Teresa Gambaro (Brisbane, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is with great pleasure today that I speak on the inspiring contribution of the Sisters of Charity to the Australian community. This is a year of celebration for the Sisters of Charity and it marks 175 years of service to Australia. It was my great honour to attend the celebrations to mark this significant event on Saturday 31 May at St Stephen's cathedral in Brisbane with the Sisters of Charity congregational leader, Sister Annette Cunliffe, as well as Sister Elizabeth Dodds who both celebrated their golden jubilee in 2012.

The Sisters of Charity order began in Dublin in 1815 at the request of Bishop Daniel Murray. It was a time of rising unemployment, poverty and famine. Sister Mary Aikenhead led the new religious women as they began their work, concentrating on religious instruction in schools, caring for orphans, repented women, visiting the sick and prisoners.

Mary led this order of nuns to take their work to the streets and, for the first time ever, work was done outside the secluded life of the convent. This great step forward earned the nuns the title of the 'walking nuns'. Their focus became one of helping the poorest and the most neglected in our community.

Among Mary's great achievements was the creation of schools, the realisation of great dream for a hospital. She dreamed of a facility where the poor would be treated with love and dignity. This continued throughout time and geography with my electorate of Brisbane being a beneficiary of Mary Aikenhead's dream.

The site where St Vincent's Private Hospital now stands at Kangaroo Point was originally known as Mount Olivet Hospital established by the Sisters of Charity in 1954. The hospice was dedicated to caring for the sick and dying, especially the poor.

In addition to setting up the hospice, the sisters also established St Finbarr's school in Ashgrove, Mt St Michael's College in Ashgrove in my electorate of Brisbane. The students of Mt St Michael's played a leading role in the May celebrations, being involved in the preparation, particularly in the areas of drama, dance, music and hospitality.

Mary Aikenhead was a visionary. Her ideas and practical mind on how to help the poor and the convicts infected all of those around her so when she was asked by Australia's first bishop, Bishop Beattie, to work with the Australian Catholic Church, there was no hesitation on the part of the five volunteers who made the long journey to begin their work in Australia.

They arrived in 1838 to commence their work with Catholic women convicts at the female factory in Parramatta. They walked everywhere visiting schools, hospitals, orphanages and jails. They were the first women religious order in Australia.

As I said, those of us who were fortunate to be able to attend the celebrations at St Stephen's cathedral were the beneficiaries of a joyous day of learning about the story of those five brave sisters who arrived in Australia in 1838 to carry on the inspirational work of their order and of Sister Mary Aikenhead of those caring for the less fortunate. I wish them all the best into the future.

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