1800s by Bishop James Quinn. But the sisters did eventually return and they set up more schools.

I would like to place on record some insights from some of the pilgrims who gathered at St Stephens. There were many pilgrims who came to celebrate this very special day. They include a teacher, Karen Mulcahy, who, with her parents, Del and Ben Mulcahy, travelled from Lismore to participate at the celebrations at St Stephens. Ms Mulcahy said, ‘There is still a strong connection’—with Mary MacKillop—‘in the education system.’ She said, ‘The “down-to-earth” connection with teachers in the catholic education section is Sister Mary MacKillop’s legacy to modern Australia.’ She said that, working as a teacher, she had the privilege of having her first posting with the Josephite sisters. ‘I just loved working with them,’ she said. ‘I loved their down-to-earth hospitality. Their genuine sense of real integrity. Putting money where their mouth is.’ Miss Mulcahy believes that this is Mary MacKillop’s gift to Australia. Ms Mulcahy said:

For modern Australia it is great because she stood up for what she believed in, she didn’t just go along because that was the right thing to do.

She actually challenged what was going on around her and I think that sense of spirit is something that we can associate with whether we are religious or not.

It is a great privilege to have Mary MacKillop canonised, and I want to end with the words of Father Ken Howell of St Stephens Cathedral, who said:

It’s a first for Australia and it’s a significant moment in the history of our country because now canonised saints are from here, one of our own.

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