Trent Zimmerman (North Sydney, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) celebrates the sesquicentenary of the Sisters of St Joseph and acknowledges the inspiration of St Mary of the Cross Mackillop;

(2) acknowledges the great works that the Sisters of St Joseph do all over the country in caring for the aged, education, supporting woman and families and partnering with Indigenous Australians to achieve outcomes;

(3) recognises that regional communities are a special part-focus of work for the order, since it was founded in Penola in South Australia in 1866; and

(4) congratulates the Sisters of St Joseph for the wonderful works they have done over the last 150 years and looks forward to the continuing works into the future.

I am delighted to move that this House celebrates the sesquicentenary of the Sisters of St Joseph, as it is important that this parliament joins with so many Australians to reflect on their extraordinary contribution to our nation.

At the heart of the story of the sisters is, of course, Australia's first Catholic saint, Mary of the Cross MacKillop. As she did 150 years ago, Saint Mary continues to serve as a source of inspiration for so many people, whether of the Catholic faith or otherwise. Her selfless life of service to the spiritual and temporal needs of her fellow citizens remains a beacon of hope and example from which we can all learn. Indeed, the story of Mary MacKillop is, by any measure, the story of Australia's own progress and development as a nation. She has come to embody all those virtues that we like to think are at the heart of our national character.

Saint Mary and the sisters have had an impact on Australians from all walks of life. Perhaps most notably, Mary MacKillop and the sisters played a vital role in establishing our understanding that universal education, no matter someone's means or circumstances, is the foundation for our success as individuals and as a society. Their work with Indigenous Australians, commencing at a time when few thought that Indigenous Australians should be afforded the dignity and rights of their fellow citizens, was groundbreaking.

Like many Australians, Mary MacKillop's story begins with a family who migrated from the old world in search of a better life. That was not to be easily realised, and the family that Mary MacKillop's parents raised in suburban Melbourne was to experience considerable hardship. As the eldest child, responsibility often fell to her to support her family. At just 18, she undertook the journey to Penola, a small regional town in South Australia, to become governess to her aunt and uncle's children. Saint Mary's experience in Penola was to have a profound impact on her future, both through her own personal experiences and because it brought her into contact with a local parish priest, Father Julian Woods. Father Woods was to become a major influence in her spiritual life, and the foundation of the sisters became very much a collaborative undertaking by them both.

Education in colonial Australia was sparse and mostly in the hands of families of means. Schools and good teachers were well out of reach for many rural, and certainly most Aboriginal, Australians. For girls and young women, the situation was particularly dire. This was to become the first and enduring mission of Saint Mary and the sisters she founded in a Penola barn in 1866. Within just three years, they had established 21 schools in Adelaide and the surrounding countryside. The order, growing in numbers and success, sent hundreds of young women across colonial Australia to educate the poor and impoverished. But the success was not without its hurdles; Mary MacKillop faced challenges from both within and without the Church. What today would be taken for granted, was considered 150 years ago nothing short of revolutionary. Sir Henry Parkes perhaps summed up some of the best sentiments when he was once reported as saying, 'The Sisters of St Joseph are like white ants; when once they enter a locality, you cannot even starve them out!'

But it was the maxim 'Who will speak if you don't' and their deep faith and determination that saw Saint Mary and the sisters overcome the obstacles that were so frequently placed in their way. The order, forever growing in numbers and outreach, transferred its headquarters to North Sydney, in my electorate, in 1898. In 1909 more than 600 Josephites mourned Saint Mary's death. She left behind an educational system across Australia that provided schooling to tens of thousands of children. Mary's legacy has lived on through the Sisters of St Joseph. Today the sisters' work extends across Australia and beyond our shores to Peru, Brazil and East Timor. Although they no longer run parishes, education remains a core mission, and they continue to provide services and dignity to many Australians, no matter what their creed, colour or faith. They continue to be a hand of compassion for people longing for a decent life—women of the church living their faith through devotion to social justice and equality. Their example encourages us all to see the best in each other and to recognise that all Australians deserve the dignity and opportunities that we now regard as an innate right. In this, their sesquicentenary, we thank and congratulate the Sisters of St Joseph for their role in shaping our country and our culture and for the incredible work they do around Australia and the world today. I commend the motion to the House.

Russell Broadbent (McMillan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Can I have a seconder, please?

Tony Pasin (Barker, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the motion and reserve my right to speak.

Chris Hayes (Fowler, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I congratulate the member for North Sydney in moving this motion, drawing attention to this milestone—150 years since the founding of the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart. The Sisters of St Joseph have certainly enriched many of our lives throughout our communities, but their involvement in education is how many of us came into contact with them. What they did through advocacy, particularly for the poor, dealing with rural access in various aspects, and what they do in aged care are things which I think are absolutely commendable.

The Sisters of St Joseph were founded in 1866 by Mary MacKillop and Father Julian Woods. Mary MacKillop is now Saint Mary of Cross, after she was canonised by Pope Benedict in 2010, just over 100 years after her passing. The Josephites are a direct legacy of Mary MacKillop's dedication to her faith, to her community and to helping others in need, particularly women and children. The legacy started in the small country town of Penola in South Australia and now extends globally to over 800 sisters ministering to congregations throughout Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Peru, East Timor, Scotland and Brazil.

I first came in contact with the Sisters of St Joseph when I was five and attended St Luke's Primary School at Revesby. We knew them as the 'Brown Joeys'. It was in kindergarten, under Sister Anne, that I came in contact with the former member for Banks, Daryl Melham. We have had a lifelong association ever since. The Sisters of St Joseph have something to be proud of: they have two members in this parliament from the same kindergarten. My personal association with the Josephites continued through my wife's auntie, Sister Paul Maria—as we know her, Auntie Gladys. Going back a number of years, in a young family, while Bernadette and her sister Margaret made Auntie Gladys's habits, I got to see the very selfless nature of the women who dedicate themselves to God and to people in need.

Today I would like to focus on some other aspects of the important roles undertaken by the Josephites throughout the global community. For instance, the Josephite countertrafficking project was established by Sister Margaret Ng. This project provides resources to people who have been trafficked or exploited, especially those from Asia-Pacific backgrounds. Many of these women have been identified as victims of human trafficking and slavery. Sister Ng and her team provide culturally sensitive mentoring. They have joined forces with a range of organisations, including the Australian Federal Police, to provide programs to assist in addressing this scourge of human trafficking and to assist these women to live a better quality of life. Human trafficking is such a serious issue. It is not just limited to sex work, which many are involved in. As we have seen, men and women have been exploited in the hospitality and construction industries. Also, they are often victims of domestic violence.

The work of helping others in need is a legacy that Mary MacKillop started 150 years ago. I recently attended the Mary MacKillop Catholic College in Wakeley for their celebrations of 150 years of the order, which was attended by many of the nuns. Most of the Catholic clergy in my electorate were there. It was great to see the principal of the school, Narelle Archer, and all the young women turn up. It was great to see the way they revered Mary MacKillop.

When I look at the photos of Mary MacKillop, that is the way I remember nuns. When I was in kindergarten they all looked the same.

To Sister Monica Cavanagh, the leader of the congregation, and her team of sisters: your order has made a remarkable contribution to the betterment for our community. We are truly in your debt.

Tony Pasin (Barker, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is an honour to speak to this motion celebrating the sesquicentenary of the establishment of the order of the Sisters of St Joseph. It was a great privilege for me to join the Josephites on 20 March of this year to celebrate this anniversary at Penola, where the original Josephite seed was sown.

As I said in my maiden speech in this place, I regard myself blessed to serve an electorate so intrinsically linked to the life of our nation's only saint. While many now lay claim to Saint Mary of the Cross MacKillop, including the member for North Sydney—who, it must be said, needs to be congratulated for bringing this motion to the House—Mary's spiritual home is and will always be Penola, deep in the heart of Barker, in the south-east of South Australia. After all, it was there that a young governess met Father Julian Tenison-Woods, who inspired her journey in faith and who, in partnership, established the order.

For me, the Josephite story is a difficult one. The order was established by MacKillop and Woods on St Joseph's Day, 19 March 1866. It was on St Joseph's Day that my brother, ironically named after St Joseph, was taken from our family in a tragic work accident. So this day, which commemorates for so many the establishment of an order that has done so much good, is for me a particularly sad anniversary.

It was the father of Federation, Sir Henry Parkes, who probably best summarised the tenacity, determination and focus of the Sisters of St Joseph when he said, 'The Sisters of St Joseph are like white ants: once they've entered a locality you can't even starve them out.' It should be noted, of course, that Parkes's less than charitable reference owed much to the fact that he and Mary MacKillop shared different views on the role of the church in education. Parkes's attitude was not, thankfully, the prevailing view across the colonies of Australia at the time.

When the sisters were forced out of Queensland, The Brisbane Courier reported:

We regret extremely to hear that the Sisters of St Joseph are about to withdraw from Brisbane. The children of the working class and those of the entirely destitute have been taken under their care and educated in their schools. No distinction of creed has ever been made, the only passport to the favour of the Sisters of St Joseph being the need of assistance. Catholic or Protestant, Jew or Gentile, have been equally welcomed.

Without the heroic mission of the religious Sisters of St Joseph, who established primary and secondary schools throughout Australia from the 1870s onwards, a generation of Australian Catholics would never have gained the sound knowledge of the faith and access to the sacraments.

The Josephites established hundreds of schools across Australia with no support from state or federal governments. In these schools not only was Catholicism taught but the sisters, by their exemplary lives, gave living witness to the faith and inspired a deep devotion to it, which was maintained in the Catholic community. The fact that until the late 1960s over half of Australia's Catholic population attended mass every Sunday was a measure of the contribution these teaching religious orders, like the Josephites, made to the church and to Australian society.

Saint Mary embodied great personal holiness. Mary created a vision of what was needed to address the religious and educational crisis of her time. She had a ready willingness to accept the responsibilities which she had assumed and the burden of suffering which her vocation demanded. In the Josephites she created a vehicle to address the religious and educational crisis.

It is important to acknowledge Mary in this place because, of course, Mary and Woods understood the interrelationship between the sacred and the secular, and, indeed, a seat in the South Australian House of Assembly is named in her honour. She faced many challenges, including an excommunication, the product of bishops who had the ear of some and who were jealous of her success. We should also acknowledge today the people who assisted Mary on her journey. In particular, I refer to Joanna Barr Smith and Emanuel Solomon. Emanuel was a Jewish man, which is fitting given that St Joseph was a Jew.

Guided by Mother Mary's great holiness, the Josephites have tended to the poorest and most neglected parts of God's vineyard for 150 years. May they continue to do so for another 150 years.

Julie Owens (Parramatta, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Small Business) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Saint Mary of the Cross MacKillop, Australia's first saint, together with Friar Julian Tenison Woods, set up a school for underprivileged children in Penola in 1866. In doing so they started something much more. Saint Mary's Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart have continued their work and celebrate their 150th anniversary this year.

Naturally, given Parramatta's history, the Sisters of St Joseph have had a long history in Parramatta, with the establishment of their congregation in Granville in 1885 where they built a convent and a boarding school. In fact, Saint Mary's relationship with Parramatta extends to her first miracle. The miracle of Veronica Hopson, who lived in the Catholic diocese of Parramatta, was accepted by the Vatican in 1993, and in January 1995 Pope John Paul II beatified Mary during a mass at Randwick racecourse, Sydney. The tradition of service of the Sisters of St Joseph is woven into the history of Parramatta. It was the Sisters of St Joseph who looked after and served 800 female convicts and 300 children confined in the Parramatta Female Factory, a place of national heritage significance to the Parramatta community and the nation. The sisters worked with fervour, lobbying the governor to allow the women to open a public laundry and take in needlework for employment.

Not only did the Sisters of St Joseph serve Parramatta through care for the disadvantaged and marginalised, Saint Mary of the Cross wrote of 'bringing to birth a dream to give hope and meaning to thousands of children through the gift of education'. They did this when they founded the Holy Trinity Primary School in 1885. The Holy Trinity Primary School continued under the sisters' administration until 1976 when the first lay principal, Miss Shirley Reid, was appointed. The original boarding school now serves the local community as the Holy Trinity Primary School. The current principal, Helen Boyer, proudly services under the Josephite traditions and operates a Junior Joeys group in primary grades that operates under the motto: 'Never see a need without doing something about it.'

The Sisters of St Joseph were not the first nuns in Parramatta. They followed in the footsteps of the very first Catholic sisters to arrive in Australia, the Sisters of Charity, in 1836. A 38-year-old novice by the name of Elizabeth Williams arrived with the Sisters of Charity. She was the first person in Australia to take religious vows and she did so in Parramatta on 9 April 1839. She became known as Mother Francis Xavier Williams and she founded St Joseph's Orphanage in Hobart. Some 50 years later, when the Sisters of Mercy first arrived in Parramatta in 1888 at the behest of the bishop, they discovered that nothing had been prepared for them, and it was the Sisters of Charity, who were already established, who took them in and supported them.

The tradition of assisting sisters of different orders continued in 1977 when the missionary sisters arrived as refugees from Vietnam. They arrived, as many refugees do, with nothing, but the Sisters of St Joseph in Granville gave their convent to the Missionary Sisters of Mary, Queen of the World, and the Sisters of Mercy in Burraneer Bay did the same. The gifting of the convents from the Josephites and the Sisters of Mercy provided them with a sanctuary and allowed them to administer their work.

The Missionary Sisters of Mary, Queen of the World, continue their outreach programs, even today, through the Holy Trinity Parish in Granville with an active congregation of 60. The Sisters of Mercy grew to develop the Mercy Works, which administers aid projects in Australian and internationally. They partner with numerous other organisations to support marginalised and displaced people, and Principal Stephen M Walsh of their school, Our Lady of Mercy College, continues their work in Parramatta today.

I cannot talk about nuns in Parramatta without mentioning the wonderful Maronite sisters, who also arrived in the seventies. They continue to teach and empower children at Our Lady of Lebanon College in Harris Park, where Principal Sister Marlene Chedid and her teaching staff continue their good works.

All these extraordinary woman from different orders have made their mark on the spiritual and social fabric of Parramatta and Australia. Around the Parramatta community we know some of them as troublemakers in the best possible sense. People who move to change the world quite often have to stir things up, and some of these women have been extraordinary in their time in stirring things up to make things better for those around them. I congratulation them and thank them all for their service to the people of Parramatta, particularly the Josephites because it is their 150th anniversary in Australia this year.

Lucy Wicks (Robertson, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The time allotted for this debate has expired. The debate is adjourned and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting.