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Date .... 6. ... U::.0:.~ ... (.i.,f..Q.: ...... SYDNEY ANGLICANS AND IMMIGRATION,1945-1988
by
Colin Dundon
Submitted in partial fulfillment Interdisciplinary Studies
for the Degree of MA Honours University of N.S.W.
(Australian Studies) Kensington
February 1990 UNIVERSITY OF ttS.W. 1 5 JAN 1991
llJE?~.?;.HY DECLARATION
I, Colin George Dundon, do declare that this project is my own unaided work, and that my references and sources of information have been fully ae1o;:nowledgecL
. ~L______I--- Colin G.Dundon ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This thesis could not have been completed without the kind help of the staff of the Sydney Diocesan Archives and the library staff of Moore Theological College. The Rev.John Livingstone,the Director of Care Force, made available otherwise unobtainable documents while the Rev. Canon Alan Whitham allowed me access to the archives of the Anglican Home Mission Society Professor John Ingleson has encouraged the project from its beginning as has my wife who kept her encouragement and good humour though to its completion. CONTENTS
Synopsis 1
Introduction 3
1. Church and immigration 4
2. Who and where in the world are we? 45
3. What shall we do? 67
4. How multicultural is God? 121
Conclusion 184
Bibliography 193 SYNOPSIS
Between 1947 and 1988 immigration changed Australia from a monocultural, Anglo-Saxon outpost into a multicultural nation. That process of immigration left Australia with unresolved questions about its identity, values and future. Sydney Anglicanism grew out of the Evangelical revival of the eighteenth century in England and was transported to Australia with the First Fleet. It was derivative in theology, outlook and, until recently, in leadership. Throughout the twentieth century Sydney Anglicanism grew increasingly fundamentalist. In 1947 Sydney Anglicans held more than 44% of religious allegiance in Sydney. By 1988 that figure had been reduced to 26% mainly through the impact of immigration. Sydney Anglicans responded with enthusiasm to British immigration but,on sectarian grounds, with ambivalence to southern European immigration. Some leaders were prepared to oppose the White Australia policy but they gave an uncertain lead on the question of Asian immigration. Only in the 1980s did Sydney Anglicans begin to recognise and accept the changes and problems that immigration had brought to Australia. Their responses were limited by their theology which covered an assimilationist attitude toward migrant issues. Their thinking, both in its method and content, led them to seriously undervalue research and critical social thinking. Therefore they lacked a basis from - 2 - which they could act consistently. Their theologians lacked a method and a model which would have provided the critical analysis necessary to reflect upon their experience and to respond appropriately. On the whole, Sydney Anglicans remained isolated from others who worked in the immigration field and remained impervious to their experience and reflection. - 3 -
INTRODUCTION
In any study of immigration attention can be paid to two poles of experience :the migrant experience and the experience of the host society or community.This study looks at the experience of immigration from the side of the host society.Specifically~it elucidates the problems and confusions created by Australia's immigration policy since 1945 for Sydney Anglicans, a white and predominantly Anglo-Saxon group of religious people. The a'im is to examine the responses to this major social upheaval by this particular group of people. It explores the effect of immigration on Sydney Anglicans and investigates how Sydney Anglicans used their particular view of the world to try and influence the processes and effects of immigration. Much academic study has been given over to the study of the migrant experience.Attention to the experience of the host society has often been limited to larger political and economic issues.Paying attention to responses by neighbourhoods, societies or churches to social change allows exploration of areas of tension, debate and confusion in a more detailed way. - 4 -
1. CHURCH AND IMMIGRATION
Changes in the ethnic composition of Australia have affected different denominations quite differently. Some are English speaking churches which have been little influenced by immigration.The old Congregational denomination is one such 1. Other churches received moderate reinforcement from immigration, but in the main from English speaking countries where religious customs and connections were similar.The Anglicans,Methodists and Baptists are examples of this trend.These churches have often provided migrant chaplaincy services but the onus has generally been on the immigrant to link up with a local congregation. The Catholic church provides an example of a church which,though predominantly English speaking, has received considerable numbers of non-E~glish speaking migrants. In their book, Sydney Anglicans, Judd and Cable came to the conclusion that " ... Anglicanism in Australia remained persistently Anglo-Saxon in what was increasingly a multi- cultural environment. "2 Certainly, as they made clear, the Diocese of Sydney through some of its parishes and through
1 There are still some Congregationalist churches in Australia but most joined the Uniting churh in 1976.
2 Judd,S. and Cable K.,Sydney Anglicans .Sydney,AIO 1987.p.309. - 5 - the Anglican Home Mission Society (A.H.M.S.) supported attempts at cross-cultural ministry with Aboriginal peoples,Greeks,Indo-Chinese, Italian and other minorities. However,despite their observation Judd and Cable did not discuss the issue of immigration. John Reid ,a senior assistant Bishop in the Diocese of Sydney has commented that "the trouble is that the Anglican Church is a monocultural church in the midst of a multicultural nation and this implies the need for significant change. "3 Casting a wider net Jim Houston made the following comment
"The Protestant churches must now be seen to be very much a sectional institution in Australian life, standing quite outside much of what is happening in our society.Although it still reflects the old white Anglo-Saxon Protestant establishment,it seems to have limited appeal to vast sweeps of the broader population. Perhaps it is seen by many overseas-born Australians as just as truly an "ethnic church" as Protestants see other
3 Anglican Church.Melbourne SYnod .A Garden of many colours:The RePort of the Arhbishop's Commission on ~M~u~l~t~c~u~l~t~u~r~a~l~~M=:i~n~i~s~t~r~Y~--~a~n~d~~M=:i~s~s~i~o~n~.Melbourne Diocesan Registry .1985 - 6 -
churches to be.While lamenting the traditional Protestant "imprisonment" in the middle class,we are perhaps now open to a new charge of being the archetypal middle-class church of the old ethnic establishment. "4
Peter Kaldor in his work Who Goes Where ? Who Doesn't Care ? pointed out that of Anglicans in NSW 98% are born in an English speaking country . The U.K. and Ireland accounted for 77% and NZ 9% 5. Kaldor's work was made specific for the Diocese of Sydney through the A.H.M.S.. Although the Anglican church in Sydney contains 16% born overseas only 4% were born in a non-English speaking country.That compares with the Sydney average of 19.7% born in a non-English speaking country. Kaldor provided a statistical basis for the perceptions of Reid and Houston. A start has been made on studies that relate immigration to the Roman Catholic church in Australia but almost nothing has been written on the sort of churches represented by the Anglican Diocese of Sydney 6.The question of immigration is of
4 Houston,Jim, "Christians in Multi-Cultural Australia", Zadok Centre News, August 1979 .p.16.{pp.14-21) 5 Kaldor ,P.,Who Goes Where?Who Doesn't Care,Sydney Lancer,1987.p.189.
6 ed.Bentley,Peter Australian Reli~ious Studies: A Bibliograpy of Post-Graduate Theses 1922 1986 Sydney National Catholic Research Council. 1988.pp67-68. ed.Mason,M.,Religion in Australian Life:A Bibliography 0f Social Research. South Australia.National Catholic Research Council and Australian Association for the Study of Religions.1982.pp.211-215. - 7 - great significance to the Anglican church. Immigration has contributed to the decline in the numbers of Anglicans in the population from about 39.6% in 1945 to about 26% in 1988. That decline created a confusion of identity Was the Anglican church the moral ·policeman of the State? Was it the repository of all things British, religious and cultural? Or was it a sect witnessing to the values of a passing age ? Apart from its missionary and imperial experience the Anglican church had no framework within which it could understand the enormous changes that immigration would bring. The history of immigration post 1945 set the context in which the church made its responses. It began with British immigration but was paralleled by the first large-scale non English speaking but European and white migration. Between 1958 and 1967 the White Australia Policy came under serious and concerted attack from churches,student groups and such groups as the Immigration Reform Group. With the arrival of Vietnemese refugees the question of Asian immigration became an issue of public debate which reached a peak in 1984 with the Blainey debate and was revived in 1987 and 1988 during and after the Inquiry of the FitzGerald Committee. The fundamental issues raised by large-scale immigration confronted the Australian community for the first time. The issues included the total size or rate of immigration: the nature of the national identity and the place of aboriginal - 8 - people: the national economy and international relations: the religious and ethnic composition of migrant intake: ecology or the pressures on resources the place of refugee programs in the migrant intake 7 , and the question of welfare and justice , targetted at migrant groups. Closely related was the question of migrant integration. How did the Australian community expect migrants to integrate into their society ? To be absorbed ,fused or encouraged to retain their identity? None of these issues was discrete but was interlocked in complex ways with each of the others.Often the debate was thought to be only about the size of immigration.Fix a number and all will be well.However,the number submitted by various groups in the community often depended on their views(often covert)on one or more of the other issues. To this history and these issues the church responded. Sometimes that response came in statements made in the press in Synods,in church magazines or conferences. Sometimes initiatives were taken in the formation of chaplaincies and networks for migrant welfare.Underlying all of these were certain values, some expressed explicitly,others implicit in the action or pronouncement. An important element must be to determine how far the
7 Hogan,T. "Australian Immigration Policy Debate:The Key Issues" in International Affairs.Sydney.July 1988 pp.2-3 Appendix E. - 9 - church's response was determined by commonly held social values and how much arose from the specific values held by the church as church . This is not an easy matter ,especially in the earlier period as social and christian values were often identical. Another element to be explored is how far the immigration debate fed the development of theological and ethical thinking which may have then shaped both policy and practice. Views on immigration emerge from perceptions people or institutions have of their place in the world.Thus it is important as far as possible to establish what perceptions those who spoke for the Anglican church in Sydney had of the wider world ,especially Asia ,South Africa and Europe. The churches remained significant cultural institutions in Australia despite decline between 1945 and 1988.In 1945 almost all of them were derivative of English or Irish forms of christianity.They represented a solid Anglo-Saxon presence into which migrants were to be assimilated. Anglican churches, especially with their use of Elizabethan English,liturgies that required a considerable acquaintance with English idiom and emphasis on the spoken word through preaching, represented and undergirded a set of values and a morality that was foreign to all but a few English ,Irish, Scots and Welsh immigrants. The Anglican church in Sydney preserved a very conservative - 10 - protestant point of view within the spectrum of christianity represented in this country. It was in origin Anglo-Saxon and thoroughly derivative from the Evangelical revival in England in the eighteenth century 8.In time it became associated with the establishment ,conservative politics and illiberal social views. In Australia it represented all that many "British" Australians held dear. Sydney Anglicans were the single largest grouping of the Anglican Church in Australia.Their origins lie with the chaplain appointed to the First Fleet ,the Reverend Richard Johnson. Johnson was an evangelical 9 from Cambridge and was
8 For general history of the Evangelical revival G.R.Balleine A History of the Evangelical Party in the Church of England London. Church Book Room Press. 1951. Hylson-Smith ,Kenneth, Evangelicals in the Church of England Edinburgh. T& T Clark. 1988 9 The title evangelical has many meanings. Its roots lie in a Greek word meaning good news of any sort. In eighteenth century England it was applied to clergy and people of the Established Church who followed the teachings and practices of the Wesleys. They tended to be more Calvinistic and Puritan in theology and practice than the Wesleys .They protested against frivolity, such as cards, theatre,dancing and all worldly amusements.They kept the high seriousness of life in the forefront of their thoughts.They reacted against the rationalism of the age and the Hanoverian church with a strong anti-intellectualism. It was a sterile theological force al thoug.h for a time it was on the forefront of social change in such areas as anti-slavery. In more recent times the evangelical movement has been influenced by the fundamentalist movement which stems from the USA. The more modern emphasis has been on establishing the infallibility and inerrancy of the Bible in the face of science and biblical and historical criticism . - 11 - considered not a little suspect by Philip and the early establishment because of his "Methodistical" views.Johnson placed great emphasis on his role as moral guardian of the new colony, his evangelical preaching and his status as a magistrate.In his person and ministry the role of the parson as moral policeman began to take shape 10.
That role was cemented by his more celebrated co worker and successor , Samuel Marsden 11.Among many Sydney Anglicans Marsden, far from being a villian was seen as a hero of the faith maligned by secular historians.For our study the significant point is that Marsden was seen as a model for the evangelical attempt to relate faith to society.The image of a moral guardian with Whig tendencies, strong on law and order, became an image that influenced generations of evangelical clergy and laity in the Diocese of Sydney .The advent of the High Church Bishop Broughton did not change the fundamental theological thrust of the church in Sydney 12. After his death all the Bishops and Archbishops from Barker to Robinson have been more or less evangelical .
10 Macintosh,N.,Richard Johnson, Sydney. Library of Australian History, 1978. pp.11-92. 11 Yarwood A.T., Samuel Marsden Sydney. Melbourne University Press. 1977.
12 Shaw G.P., Patriarch and Patriot:William Grant Brou~hton 1788-185~ Brisbane. Melbourne University Press. 1978. - 12 -
Since 1945 the four Archbishops of Sydney have all been evangelical the last two,Loane and Robinson, products of Sydney itself.During this time the evangelical perspective became dominant in the thinking and practice of the Diocese.Very few clergy trained outside the Diocese and very few "outside" clergy were invited in.
Despite the dominance of evangelical perspectives in Sydney
Anglicanism there have always been other points of view represented .However it is true to say that those points of view have never gained prominence in the Diocesan structures nor have they been represented in the Diocesan teaching institution Moore Theological College.Often these other points of view have been represented by people of a mildly liberal views represented in the early part of the period under discussion by Revs.W.G Coughlin, A.P.Bennie ,Felix Arnott and ot~ers 13. They formed themselves into the Chris~ian Social
Order Movement14 (CSOM) and saw themslves as heirs of Archbishop William Temple15 and the American scholar Reinhold
13 The word liberal here denotes a person whose mental attitude alows that truth can tell against authority. Thus the theological liberal entertained biblical criticism and welcomed modern science including the social sciences such as sociology and psychology.
14 This movement is discussed further in the chapter "WHO AND WHERE IN THE WORLD ARE WE ? .
15 Temple was an Archbishop of York and an innovator in Anglican social thought between the world wars. 13 -
Neibuhr . Others followed after the collapse of the CSOM but t~hey have usually been marginal to the the dominant theology of evangelioalism. The dominan·t; attitude and ideology formed the basis for decisions and actions taken in regard to immigration within the Diocese of Sydney . Other points of view certainly existed but they did not always find their way into Diocesan documents or committee reports. It is possible that they were simply held as private opinions which found no formal outlet for their expression.Furthermore it was only the dominant view which was able to express itself in action such as the formation of immigration chaplaincies or the like. The particular questions that will need to be asked are: How did this particular church respond to immigration in terms of its analysis of policy and its practice ?How did its conservative theology restrict or aid those responses? How did the changing environment effect the church's perception of itself and its role? What was the relationship between what the church said and what it did as regards immigration and its social consequences? In order to find answers to these questions the written sources were studied including church newspapers, magazines, minutes of meetings , reports, letters, outlines of talks and Synod proceedings 16. This may give the study an 16 The Synod is the governing body of the Diocese. The Synod has 832 members representing each parish in the Diocese as well as representatives from Diocesan organisations. It meets once a year to effect legislation and to receive and debate motions. Between Synod meetings a Standing Committee, elected by the Synod , tranacts business on behalf of the Synod. The word Diocese is a geographical term which includes Norfolk Island, Lord Howe Island and it extends from Broken Bay in the North,west to Wallerawang and south east to Milton and Ulladulla on the south coast then north following the coast line to the point of commencement.In its broadest sense the term can mean all the property, personnel and organisations established by the Synod. The Diocese of Sydney has 267 parochial units, 393 clergy and many lay ministers. It is governed by an Archbishop and four Assistant Bishops. See The Fifth Handbook Sydney. Sydney Diocesan Secretariat, 1987. - 14 -
"ecclesiastical" flavour, reporting only the opinions and
actions of those who acted as functionaries of the institutional church.There may have been and certainly were those who disagreed with both the actions and the policies of the functionaries.The problem is that their reactions were not often recorded especially in the period from about 1945 to
1975. However, in this connection it is important to remember that the Synod of the Diocese is overwhelmingly non-clerical17. Other people used the Letters to the Editor columns and some used church magazines to express their views . Where it has been possible to use such material it has been included . The first area of study was the official pronouncements, documents , statements and actions of the Evangelical majority of the Anglican church in Sydney. This includes the Synod Presidential addresses,Synod proceedings, Standing Committee Reports, Social Issues Committee reports and other relevant documents. Also included here are the Sydney Diocesan Newsletter, the Southern Cross magazine and promotional materials which were designed to put the official view to the Anglican reading public in Sydney. The second group of material might be described as quasi official and includes The Australian Church Record and
17 Two lay - people are appointed for every clergyman on the Synod. - 15 -
writings of some the leading theological figures .The Record has often opposed the heirarchy of the Diocese and always prided itself on its independence from it. However, its editorial policy was always unswervingly reformed and evangelical and it only opposed Diocesan leadership when its editorial staff perceived that those guidelines had been breached. The theologians have usually been associated with Moore College which, although theoretically independent, provided training for hundreds of clergy who often became those who not only promoted Sydney evangelicalism but also made the decisions which influenced its actions.Theologians such as David Broughton Knox had a profound affect on the thinking of clergy for twenty-five years.He was also able to influence the thinking of major committees and Synod deliberations not only through his former students but also by his presence on those bodies. One body of great significance in the Diocese of Sydney was the Anglican Home Mission Society.This body was a semi- independent social service and special ministry arm of the Diocese of Sydney .In more recent years it became responsible for immigration and multicultural work in the Diocese of Sydney. Its work often reflected Diocesan ideology and yet was often in tension with it. The third group of materials was those in which alternative - 16 - views were expressed. One such a source was The Anglican newspaper in which other perspectives were deliberately canvassed. It belonged to Sydney as the city was its geographical origin and its editor,Francis James, was for many years a member of the Sydney Synod.Other alternative sources are Synod resolutions where sometimes different views emerged although in debate they were usually made to conform to the dominant understanding .Letters to editors in newspapers and church papers often expressed alternative visions ,perceptions and ideas. One of the most difficult problems facing a researcher in this area is the problem of determining non-clerical opinion within the church.Some attempt has been made in this essay but it remains an area for further fruitful study. One generalisation can be entered here.In their analysis of the data of the Australian Values System Study Bouma and Dixon argue that those who are more religious are more pro-Australian and pro-monarchy than the less religious and they are likely to consider the pace of change too fast; yet they are more open to the idea of having persons of a different race as neighbours 18.This ambivalence will lie behind some of the tensions and opinions expressed on the
18 Bouma ,Gary D., and Dixon,Beverly R.,The Religious Factor in Australian Life~ Melboune,MARC Australia.1986 p.vii and references cited there. - 17 -
issue of immigration. All of this will be set in context of the debate and the social realities of immigration since 1945.This requires a study of the general history of immigration as well as a study of major themes and debates in the Australian community. There is an abundance of material available for this part of the study in the form of books ,articles, theses and newspaper articles and reports. Immigration since 1945 has been one of the most important factors in the changing social landscape of Australia.From a fairly monochrome society Australia began to develop into one of the most multicultural nations on earth.That change raised innumerable social questions especially about identity and values in the Australian community.It forced debates which changed policy once considered unshakable, especially the White Australia policy. The story of immigration to Australia since 1945 began in the mind of Arthur Calwell who in 1942 stated: "I hope that ... the people of Europe, who will be tired of two blood baths in one generation, shall have ample opportunity to come to this country and settle after the war"19. Calwell encouraged the establishing of the first Department of Immigration with
19 Quoted in Martin ,A.W. "The People" in Australians from 1939,Sydney.Fairfax,Syme and Weldon.1987. p.61. - 18 - himself as the first Minister. By 1947 he had announced the intention to increase the population of Australia by two percent per year, one percent by natural increase and one percent by immigration. Australia had a population of just under seven million with about three-quarters of a million residents who had been born overseas. These last were overwhelmingly British. Australian immigration had achieved a "White Australia" and a predominately British Australia. The Chifley Labor Government and succeeding Liberal-Country
Party governments sold the immigration poli·cy to the Australian people by a judicious use of four arguments 20 Populate or perish was a popular slogan and related strongly to the perceived need to defend Australia from the North.
Labour shortages linked to sustained economic growth from 1945 and only faltering in the 1970s shaped a third argument The fourth was more of a promise to keep Australia white and predominantly British all migrants would be Caucasian and ten would be British for every one non-British. The imigration programme won support from all sides.
But not enough people wished to emigrate from the United Kingdom and shipping was in short supply. However, the International Refugee organisation had ships and was looking
20 Collins,J., Migrant Hands in a Distant Land pp.20-23 Martin,W.,op.cit. pp.61-62. - 19 - for homes for thousands of displaced persons. Unable to attract Western European migrants Calwell turned to the Displaced Persons of of Europe. From 1947 to 1951, 180,000 Displaced Persons settled in Australia. Calwell was unable to keep his promises, British migrants being well under half the intake. Such refugees went into the least attractive unskilled employment whatever their skills had been. Collins suggests that this was the begining of a "two-class" immigration programme. British and other migrants from English speaking countries would be treated similar to those Australian-born. Non-English speaking migrants would occupy inferior posi ti.ons in the market place21. When the Chifley government fell in 1949 the new Liberal Minister, Harold Holt, was as enthusiastic as Calwell. Despite some setbacks the period from 1951-1961 was a period of economic growth in which immigration was an important source of labour and domestic demand. The target was set for 80,000 a year and refugees fell to 4,000. The government looked to Britain and Northern Europe for migrants and provided assistance in the form of the ten pound ticket. Southern Europeans generally paid their own way. Bitish immigration fell to one-third of the intake. During the 1960s immigration continued and reached its peak in 1970 with a target of 175,000. British migration increased
21 Collins,J.,op.cit. p.23. - 20 -
during this period but Northern European migration fell away. Southern European migration began to decline also until at the end of 1971 it was one tenth the total intake for the period 1996-1971. Asian immigration began to rise from 1.6% between 1947 to 1951 to 11.2% between 1966 to 1971 22. A greater proportion of family migration was also allowed. As the "Asian" component signified, the White Australia policy was being quietly dismantled. Turkish migrants could now be considered "honorary Europeans". Highly skilled non-Europeans were allowed to settle permanently. However in the conditions of inflation and economic crisis that characterised the first half of the 1970s many people began to view the immigration programme as too successful and began to call for its scaling down. The election of the Whitlam government in 1972 heralded the reduction of immigration targets. Economics was not the sole criterion for the reduction. The Whitlam government paid attention to the concern voiced by social critics that immigration was putting pressure on the environment in urban areas, adding to the problems of pollution and congestion23. 1975 proved to be the low point in immigration as in that year outflows exceeded inflow for the first time since 1947 24 However, the
22 Collins ,J.,op.cit. p.24. 23 Collins,J.,op.cit., pp.25-26. 24 ibid. - 21 - immigration issue which wot!ld spark intense debate in the future was the arrival of Indo-Chinese refugees. They came in leaking boats in 1976 fleeing fromthe aftermath of . American defeat in Vietnam. By the end of 1977 5,000 Vietnamese refugees had been admitted to Australia. At first the Whitlam Government had been unwilling to admit refugees from Vietnam with their expected conservative leanings but in 1975 as an humanitarian gesture it allowed five hundred to enter Australia. Since then refugee intake and family reunion have been a part of the humanitarian side of immigration policy 25. The 1980s became a decade in which the issue of immigration refused to go away. The period began with the immigration intake reaching 118,700 during 1981-82 26. The Fraser government premised this increase on a resources boom which did not materialise to any significant degree. That upward trend began to worry some people and in 1981 Robert and Tanya Birrell argued the case for a low level of immigration 27. They argued that population building was outdated and dangerous. High unemployment and the damage done to the environment by a growing population required that immigration be cut to ever
25 Martin,A.W. op.cit., pp.72-73. 26 ibid. p.73
27 Birrell, R and T, An Issue of People Sydney. Longman Cheshire. 1981 - 22 - lower levels. In such a climate they believed refugees could become a focus of hostility once again. By 1983 that government found itself caught up in an economic recession that destroyed it and the Hawke Labor government was elected. The Hawke government immediately scaled down the immigrant intake to 62,000 during 1983-84 28. However,over the period 1980-1988 the average immigration intake was 99,000. In 1982-83 Asian immigrants made up 36% of the intake, considerably exceeding the British intake of 27% In 1984 Professor Blainey raised his concerns about the high proportion of Asian intake. In that debate Professor Geoffrey Blainey acted as a catalyst Immigration had not been a public issue for some twelve years until Blainey made it one in 1984. His speech to the Warrnambool Rotarians in March 1984 sparked an uproar that has only just begun to die down in late 1989. In October,1984 Blainey published All for Australia 29 . The title was significant for an historian ,the All for Australia League being the name of a right wing group that emerged in the 1930's during the Depression and which in time gave rise to the United Australia Party They were pro-British,anti-radical,anti-Labor and Anglo-Australian
28 Collins op.cit., p.27. 29 Methuen Haynes ,North Ryde .1984 - 23 - nationalists Blainey tried to be pro-British and an Australian nationalist at the same time. That may have been possible a century ago but struck a discordant note when Australian trade no longer focussed on Britain ,when Australians were restricted in entry to the U.K. and when assisted passage schemes for British migrants had been abolished. The fundamental propositions of the Blainey view were :
[1] in the economic conditions then prevailing Australia could not absorb immigrants from Asia without such a rise in popular racism as to threaten the social fabric; [2] that politicians and public servants were in a conspiracy to hide that facts of increased Asian immigration from the public; [3] that the Indo-Chinese who were arriving were increasingly "economic" rather than "political" refugees;
[4] that British and Europeans were finding it hard to migrate to Australia because Asians were taking their place in a limited intake ;
[5] that deprived native Australians ,living in suburbs subject to an influx of Asian immigrants needed someone to speak up for their interests;
[6] that Asian~ did not share the Australian culture and thus presented a threat to its maintainence ;
[7] that multiculturalism was dangerous because it - 24 - undermined the unity and coherence of Australians built up by people of British origin. It is fair to say that these propositions had little substance or evidence to support them but they became a common language in the immigration discourse of the 1980's and therefore significant The propositions shaped the popular debate . That this was so became very evident in the debates of 1987 and 1988 ,preceding and subsequent to the FitzGerald Committee . Max Harris described it as "Blainey's tyranny of insistence " 30 . Harris observed that Blainey's obsessiveness came through with thematic insistence and repetitiousness. That insistence can be seen in Blainey's writings on the subject of immigration since 1984 31 and in the opportunities for repetition he has siezed in media interviews.32
30 Weekend Australian ,11-12 June ,1988. 31 eg.newspaper articles "Immigration debate will not go away" Weekend Australian 11-12 th June 1988. "Dubious reaction to Howard",Weekend Australian August13-14 ,1988 . "How social services foot the migration bill",Weekend Australian ,12-13th November,1988. "Ethnic payola accompanied by vigorous electioneering" Weekend Australian 3-4th December ,1988. 32 Ben Bremner "Australia likely to be invaded within 25 years "The Australian 17th May ,1988 (a report of Blainey's ANZAAS speech). Malcom Brown , "Lunatics or Mainstream" The Sydney Mqrning Herald ,29th. August,1988. Stuart Rintoul, "The essential Blainey" The Weekend Australian 8-9th October,1988. - 25 -
Blainey was criticised on almost every front 33. Historians were especially severe on his methods and use of sources,his vision of the Australia past,sanitized and ideal34. His use of statistics left much to be desired and could not stand up to scrutiny 35 as did his use of what he called public opinion 36 He was forced to use conspiracy theories to replace critical analysis . His "bad language", that is, his use of rhetoric emotional language and military metaphor in the place of analysis was exposed and severely critcised 37 . His analysis was described as "chop-logic" 38 and his arguments about cultural incompatability indicated his superficial grasp of the nature of culture and its changing face Perhaps the most grave of all his analytical flaws was the simplistic
33 A concise summary of the debate is found in Jock Collins Migrant Hands in a Distant Land, Sydney ,1988 .pp.212-221. 34 Markus A. and Ricklefs M.C.,Surrender Australia? Sydney,1985. Burgmann,V., "Writing Racism out of History", Arena no.67 1984 pp.78-92. Laster,K., "The Historian as Prophet:Geoffrey Blainey and the Asianisation of Australia "Meanjin, no.2.pp.305-311. 35 Collins,Migrant Hands in a Distant Land ,pp.214-215.as did his use of what he described as public opinion 36 Goot,Murray "Public opinion and public opinion polls" in Markus and Ricklefs , Surrender Australia? ,pp.49-62. 37 Terry Collits, "Geoffrey Blainey' s Bad Language" Mean.iin, 3/1984 .pp.385-392.
38 Max Harris , "Chips off the old chop logic block" The Weekend Australian 17-18th October ,1987 - 26 - understanding of the economic consequences of migration which underlies all his work.The complex and controversial nature of this issue seemed to escape him 39. Blainey's immediate effect was to cause a continuing debate not only in the community but also in the Parliament. The debate centred around what Peacock amd Hodgman called "balance"40. The word was loaded and meant two things. First ,that immigration from the U.K. and Europe must be increased in proportion to the whole programme of immigration. Second, that business immigration must be increased and the $500,000 asset test for business immigrants recently introduced by the Government reduced to its former $250,000 . The proposed increase in European and U.K. immigration contained a fear that the the emphasis on refugee immigration not only from South East Asia but also from South America would shift Australia to the left and introduce the frightening spectres of a republic on the one hand and Brixton type riots on the other. Blainey influenced the rhetoric of
39 Collins ,J., Migrant Hands in Distant Lands ,pp.100-127. Norman ,N., & Meilke ,K., The economic effects of Immigration on Australia, Melbourne .1985, Chapman ,B. & Miller P., "Immigrants in the Australian Labour Market" in Current Affairs Bulletin . vol. 63 no. 4 Sept. 1986 pp.4-11.
40 Hansard ,Proceedings of the House of Representatives , 8th. May, 1984 pp.1998-2029 and 7th .September, 1984,pp.824-840. - 27 - the parliamentary debate but that rhetoric did not produce any major change in policy. In the Senate Senator Kilgariff introduced a set of nine principles first set out by Michael Mackellar when he was Minister for Immigration in 1978 41. The nine principles form the basis of the bi-partisan policy followed by the Fraser and Hawke Governments. What Blainey appeared to have achieved in the political sphere seems to have been the weakening of the bi-partisan approach to immigration. Since the Blainey debate the government has argued for increased immigration despite worsening economic circumstances; 70,000 in 1984-85;82,000 in 1985-86; 105,000 in 1986-1987; 120,000 in 1987-1988 .Traditionally, Labor governments have responded to high and rising unemployment by cutting back immigrant intakes. The Hawke Labor government weighed three other considerations against unemployment. The first was that increasing immigration would redress the slow population growth and thus the "greying" of Australia. This form of the population argument appears to have little substance and more recently has played little part in the debate. No doubt increased immigration will increase the size of Australia's population. However , the argument that increased immigration will arrest the declining population
41 Hansard ,Senate Proceedings , 31st May 1984.p.2241 . .
- 28 - growth and reduce the proportion of dependents supported by the active population is not nearly so straightforward, as the National Population Inquiry of 1975 under Professor Borrie made clear42. Generally speaking, it was shown to be not true that European and Asian families tend to be larger than Australian families. It has been found almost impossible to be precise about the relationship between immigration and population growth without knowing details not only of ethnic origin but also the dependency ratio of those aged sixty-five and over and those aged fifteen years and under compared to the working population. Depending on the size and composition of immigration the dependency ratio could increase even though the proportion of those over sixty-five years decreased. The second consideration came broadly under the head of humanitarian and included refugee and family reunion intakes. The figures for refugee intake had shown it to be a decreasing proportion of total immigration into Australia declining from 21.2% in 1983-84 to 13.8% in 1986-87 43. Family migration slowly increased and in 1985-86 it represented 53.9% of the total intake. In the ensuing years the Australian government was looking for a fall in the
42 Borrie, W.D.,{chairman) Population and Australia: a demographic analysis and projection Canberra. AGPS.1975. 43 1982-83,17,054; 1983-84, 14,769; 1985-86,11,480; 1986-87, 12,000 ; 1987-88, 12,000. - 29 -
proportion of family reunions. However, the pattern has been that the government usually exceeded its targets. The third consideration has been the economic thesis that immigration brings net economic benefits for Australia 44. This argument has dominated the debate since Blainey. In the early eighties the emphasis shifted in favour of family reunions and refugee programmes rather than labour migration. At the same time Australian wages had fallen relative to labour-supplying countries of Europe. This fall had the effect of making Australia look less attractive to Europeans. Asia filled the immigration gap. The key to the government assessment of the economics of immigration appeared in the form of a report by N. Norman and K. Meilki entitled The Economic Effects of Immigration on Australia produced for The Council for the Economic Development of Australia (CEDA) in 1985. The simple thesis of the report was that mass labour migration would secure economic growth. The argument runs: immigration adds to labour
44 Chapman B and Miller P, "Immigrants in the Australian Labour Market" Current Affairs Bulletin, 63/4 Sept. 1986 p. 11. Castles S., "A new Agenda in Multiculturalism" LaTrobe University .1987 p.7. Hurford C., Hansard House of Representatives ,17th. October,1985. pp.lOll-1015; and 10th. April,1986. pp.1969-1975.Also "Australian Immigration Programme: Philosophy and Principles",Australian Foreign Affairs Review, 56/6 July 1985 pp.644-655. - 30 - supply and migrant workers are likely to be younger, more mobile, have a higher labour force participation rate and work harder and longer than their Australian born counterparts. It was also noted that migrants added to the supply of capital at an average of $32,000 per family. On the demand side migrants would add to the demand for goods and services such as housing and add to the expenditure of governments with impacts through the economy. The CEDA study seemed to assume that the labour market behaved according to the theoretical world of supply and demand and perfect competition. More importantly it assumed that migrant workers had exactly the same chance as resident workers to obtain jobs. It did not take account of the high rates of unemployment among recently arrived Vietnamese and Lebanese (38% and 28% respectively in 1984). CEDA also assumed a labour market of perfect competition when the prevailing labour market feature was segmentation. Not enough account seemed to have been taken of the importance of a knowledge of English on economic behaviour ; the history of migrant groups locked into manual manufacturing jobs and hit by restructuring; the Middle Eastern and Asian migrants who had trouble entering a labour market hit by recession; aged migrants who were often affected by economic hardship and social isolation on leaving the workforce; migrant youth mired in unemployment and people of non-European - 31 -
origin who were victims of racial discrimination. On the other hand, continuing research seems to indicate that the fears of labour market problems arising from immigration are largely unfounded 45. No support seems to be forthcoming for the thesis that immigration leads to higher unemployment. However, that is different from trying to show that the long term effect of immigration is the sort of economic development outlined in the CEDA Report. Maybe the latter is still an article of faith. In terms of immigration practice the CEDA argument meant that Australia sought skilled and educated migrants from India Singapore and Hong Kong who could also bring capital with them. The full effect of this practice remains to be tested. For a time the immigration debate lulled. In the latter half of 1987 the subject began to become a focus of public attention once again. Generally speaking, newspaper commentators seemed to be in favour of both the policy of immigration as then practised and the policy of multiculturalism 46. The reason was the expressed intention of
45 Chapman B. and Miller P., op.cit.,pp.10-11. 46 Sheridan,G., "Values found in the cultivation of diversity" The Weekend Australian, 1-2 August,1987. Derriman,P., "Stirring the melting pot"Sydney Morning Herald, 3rd August, 1987. Sheridan,G., "Ratbags can rail-but they are the losers on migration"Weekend Australian,7-8 November,1987. - 32 - the government to hold a wide-ranging inquiry into immigration policies to be headed by Dr. Stephen FitzGerald 47. No one guessed at the time, but a report of some ideas by Dr. Robert Birrell hidden deep in a newspaper were a harbinger of what was to come in the following year 48. He attacked the family reunion programme and questioned the need to rapidly change our racial structure at a time of economic uncertainty. The leader said it all: "Asian influx "out of control", says academic". The Committee to Advise on Australia's Immigration Policies investigated immigration from the point of view of Australia's social, cultural, economic and population development. It called for submissions from all those with a point of view about the future of Australia's imigration policies. It had the laudable desire not only to consult but also to exchange information in order that the diversity of viewpoints and interests served by immigration could be more widely understood and known. Such eirenic aims were put under severe stress by the publication in February of a poll which indicated that people wanted cuts in immigration and were opposed to, or barely
47 Hogarth,M., "Immigration review to focus on increasing Asian arrivals "Times on Sunday 13th September,1987. 48 "Asian influx "out of control", says academic" The Sydney Morning Herald 22nd.September,1987 p.7. - 33 -
tolerant of, the settlement of non-whites 49.Australians preferred British,Irish and Western European migrants to Asian and Middle Eastern immigrants. The target figure of 120.000 admissions was considered too high by sixty-eight percent of those polled and twenty-five percent of those thought that there should be no immigration at all. Asians were singled out as receiving more opposition than support than any of the other groups in the poll. Mick Young's resignation as Minister for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs combined with a speech by the Prime Minister to Sydney's Lebanese coomunity provoked an editorial in the Sydney Morning Herald 50. While commending Mr. Young it sharply
disagreed with the Prime Minister's assessment of the Opposition's call for a "needs based immigration as racist. It referred to the poll discussed above and noted the backlash against Middle Eastern and Asian migrants. It recognized the need to draw skilled labour migration from Asia and called for a reduction in the family re-union intake. It also rejected the bi-partisan approach which had been characteristic of the Australian approach to immigration for
49 "Migration:we want to pick and choose".The Sydney Morning Herald 9th February ,1988. p.l. This was the publication of a Saulwick Herald Poll and some analysis of it provided by Peter Stephens. 50 "The politics of immigration" The Sydney Morning Herald 15th February,1988. p.14. - 34 -
forty-three years suggesting that it arose out of the collusion of both parties to deceive the Australian electorate about the true consequences of immigration policy. From this point the Liberal party attacked Government policy incessantly and publicly. Alan Cadman, shadow Minister for Immigration opened the attack with the call for a needs- based immigration programme wich would take account of the socio-economic and national priorities of the whole country 51. Cadman called for a reduction in the refugee and family reunion intakes. The same report also included some comments made Graeme Campbell, the Labor member for Kalgoorlie. Mr. Campbell told a Business law seminar that Australia was not a part of Asia but an Anglo-Celtic land to the south of Asia. He wanted no more Asians in Australia the family reunion criteria to be liruited to direct family members and the ability to speak English as the top qualification for imigrant entry 52. Related so closely to Mr Cadman's remarks, a brief note about the influence of John Stone and the recent Saulwick Herald Poll it looked like the Labor Party had some nervous people in it who doubted Mr. Hawke's enthusiasm for a multicultural Australia.
51 "Migrants: Libs on the attack" Sydney Morning Herald 13th February ,1988. p.1. 52 ibid. - 35 -
On 3 June 1988 the report of the Committee to Advise on Immigration Policy chaired by Stephen FitzGerald was made available to Parliament and to the public. Prior to that release the immigration debate intensified. Time magazine ran a special issue on immigration 53. This was a popular but positive evaluation of the effects of immigration on Australian life. It looked at some of the economic difficulties migrant faced as well as racial attitudes of Australians. Such positive reporting and analysis did not reach a wide audience in Australia as the ensuing debate clearly showed. Some made a folk hero of Ron Casey for his remarks about Asians on Radio 2KY and following his sacking this quickly spilt over into the popular print media 54. Almost immediately the Opposition, led by John Howard, began its push for increased business immigration, with a relative fall in the proportion of family reunions. The latter would have affected Asian immigration as, in the years preceding, family reunion accounted for a large portion of the Indo-Chinese intake. Howard denied that race was an issue but the denial had a hollow ring when it became evident that Howard was using the issue for political purposes 55.
53 "The New Australia" 14th March,1988. pp.l-18. 54 e.g.The Sun-Herald, 1st May, 1988. 55 "Migrant intake:Howard switch" The Sydney Morning Herald 16th May,1988. - 36 -
Howard had been aware of Liberal party research that indicated the following: there was real resentment among Australians of the policy of multiculturalism; the Hawke government was deliberately creating divisions by its
multi-culturalist approach; there was a strong and increasing hostlity to Asian immigration in the community; there was general support for the remarks and sentiments expressd by Ron Casey; there was deep concern regarding the perceived creation of Asian ghettos throughout Sydney; and that there was deep resentment at the perception of uninhibited flows of money from Hong Kong and Japan bidding up the price of housing 56. Clearly he was hoping to tap into those perceptions and resentments . Inevitably, a debate about the merits of family reunion and business immigration became clouded with other issues. Professor Blainey contended that non-English speakers should not have the vote 57 and sentiments such as "their shops are dirty" or " there are more violent crimes now surfaced in the popular press 58. A "touch of the Blaineys" 59,
56 "Debate takes hold in fertile soil" The Sydney Morning Herald 21st May, 1988. 57 The Sydney Morning Herald 18th May 1988 and The Australian 18th May, 1988.
58 "Mixed views on a varied society" The Sun-Herald 1st May, 1988. 59 Paul Kelly, "A touch of the Blaineys to migration debate" The Australian 18th May,1988. pp.l-2. - 37 -
an anti-Asian sentiment had been unleashed by the Liberal's desire to exploit immigration issue for party political purposes. The publication of the FitzGerald Report 60 fuelled the debate. The Report focussed on the failure of selection methods, community mistrust of the immigration programme, the need for a sharper economic focus and an increase in immigrant skill levels. Citizenship was described as seriously undervalued, especially by migrants from the United Kingdom, and punitive measures such as restrictions on benefits were proposed for those who had refused citizenship. Fitzgerald called for a coherent philosophy of immigration that would place it in the mainstream of the political processes. Although the Report refused to countenance the anti-Asian lobby it did point out the disquiet that had been discovered within the Australian community.Key issues here were the number and composition of the intake and the migrant's role in changing Australian society. It pointed out the mistrust in the community of multiculturalism because it was perceived to be driving immigration.It was also perceived to be divisive. The Report upheld the core principles of Australian immigration policy: non-discrimination, family immigration and
60 Immigration: a Commitment to Australia A.G.P.S. 1988 and the Executive Summary A.G.P.S. 1988. - 38 -
providing opportunities for non-English speakers. However , it considered them all at risk if the government didn't convince the Australian population that immigration was in Australia's economic and social interests. The Report sought to balance the economic and the social dimensions of immigration. On the one hand it developed an argument for skilled, entrepreneurial and English proficient immigrants. On the other it pointed out the need for a two way commitment between the immigrant and Australia. It noted present problems of settlement and gave priority to English teaching, skills recognition and the needs of women who are often isolated and discriminated against. The Report encouraged government leadership in combatting racism and discrimination in any form. It recommended an intake of 150,000 for the years 1988-89 to 1990-91 and after that it would depend on social and economic conditions. The Committee proposed a system of three categories: Family Immigration, Refugee and Humanitarian Immigration and a new Open category .The Open category Selection System would include seven criteria weighted in the following priority order: labour market skills, entrepreneurial and special skills, age, language capacity, including English , as an employability factor, kinship in Australia ,other links with Australia and attributes of spouse. The public debate on the Report canvassed most of the - 39 -
issues. It drew criticism for its proposal to increase the intake61 and the criticisms of the governments failure to convince Australians that multiculturalism was in the Australian interest was taken to mean that multiculturalism was dead 62. The government didn't agree with the latter but, as Fitzgerald had pointed out, it seemed powerless to convince the populace that multiculturalism was a good thing. In that context the debate on immigration turned into a debate about Asian immigration. From August through to the end of the year Asian immigration dominated the debate. Consequently, the government was able to go on the attack and much of the debate over the important details of Fitzgerald's Report was aborted. The government had treated the report with
some coolness 63 and the Opposition began to speak of
61 "Most want migration cut"The SydneY Morning Herald 6th June 1988 62 Migrant policy a failure" The Sydney Morning Herald 4th. June 1988. "The FitzGerald Immigration Report" The Weekend Australian 4-5th June,1988. Paul Kelly "Migration: a political gun at Hawke's head. ibid. Lauchlan Chipman , "Bye-Bye Multiculturalism" Quadrant September 1988. pp.6-8. 63 "Holding gives report very cool reception"The Weekend Australian 4-5th June,1988. "ALP chief attacks migration report" The Sydney Morning Herald 6th. June ,1988. "Holding opposes migration changes" The Australian 3rd. August,1988. - 40 - drastically reducing family reunion and refugee intake. They spoke of slowing Asian immigration and of "one Australia" in order to highlight the perception that multiculturalism was divisive. Thus Howard shifted the debate to two issues about which the FitzGerald Report said little. The Report upheld the anti-discriminatory policy as the core of Australia's immigration programme. Remarks made about multiculturalism criticised the government's handling of the policy not the policy itself. John Howard knew that Australians wanted Asian immigration slowed and were confused about multiculturalism 64. While denying that he was a racist Mr. Howard was exploiting racism and in the process denied the Australian public the opportunity to debate immigration policy rationally. His stance created division within the Liberal Party as much of the original pressure to follow the anti-Asian path had come from the National Party, specifically from Senator John Stone. Howard's policy received strong criticism from outside his party 65 as well as within and by the end of the year had created ,in the opinion of Stephen FitzGerald, a serious
64 "77pc want Asian immigration slowed" The Australian 2nd August,1988. 65 Sheridan,G.,Blind men chasing ghosts" Quadrant September ,1988. pp.ll-14. Walsh ,M., "Throwing stones at sleeping dogs" The Sydney Morning Herald 1st September,1988. These are two of many examples of the criticism levelled at Howard's policy. ·- 41 - threat to the unity of Australian society 66. What had not been achieved was serious changes to immigration policy based on FitzGerald 67. Some small changes to family reunion requirements and more emphasis on labour market skills were the only advances. The fundamental debate about the national identity and its present transitional character was completely overshadowed and finally disregarded. The significance of immigration both for the Australian society and the immigrant and the relation of the two has become the the focus and the source of a vigorous academic, intellectual and specialised interest in Australia . Immigration policies have been examined from both ends of the ideological spectrum. From the perspective of the left
Jock Collins has given a full account of Australia's immigration policies and experiences 68. On the right, Katharine Betts has put the immigration policies of successive governments under a searchlight by examining the social location of those intellectuals who have supported modern immigration programme since 1976 69.
66 "Asian debate "threat to unity" The Australian 5th December ,1988. 67 "Immigration: a slight shift " The Sydney Morning Herald 10th December,1988 68 Migrant Hands in a Distant Land ,Sydney Pluto Press. 1988 69 Ideology and Immigration ,Burwood. Melbourne University Press.1988 - 42 -
Theories of settlement, from conformity to the host,to fusion , to cultural plurality, have occupied the minds not only of academics and politicians but also of ordinary people. While assimilation has never been far from the popular mind in Australia it has been cultural plurality that has generated most heat in the eighties 70. David Cox argued that assimilation still exists in much welfare thinking too 71 . Cultural plurality or multiculturalism was the official theory of settlement in Australia in 1988 but, as the FitzGerald Report showed, it was very far from being understood or appreciated in the wider community. The reason was that the idea of multiculturalism went beyond being a simple description of Australian society as culturally pluralistic. In the terms of the Galbally Committee Report : "Every person should be able to maintain his or her culture without prejudice or disadvantage and should be encouraged to understand and embrace other cultures." 72 The Australian Ethnic Affairs Council argued that multiculturalism should be the goal of Australian society. "We believe that our goal in Australia should be to
70 David Cox Immigration and Welfare, Sydney. Prentice Hall. pp. 74-85. 71 ibid. 72 Migrant Services and Programs. 1978. p.4. - 43 -
create a society in which people of non-Anglo- Australian origin are given the opportunity, as individuals or groups,to choose to preserve and to develop their culture - their languages, traditions and arts - so that these can become living elements in the diverse culture of the total society, while at the same time they enjoy effective and respected places within one Australian society, with equal access to the rights and opportunities that society
provides and accepting responsibilities towards it. "73
The problem has been how to put this ideal into policy and the delivery of welfare and justice for migrants 74. Other migrant issues have often been intertwined with the issues of discrimination ,racism amd prejudice75. Employment, women, class and welfare needs have become issues that have begun to emerge from the migrant experience in Australia. The
73 Australia as a Multicultural Society A.G.P.S. Canberra. 1977 p.16. 74 Cox, D., op.cit., pp.244-250.
75 Shergold .P., "Discrimination against Australian migrants: an historical methodology" in Burnley,I.,Encel,S., and McCall,G., (eds.) Immigration and Ethnicity in the 1980s Melbourne . Longman Cheshire.pp.58-91. Collins .J., op.cit., pp.198-225. - 44 - special needs that migrants Lave in finding access to media, education,health and the system of justice have encouraged the growth of special broadcasting translator services and have highlighted the importance of English language programmes. At the end of 1988 immigration policy remained a major issue between government and people. The resultant society was creating issues that would continue well beyond that year. What kind of society do Australians want ? How can we best achieve that society? How far is the major ethnic group prepared to go in welcoming and accomodating new and culturally very different people ? How many will it welcome? Who will it welcome? How will it handle incipient racism and consequent discrimination? How will it deliver the necessary services to newcomers and what will those services be? How can it articulate its own values more clearly so that it might act more rationally? What is the role of economic considerations? Which economic considerations? Where do humanitarian considerations fit? What questions does immigration put to institutions such as the law , government and religion? No one knows how these questions will be answered or the issues addressed and the only certainty seems to be the questions themselves. - 45 -
2. WHO AND WHERE IN THE WORLD ARE WE ?
The development of Australia's immigration policy and the church's interest in it can be traced back to the Immigration Committee presided over by Bishop Broughton in 1841.In debating the question of "coolie" immigration the Committee pointed out that nothing could prevent numbers of Indian labourers from remaining after their period of indenture terminated.These Asian immigrants would then compete on the local labour market and, as a result, European workers would find themselves accepting a lower standard of living. As a further result of such competition British immigration would dry up and Indian labour would have become necessary, setting in train a spiral of downward standards 1. By the turn of the century White Australia had become a dogma administered through the Commonwealth Immigration Restriction Act,1902 and its dictation test.Arising from experiences of attempts at labour immigration and Chinese immigration to the goldfields during the nineteenth century this Act was used to exclude Chinese and other coloureds in a
1 Elkin,A.P., "Re-thinking the White Australia Policy" in A White Australia. Borrie ,W.D.,et. al.,pp.220-221 : and Shaw G.P.,Patriarch and Patriot,pp.150-155. - 46 - form acceptable to the British Empire 2. In time, at the insistence of the Japanese and the Indians, minor changes were made to it. However,the dogma continued to hold sway among Australians. Up to the late thirties White Australia was a fundamental assumption about Australian identity and what Australian society was meant to be.No change was possible unless accompanied by a change of public attitudes 3 . By 1945 many people were exerting pressure to bring about change in what was popularly known as the "White Australia Policy " Until the late thirties the policy was the root and ground of every other policy of the Commonwealth Government and found its support in popular sentiments about race, economics and politics 4 .However,by the late thirties and into the forties the racist implications of the policy began to be played down .After December 1941, as the Japanese moved south, Australians had things to think about other than immigration. Even so, vocal expressions of discontent with the policy began to surface during the war years and continued throughout the rest of the forties.
2 Yarwood, A.T., Asian Migration to Australia.The Background to Exclusion. Melbourne, Melbourne Universit.y Press. 1964.pp.151-155. 3 Elkin,op.cit., pp.215-235 4 Johanson ,D.,Immigration:Control or Colour Bar? ed.,K. Rivett,Melbourne .Melbourne University Press. 1962.pp.23-27 - 47 -
The churches were active in this movement of discontent.As early as 1943 the President of the Methodist Conference,Rev.H.M.Wheeler spoke of the White Australia policy as coming up for judgement 5. In 1944 The Methodist Spectator encouraged the church to disassociate itself from the policy and the Methodist Conference found the term "white" to be racially offensive. Archbishop Mannix suggested that by " ... admitting a reasonable quota we can surely make it plain to our coloured friends that there is no colour bar in Australia and that, as children of one Father , we recognise our brotherhood with all men,irrespective of race, culture or colour" 6 .In May 1945 the Foreign Missions Committee of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church spoke of the need to review the White Australia policy and the General Assembly on the 18 September 1945 declared itself to be in favour of a quota system for Asian immigration. Even the Archbishop of
Canterbury declared in favour of admitting Asiatics to
Australia after reading a National Missionary Council submission on Australia's immigration policy to the International Missionary Council in London 7
5 Reported in the Melbourne Herald, 7 November 1945 in an article by C. Turnbull "Are White Australia Feelings Changing ?"
6 ibid.
7 Reported in the Sunda~ Dail~ Telegra]2h, 25 March,1945. - 48 -
Within Sydney Diocese at least one voice spoke up in the defence of change.The Rector of St.James ,King Street, an influential liberal churchman Rev.E.J.Davidson, wrote an article in a journal called The New Day which later became the organ for the Christian Social Order Movement (CSOM) from 1943 to 1951. Entitled "The Stranger Within The Gates" the article attacked the ill-concealed feeling of dislike for foreigners then being expressed in the press.He rejected the suspicion based on fear that foreigners were all subversive to the democratic state and argued that the rejection of the foreigner as foreigner was obscurantist and founded only in Australian insularism.He considered that Australia's democracy was sturdy enough to absorb the foreigner and did not need to treat refugees in such a way as to give Australia a reputation for stupidity,crudity and lack of finer feelings.Furthermore, the scholars ,musicians ,educationalists,technicians and other experts driven out by dictators could enrich the national life. He also asserted that the birthrate could not provide the population growth necessary for security purposes. Australia needed immigrants to reach the magic figure of twenty million people 8
This article was not so much a case against White
8 Davidson,E.J., "The Stranger Within Our Gates" in The New Day, vol.1,no.4,November 1943. pp.16-18. - 49 -
Australia as a call for a change of attitude within the Australian community to all immigrants, irrespective of origin. But in its strong anti-racist tone and evident humanitarianism it represented a challenge to community attitudes consistent with the push to change the White Australia policy.
However,change was far from certain.Professor Elkin quoted a 1943 Gallup poll on the question: "After the war,would you alter the White Australia Policy to admit a limited number of coloured people, such as Chinese and Indians ?" 51% opposed any alterations,40% favoured limited coloured immigration and 9% were undecided 9. In 1944 the figures were 53% opposed to any alteration,35% favoured the quota and 12% were undecided.
While Elkin argued that there was a strong minority opinion in favour of the quota system it was clear that the weight of opinion was still with the R.S.L. and the Australian Natives Association ,whose President claimed in 1944 that " the war had proved the wisdom of the White Australia Policy"lO . Not all church people were happy to change the policy and they found a colourful spokesman in Rev. George Cowie of Fullerton Presbyterian Church,Sydney ,who was quoted as saying:"I believe it would be a huge mistake to allow coloured people
9 Elkin,A.P.,op.cit. p.246. 10 Turnbull,G.,op.cit. - 50 - into Australia.We must fight for the White Australia policy , and thank God for it .. "11. He vigorously attacked Japanese,Negro servicemen and Indonesian sailors for lowering the moral and material tone of their surroundings. One explanation for this change is given by David Johanson. "But when Asian nations came to prove their equality by the standards of the West,talk of superiority and inferiority quickly resolved itself into talk of"difference":"thoughts that are not our thoughts,and ways that are not our ways".By the late nineteen-twenties, Australians were offering explanations in terms of their own inability to assimilate and saying that ""colour" has actually very little to do with it". By the later thirties and forties ,the racist implications were being played down altogether.A national boast was becoming a national apology . "12 Another explanation was indicated by the comment of Mr.J.Whitsed Dowsy on the pamphlet produced by the National Missionary Council of Australia:"The pamphlet represents the trend of educated public opinion"13 . Although representing
11 ibid. 12 Johanson,D.,op. cit. p.125. 13 Sunday Daily Telegraph, 25 March,1945. - 51 -
minority opinion the pamphlet represented the growing power of the educated elite. Resistance to change remained strong Despite a vastly changed world situation Australian popular opinion seemed firmly on the side of White Australia and it was not to change much in the next decade 14 .Busines leaders,trade unionist and politicians were all agreed that the policy be held rigorously in place.This was the context into which Sydney Anglicans found themselves plunged in 1945. Pressure for change was not only building up within the Australian community. Changes in the political fortunes of Asia and Africa between 1945 and 1965 were creating new questions for European nations. The debate about immigration within Australia posed the question Who are we ? The question posed to Australians by the emerging nations of Asia and Africa was: Where in the world are we? Churches have perceptions of their place in the world which arise out of their own experience of that world tempered by their inherited traditions. In general terms the church has always regarded itself as universal in scope and non-discriminatory in membership. The Anglican Church in Sydney has its origins in the evangelical movement of the
14 Wilson,J.L.J., "White Australia Today's Dilemna" in Current Affairs Bulletin, vol.20,no.12, October 7,1957. pp. 189-191. - 52 -
eighteenth and nineteenth century which regarded the whole world as a mission field 15 .This was a new perception for Anglicans as the Elizabethan settlement had created a national church which served the national interest. As the nineteenth century wore on the church's mission and the Imperial interest often coincided. Often the world was understood in terms of both the English national interest and the church's mission. As far as the church was concerned this provided a sense of identity that grew out of its experience as a national church. It was Christ's English Church now spreading throughout the British Empire. In rudimentary form this was the perception of Johnson, Marsden and Bishop Broughton and all other Anglican clergy who worked at the beginnings of the colony of New South Wales 16 . Later , through such bodies as the Church Missionary Society Australians helped pursue the Imperial interests of Crown and God 17 . Mowll inherited that vision and throughout his tenure as Archbishop he frequently referred to Australia's need for a
15 Neill,S.,Christian Missions, Middlesex. Penguin. 1964. pp.243-321. 16 Hogan,M., The Sectarian Strand, Ringwood. Penguin,1987. pp.9-47. 17 Cole,K.,A History of the Church Missionary Society of Australia, Melbourne. CMS Historical Press. - 53 - vision of its world role. Welcoming the delegates to the fifth annual meeting of the Australian Council of the World Council of Churches in February 1951 he stated: "Australia needs a larger vision of its world-wide
responsiblity.Australia faces a great day of opportunity in Asia and South-East Asia. The situation in China calls for urgent attention and next year might be too late.Long range plans and academic discussions are of no use.Reports from China indicate the amazing cleverness,which amounts to devilry,with which minds are being turned by people who oppose the Christian religion in the direction certain people want others to think. "18
The Council agreed with Mowll and in its final statement recommended improved relations with Asia ,especially Indonesia and the friction over West New Guinea,the admission of China to the U.N. and that consultation and negotiation should precede any attempt by U.N.forces to cross the 38th parallel into Korea 19 Two key elements emerged in this quotation that loomed large
18 The Australian Church Record,vol.16,no.4, 22 Feb.,1951. p.11 19 ibid. - 54 - in the Archbishop's thinking.The first was Asia.He had already expressed this concern in his Presidential Address to the Sydney Synod in 1945. He called it a difficult and anxious problem and his meaning was that Australia needed to populate,that it might best be populated with Britons,that it had a White Australia Policy and it was set in Asia. It was the combination of those factors that tried the Archbishop.He was anxious because he believed that immigration policy should" ... prove as little offensive to our Asiatic neighbours as possible"20 . He considered that India,China and Japan ought to be the main focus for Australia in determining its relations with Asia.At this time Indonesia did not rate consideration. Paradoxically, he argued that British migration must be fostered most of all"21 .Although he stated that he was taxed by this problem he did not consider the Asian factor in immigration policy in the Sydney Synod for some time , except that in 1949 he noted the high birth rate of Asia and its consequence of a high population growth and urged further British immigration. The other factor was that the Cold War was growing in intensity and anti-communist rhetoric was common. Mowll reflected that in his speech at the Australian Council of the
20 Sydney Diocesan Magazine Sept.,1945. p.5. 21 Year Book of the Diocese of Sydney,1950. p.49-50 - 55 -
WCC The fear of Reds was strong as stories of inhumanities surfaced in the christian press 22 In his Synod address of 1949 Mowll spoke of communism as the "challenge of another way of life which is sweeping across many parts of the world today and in recent months has made a determined bid for the control of our Australian way of life by planning the disruption of our Australian economy on a wide scale ... "23 .He was referring the strikes then crippling Australian industry. He regarded the challenge as a call to set the Australian moral house in order.Signs of moral decline could be seen in black market hoarding1evasion of fares and the use of Sunday for building of homes and gardening but not worship 24 . At the same Synod the Social Problems Committee presented a report entitled The Christian Challenge to Communism 25 .In this Report the issue is dealt with mainly as an intellectual theme and as a foil for the presentation of the Committee1s vision of what constituted a christian society.While not as moralistic as the Presidential Address it does underline the concern many church people felt about the spread of communism
22 The Australian Church Record110 Feb. 11949 and 5 April1 1949.
23 Year Book of the Diocese of Sydney1 1950. pp.52-53. 24 ibid. p.43 25 ibid.1 pp.133-146 - 56 - and how open they might be to Cold War rhetoric. Despite the rhetoric about Asia, the real focus remained on Britain as the guarantor of freedom and the continuation of Australian culture and as the desirable source of immigrants. This fitted comfortably with the view that Australia was essentially British and would remain so in the foreseeable future.At the Synod of 1952 Archbishop Mowll spoke of the accession of Queen Elizabeth II as the hope of a new Elizabethan age 26 and criticised the dropping of "F.D." from the coinage on the basis that " ... our British way of life is based fundamentally on the Christian faith. "27 The Synod endorsed the Archbishop's criticism contending that the the letters "F.D." emphasised the the historic association with the crown and the duty to pay homage to Almighty God 28. Anglicans, like many Australians, saw themselves safely esconsed in British arms protected from the vague cultural menace of Asia and advancing communism. Throughout the 1950s this tension between Australia as an outpost of British culture and freedom and yet set geographically in Asia continued to find expression in various ways, In the same address as quoted in the last paragraph
26 Year Book of the Diocese of Sydney, 1953. p.40. 27 ibid., p.43 28 ibid.p.70. Resolution 16. - 57 -
Mowll could also speak of the church's special responsibility towards Asia,with its poverty, its breakdown of its ancient, unifying, cultures and its weak christian churches.He exhorted his listeners to assist in the strengthening of the churches before all the doors closed as they had in China 29 .The Synod encouraged people to give to The South-East Asia Appeal which aimed to raise 100,000 to forward christian work in the region 30 On the other hand,the visit of Queen Elizabeth II on 3 February 1955 and her attendance at St Andrew's Cathedral on 7 February brought forth fulsome praise for all that was British.He encouraged all the clergy and laity to come and for churches to ring bells all over Sydney 31 Mowll viewed Asia through the eyes of the missionary/evangelist garnished with the vanishing tastes of British cultural chauvinism and set in the politics of the Cold War. That was to be expected given his background as English, trained at Cambridge University (a centre of Evangelical strength) and his many years in China as an evangelical missionary 32 .That experience did limit his
29 Year book of the Diocese of Sydney, 1954. p.3. 30 ibid. p.69. Resolution 9. 31 ibid., 1954. pp.3ff amd 1955 pp.36 and 50.
32 Loane, M.L., Archbishop Mowll, London. Hodder and Stoughton, 1960. pp.41-131. - 58 -
responses to the question of immigration. Editorials in The Australian Church Record repeated the rhetoric 33 They set Australia firmly in Asia and emphasised the importance of the impressions that students received while in ~his country.They considered that Australia's future in Asia depended heavily on the impression these students took back with them. The impression given was that Australia was in the position of giving and shaping Asia and receiving in return some northern goodwill to continue to be a British enclave. For other Anglicans in Sydney Cold war rhetoric and sectarianism provided another vision of world,one cast on a much grander scale.In 1954 The Australian Church Record provided its readers with one such a vision 34 .The writer viewed the present situation as one of agitation for world government.Two forces had a policy of such government- the Papacy and Communism.Democracy and Communism faced each other as antagonists.Rome disliked democracy but feared Communism. Secretly, Rome wished the weakening of both.On the basis of Revelation chapters 13 and 17 the writer asserted that Rome would create an alliance with Communism to form a world
33 "Asian Students and White Australia", vol.19, no.13. 8 July, 1954.p.2. 34 "Notes and Comments", vol.19,no.10. 27 May , 1954.p. 4 - 59 - government 35. In this apocalyptic vision Light and Darkness,Good and Evil, Truth. and Falsity clashed violently . Despite its bizarre rhetoric many people accepted just such a vision.Refugees from Rome or Moscow might be seen as welcome allies.Europeans of catholic origins would almost certainly be thought of as the enemy. Marxist governments to the North would be a threat to democracy. The notion of Asia , or for that matter Europe, was quite irrelevant except as seen in apocalyptic terms. As the church moved into the early sixties the focus on Asia became sharper.There was little talk of British culture and, although the Queen's visit of 1963 was appreciated, it had nothing of symbolic power of the first36 . Instead it was said that "anything that concerns South-East Asia concerns Australia" 37 and " ... we are increasingly realising that Australia is a part of Asia. "38 What brought this home was Britain's intention to join the Common Market and the
35 The last book of the New Testament. Cast in apocalyptic form it has troubled interpreters across the centuries. However, that has never troubled some who believe,even today, that they can predict and interpret political events with the aid of its visions 36 Southern Cross, vol.3,no,4,p.l.The most significant comment was:"It did us all· good." No new Elizabethan Age here! 37 Year Book of the Diocese of Sydney. p.225 - 60 - perception that this would loosen Commonwealth ties. Archbishop Gough drew a parallel between Britain joining Europe and the necessity of Australia to join Asia and consequently he saw Australia's and the church's task as fighting poverty,hunger and disease and presenting an alternative christian vision to the prevalent communist one.He argued that Australian political leaders and people would have to change their attitudes towards immigration policies and towards relationships with coloured peoples. Gough also discussed events in Indonesia which he viewed with some alarm. In his view Australia was still vulnerable because of its small population.The control of the U.N. was in the hands of communist lands and Afro-Asian countries so that the West could do little through that agency. He deplored Indonesia's aggression and the West's impotence ,arguing that the church in Australia had a duty to strengthen the churcn in Indonesia in order to demonstrate the superiority of christianity over communism.He continued to express his concern about Indonesia and its aggressiveness towards Malaysia and he deplored weakness and appeasement and likened the situation to the rise of Hitler 39. Finally, he supported the Commonwealth Government over its decision to .intervene in Vietnam 40 .
39 Southern Cross vol.5 no.6 pp.5-6. 40 Year Book of the Diocese of Sydney 1966 .p. 267 - 61 -
In this Gough was carrying out his own maxim that everything that touched the life of the nation was the concern of the christian and he tried to turn the Anglican church in Sydney towards Asia 41 . He was not very successful although his remarks did encourage the editors of Southern Cross to commission an article on Indonesia in order to feed some substantial material into the debate 42 . This short piece was a journalistic and impressionistic account of Sukarno's psychology ,leadership and methods. Its main thrust was to portray Indonesia as asserting its right to an adult voice in world affairs and to argue that its independence was real and viable 43 It was a simple, straightforward account of a complex situation, sympathetically written However, it probably had little effect in changing peoples' perceptions of the world and their place in it .It is likely that the piece could be read by prejudiced eyes as describing the megalomania of a typical third-world dictator. It was twelve years before the subject of Indonesia surfaced again in the records of Sydney Anglicanism in an
41 Southern Cross, vol.5 no.6. p.6 42 Cane, A., "A Hard Look to Our North" Southern Cross vol.5 no.8 August,1965. pp.6-8. 43 ibid. p.8 - 62 - article about both the politics and the christian church in Indonesia 44 . It was a report of a meeting of the Council of Churches in Indonesia and the Australian Council of Churches over the fracturing of relationships over East Timor . It detailed church activities such as caring for and reintegrating polit·ical prisoners . Harcourt-Norton suggested forging stronger links with the church in Indonesia. He also gave details of the disaster that was East Timor and lamented the understandable paralysis of successive Australian governments. This article painted a positive picture of Indonesia despite East Timor Neither Harcourt-Norton nor the Australian Council of Churches agreed with Indonesia's view on East Timor but they were aware of the difficulties of access to reliable information within the country . One event which did turn all Australian eyes towards Asia was the Vietnam war. In his early years as Archbishop of Sydney Marcus Loane lent qualified support to the views and actions of both the American and Australian governments 45 .For
44 Harcourt-Norton, C., "Indonesia and Australia:Christian tensions",Southern Cross March 1977.pp.28-29. The author was an Anglican minister in the Diocese of Sydney as well as Chairman of the Working Committee of the Executive, Australian Council of Churches. 45 "The Vietnam Issue" Southern Cross vol.6,no,5, April 1966 p. 21. Year Book of the Diocese of Sydney,1967. pp.275-276; and 1968, pp.360-363,385. Southern Cross,vol.8 no.3. March,1968 p.7 ;and no.5, May, 1968,p.8. - 63 - him intervention was a better policy than isolationism and neutralism.He accepted the current views of the world then being held by western governments.He expressed deep concern for the small Evangelical Church of Vietnam should communists take over and drew parallels with the destruction of the church in North Korea and China 46.But the most telling of all his comments was a quotation from a hymn: "O'er heathen lands afar,Thick darkness broodeth yet:
Arise, 0 Morning Star Arise , and never set. "47
Loane viewed Asia essentially through nineteenth-century missionary spectacles.The paternalism and triumphalism of the hymn reflected the view of Asia and Africa perpetuated at missionary conferences all around the world.Despite the fact that there were other perspectives on mission provided by well known Anglican voices 48 Loane chose the nineteenth century as more amenable to his evangelical vision and thus vitiated his capacity to make relevant judgements from his otherwise excellent grasp of fact 49 .
46 Year Book of the Diocese of Sydney,1968 pp.362-363 47 ibid. p.363
48 e.g. Warren, M.,Perspectives in Mission London. Hodder and Stoughton, 1964. 49 That Loane viewed the world as a mission fied in the nineteenth century model was expressed in his Presidential Address of 1971. Year Book of the Diocese of Sydney 1972. pp.9-13. - 64 -
Certainly not all Anglicans looked at the world in this way.
Loane 1 S view represented the evangelical and missionary commitments of the leadership of the Diocese of Sydney. But in an editorial "What are we afraid of?" the editor of The Anglican newspaper proposed a different perspective 50 .The topic was Australian forces in Malaya and Singapore and his thesis was that they were there to force the U.S.A to extricate Australia from trouble.Behind the decisions the government was making the editor,Francis James, discerned a belief in our own superiority as humans (and not just the superiority of our system).He lamented the neglect of the study of Asian languages ,history and culture and placed Australia firmly in Asia as an integral part of the whole. For Loane on the other hand , Australia was part of the British
Commonwealth 1 was fundamentally British and belonged to the western alliance 51 By 1978 the mood was changing and the need for Asian immigration was argued by Colin Clark 52 Whatever the value of his demographic and population arguments his emphasis on the need for Asian immigration was quite a contrast to what
50 The Anglican, 4 March 1969, p.5. 51 Year Book of the Diocese of Sydney 1975. p222.
52 "Asian Migrants Needed Southern Cross 1 Nov.,1978. p. 21. - 65 - has preceded . Clark argued for admission to skilled, educated· Asians on the basis that they would fit into the Australian community without undue friction . On the whole there was a welcome lack of stereotyping of Asia and Asians as wild eyed terrorists or poverty stricken beggars. One exception was an article published on Islam in the Australian Church Record 53 In the article Islam was portrayed as a hateful murderous barbaric , primitive , regressive and oppressive religion The Q'ran lay at the root of all this evil. The author detailed the argument with reference to and quotes from the Q'ran In a special box the editors placed a section headed "The Koran on other Religions" in which the Islamic faith was portrayed as intolerant and vicious and christians were described as a contagious disease. The purported political aspirations of Islamic states were hinted at without any specifics being analysed . Not one good thing could be said for Islam . During the nineteen eighties nothing further emerged from Sydney Diocese It was as though the church had no place in the world. After the Lambeth Conference of Anglican Bishops it was noted that among many international resolutions not one dealt with Asia 54 .This surprising omission led to speculation
53 "The Islamic cloud in the Australian skies" 4 Sept. 1979. p.3.
54 Hogan,T., "Lambeth Conference 1988 resolutions on International Affairs:a brief commentary." International Affairs September, 1988. pp.11-13. It is not being suggested that Sydney Bishops are alone liable to criticism on this score. - 66 -
as to its reasons. One was that the Bishops of the 'region, which included the Australians, were not actively involved in the sooial,political and pastoral concerns of their people 55. Whatever the truth of that contention it does indicate a reluctance to place the church in Australia in an Asian context. The effect was to place the church in a disadvantaged situation in the debates about Asian immigration which racked Australia and left it without a voice. Sydney Anglicans have only slowly begun to see themselves as belonging to a nation the future of which lies in Asia. From Mowll until today they have regarded Asia as a mission field . Thus they have been able to cling to the British connection while appearing to have their eyes on Asia . They have shown little inclination as a church , to study Asia and forge links with it .
55 ibid. - 67 -
3. WHAT SHALL WE DO ?
It is important to explore what Sydney Anglicans did ,what they thought they were achieving when they did it and as far as possible tease out what the actual results were of their efforts. What was done will give a balance to what was said and will give an indication of a bumbling but more humane response than might be indicated by a lot of the policy and theological responses. Archbishop Mowll stated in his Presidential Address of 1949: "We want to build our country,but we want to build it of God-fearing men and women.Naturally we look to those who have been long nurtured in our faith and our own literature as offering the best material with which to realise our hopes. "1 The first official Sydney Anglican response to post-war immigration was itself a response to Archbishop Mowll's Presidential Address to the Synod of 1945.In Anglican fashion the Synod formed a committee. "Immigration- Committee.That this Synod,realising the responsibility resting upon the Christian Church
1 Sydney Diocesan Magazine Sept. 1945 p.6. - 68 -
to investigate ways and means of securing the best type of immigrants for developing this country,and gives power to the Committee if it should desire to seek the co-operation of other Protestant Churches and organisations whose aims are along the same lines. "2 This Synod picked up Mowll's elitist, pro-British, anti- southern European and possibly racist vision in the vague words "the best type of immigrants". The sectarianism was obvious in the reference to "other Protestant Churches and organisations ". It is important to ask what the committee thought it was investigating.Given Mowll's Synod charge the terms of reference were not as open as they might appear. It would be unlikely that the committee would find that a southern European labourer or Asian clerk would "the best type of immigrant". In fact the purpose of the committee was not to investigate Australia's immigration needs and find a solution to those but to ensure as far as possible the ascendancy of the British way of life and Anglicanism conceived of as a form of Protestantism. Two immediate responses followed. In the Sydney Diocesan
2 Resolution 31 of Synod Proceedings reprinted in Sydney Diocesan Magazine, Oct. 1945, - 69 -
Magazine of March 1947 there was a report that the Rev. S.N. Paddison was appointed to Herne Bay Temporary Housing area as a chaplain3 . By July 1947 the Diocese had set up the Church of England Immigration Bureau headed by Major General the Rev. C. A. Osborne. He began his work by preparing a leaflet circulated to all clergy seeking their cooperation in the nomination of suitable British immigrants, making known particulars of vacancies for employment and to secure the right type of migrants4. The object of the Bureau was defined as " expediting and facilitating the migration to Australia of suitable members of the Church of England"5. By August Osborne was complaining that only eight out of two hundred Rectors had responded to his "Bureau Brochure No.1" and that had held up the work of the Bureau. However, Osborne was able to report that he had been able to help many in the matter of nominations6. The Bureau saw its work as threefold .It was to expedite nominations ease the trauma of reception and to assist in
3 p.6 4 Sydney Diocesan Magazine, July 1947. p.9 5 Note on the Work of the Church of England Immigration Bureau N.S.W. by C.A.Osborne. Mimeographed and held in the Archives of the Diocese of Sydney. 6 ibid .. August,1947 .p.11. - 70 -
the after care of migrants. In fact the major work of the Bureau was bureaucratic ,the nominating procedure being central to its task.It acted as liason between the Church of England nominators and the State Department of Immigration,informed prospective nominators of the conditions governing the submission of nominations and the allotment of Government passages and obtained and helped to fill in forms. The Bureau also had connections in England, co-operating with the Church of England Council of Empire Settlement to find nominators in Australia for intending migrants who did not know any one in Australia and finding nominees in Britain for prospective Church of England nominators in Australia?. The reception and after care were also mainly bureaucratic. Although Osborne tried to meet official immigrants at the Reception Centre at Kensington, the main emphasis was on helping the immigrant through the immigration maze. Osborne's wife and the President of the Catholic Legion of Women provided sandwiches. Osborne facilitated reception by forwarding the names and addresses of C.of E. immigrants to the Rectors of parishes in which they would reside. After care was very limited and dealt with requests for housing and employment.Here the Bureau was completely stuck.
7 Osborne ,op.cit. - 71 -
Correspondence still extant indicates that these two areas were the most significant problem areas 8 .Osborne had no answer for either problem.In this his office was probably no different from any other of the time.Osborne represented the Bureau on the Migration After-Care Advisory Committee as deputy chairman and was chairman of the Australian Migration Voluntary Service , a branch of the Council of Social Service. In his Presidential Address to the Synod of 1948 Archbishop Mowll outlined the work of the Church of England migration Bureau.It followed almost exactly the outline of Osborne's given above9.He regarded immigration as one of the most vital political and social problems facing Australia and in such a problem the church had a deep interest. That interest extended to the Provincial Synod setting up the Migration Bureau to co-ordinate church activities in the field of immigration. Mowll saw its task in precisely the same way as Osborne did but looked to the immigration of English migrants to strengthen the spiritual life of the Anglican church. Immigration took on a sectarian hue.
8 The correspondence is housed in the the Sydney Diocesan Archives ,Box 403. The little that remains highlights the frustration of the immigrants and the powerlessness of the Bureau. 9 Sydney Diocesan Magazine, 2/12 NS Dec.-Jan.,1949. pp.249-250. - 72 -
Mowll encouraged Anglican people to help with the "problem" of immigration in two ways. First, in the matter of publicity Anglicans should help all classes of society to see Australia's great need for immigrants.He encouraged people to emphasize wherever possible that Australia could not continue with her small population and that if she was to remain British she must bring out many more people. Second,Anglicans should extend friendship to new settlers.They could be invited into homes, given a cup of tea and a chance for a chat. The "problem " of immigration as Mowll saw it was the resistance of some classes to it and the loneliness and isolation of the new settler. To attack the first problem the church was to become the agent of the government promoting its vision of a populated, secure and prosperous Australia. Such a role was not unfamiliar to the Church of England in AustralialO.Sectarian interests and government policy had once again coincided and the church authorities did not submit the policy of government to close scrutiny. The problem of isolation and loneliness could be tackled by the homely remedies given above.Such a remedy was available only to those who had accomodation. As Mowll had already pointed out in his Address many requests for accomodation in
10 Hogan, M., The Sectarian Strand, pp.30-47. - 73 - the city could not be met.The question of housing was not being tackled at all nor did Mowll raise his voice about it. The problem probably lay in Mowll's view that the church was responsible for the spiritual welfare of the immigrant. This division between the temporal and the spiritual was very strong in evangelical thinking of the period and expressed itself here in the missed opportunity to contribute a humane critique of immigration and it effects both on the immigrant and the society into which the immigrant moved. However,the issue of housing had become so critical by 1949 that the Migration and After Care and Welfare Advisory Committee sent the following copy of a minute to the Minister for Immigration: "This Committee feels that it is its duty to represent to the Minister their conclusion that the acute housing shortage is likely to jeopardize the success of immigration into New South Wales. It is now nearly two years since the first nominated British immigrants arrived.So far as can be ascertained the overwhelming majority of the earlier arrivals are still living in the limited accomodation provided by their nominators, and have little prospect for getting homes of their own for some years. Towards the end of this year the first arrivals from Europe will complete their two years - 74 -
in the work to which they were directed by the Commonwealth Government. The housing situation is such that the majority of these immigrants have little hope of obtaining homes of their own for at least ten years. This means that young married couples cannot look forward with confidence to raising a family.This Committee is of the opinion
that a fresh and determined approach to the whole problem of housing is necessary if the social and industrial life of New South Wales is not to be embittered by thousands of disappointed and disgruntled new settlers, British and European. Recommendations. 1.That at least 100,000 pre-fab.houses be ordered from Britian immediately; 2.That the first call on local housing materials be diverted to foundations, sewerage,gas, electricity etc., for such pre-fab houses; 3.a systematic survey be undertaken immediately with
the object of setting aside areas where these pre-fab houses would be set up; 4.Settlers who wish to bring out their own pre-fab houses be permitted to import them free of duty provided they are of an approved pattern. "11
11 Migrant After care and Welfare Advisory Committee. Minutes of the meeting of 16/8/1949,held in the Sydney Diocesan Archives. - 75 -
C.A.Osborne was deputy chairman of this committee and the
long minute indicated the frustration felt by non-government bodies over the issue of housing. The extant correspondence of the Church of England Immgration Bureau revealed the sense of helplessness 12 . In a letter to Osborne a Mr.B. Minors wrote
with a request for housing. He and his wife and two sons, aged
17 and 19 years, were living with his brother and his family. He wrote: "Things are not what we hoped for.My wife's health
is suffering and my nerves are steadily getting beyond toleration and I can foresee the breaking up
of my little family which I have taken pride in
rearing".
As Mr. Minors had used up his savings during the strike he could not afford to buy a house.In his reply of 12 October 1949 , Osborne commented that he had just given up trying to find accomodation in Sydney. Only if Mr. Minors wished to move
to the country could Osborne help. In the face of such powerlessness the Minute takes on a new and humane urgency. No-one in Synod or the church at large picked up this
issue.It was easier for the church to deal only with what it
12 Archives of the Diocese of Sydney, A.H.M.S. Box 551. - 76 - considered to be "spiritual" matters. On the other hand,although there is no extant reply to this minute, the government did later take up the idea and towns like Dapto still have their post war pre-fab houses set out in little estates.It does appear that ,in time, this committee was able to shape Government policy and action in a humane direction. The Archbishop concurred with the ideas expressed in the Minute ,arguing strongly that the housing problem would jeopardise the success of the immigration policy13.He pointed to British and European despair and disappointment because they had little hope of obtaining their own homes under two years. However, it is worth asking what greater effect the recommendations might have had if the Anglican church in Sydney had unequivocally supported the recommendations . The Synod chose not to follow the Archbishop's lead and the matter was quietly dropped. The problem did not go away and at the Synod of 1950 Mowll was once again forced to raise the issues of nominators ,work and housing.From the Australian end it was becoming impossible to find nominators who would provide both work and housing, especially in the cities.In Britain it was becoming
13 The Year Book of the Diocese of Sydney,1950. p.50 - 77 - increasingly difficult to secure those prospective immigrants who would work on the land or take domestic service in Australia.Although the Church of England Council of Empire Settlement could provide hundreds of names, the response from the Anglican parishes of NSN could best be described as meagre14. There was a curious lack of analysis and reflection in the Archbishop's address.He described the situation but did not seem to have any way of analysing it. Were farm workers and domestic servants the best kind of immigrant for Australia?Nouldn't skilled migration be bet·ter? What was the nature of the resistance they met in the parishes of NSW? During the same speech one initiative was reported. The Commonwealth Government had agreed to send chaplains on migrant ships for the whole journey from England. These vessels were those given over entirely to migrants from Britain.Thus begun an activity that lasted well into the sixties. No statement was given as to the purposes that the chaplain might serve other than obvious ecclesiatical duties. His main bureaucratic function was to supply names and addresses to denominational representatives in each State so that they might be followed up locally.Anything else he did
14 Year Book of the Diocese of Sydney,1951-52.pp.51-52. - 78 - seems to have been up to bim although pastoral care and visitation would have figured largely in his day to day routine 15 In the same year Major General the Rev. C. A. Osborne was succeeded by Mr. E.W.Pont as Hon.Director of the Church of England Immigration Bureau and the first of the full-time chaplains was appointed 16 Herne Bay had a chaplain presumbably because about 70% of its residents were Anglicans. At Hargrave Park housing estate, where about 50% of the residents were Anglican, a chaplain attached to St. Luke's, Liverpool was appointed 17. In the year 1948 there were some rumblings of protest about government actions in the application of the White Australia policy. The Record reacted to criticism from the Adelaide Guardian that the church had not responded to the deportation of Malayan seamen by the government. The Guardian rubbed salt into the wound by claiming that only the communists has protested the action. The Record pointed out that Bishop Pilcher and Rev.Alan Walker had been tireless in their protests and had called public meetings to protest
15 ibid. 16 ibid. 17 Ibid. - 79 -
"against the enormity of of deporting the Malayans". In the view of the Record the action could only be described as a gross injustice18. Later in the year ,at the Synod , Bishop Pilcher had the following motion passed : "This Synod of the Diocese of Sydney believes that it is in the true interest of Australia that,in the application of the White Australia Policy, consideration should be given to the special cases, particularly where a rigid application of the policy would threaten the sanctity of marriage or would damage the life of an Australian citizen. It believes that when one party of a marriage is Australian and the other has resided for some considerable time in Australia ,proving a worthy resident (and especially where there are children) the pair should be given the right of choosing their country of domicile".19
In 1949 the Rev.W.G.Coughlan, the Director of CSOM, was also incensed at the actions of the Minister of Immigration in
18 Australian Church Record,January, 1948 .p.3 19 The Year Book of the Diocese of Sydney , 1948. Resolution 12 p.66. - 80 - deporting en bloc Asians who came to Australia as wartime refugees.He was particularly distressed over the breaking up of families in which one partner ,usually the wife,was an Australian citizen. He argued against the Minister's action on sociological, economic,legal ,international and humanitarian grounds.He then petitioned the UN on behalf of the Australian wives and set up a committee to see what action could be taken on behalf of the other deportees.He invjted citizens to write and support the cause but the response was very poor even from CSOM members. Obviously ,he still represented a minority view in the church in Sydney 20.
In the Synod address of 1949 Mowll associated himself with the opinion of Archdeacon Robertson of the Australian Board of Missions which he quoted at some length. "But for some reason he bas adopted an entirely different attitude to those poor unfortunates who,because of the war, have been domiciled in Australia during the last ten years.I believe the Minister must face the fact the majority of people
in Australia believing in a White Australia policy,do not want it administered in the cruel way in which it is being administered today. The
20 "CSOM and Asian Refugees" in The New Day, vol. 7 no. 4 October,1949.pp.1-2. - 81 -
Minister should differentiate between deserters from ships and those who came to us as refugees from New Guinea and have been with us for several years. It seems to me a definite wrong and a violation of the Australian way of life to drive these people out.21" The Synod followed Mowll's lead, passing a resolution calling on the Prime Minister and Federal Parliament to administer " ... the so-called White Australia Policy with ministerial discretion in cases where a rigid enforcement would
threaten the sanctity of marriage or deprive an Australian citizen of some fundamental right or tend to prejudice the mutual goodwill of Australia and the nations of the East. "22 The Resolution continued insisting that all cases should be considered in the light of the Government's acceptance of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.In a curious phrase, the Synod pleaded for the enforcement of the White Australia Policy ln its original intention. There is no clue as to what the Synod conceived of as the original intention of the White Australia Policy.One can only guess in the light of the
21 The Year Book of the Diocese of Sydney, 1950. p.50. 22 Year Book of the Diocese of Sydney,1950.Synod Resolution No.7. p.68. - 82 - pro-British stance of the Archbishop that they perceived it as designed to stop an unregulated flood of Asians coming into Australia. None of the above attacked the the fundamentals of the White Australia policy and its underlying ideology. In fact in the Resolution the Synod voted to have it kept in place.
However, these calls for humanity and justice in the administration of the White Australia policy did not have much effect on Calwell's stringent use of the Immigration Act to remove Asians from Australia. In time the call for justice and humanity in the application of the White Australia policy would expose the inhumane and unjust nature of the underlying ideology. Sydney Anglicans were not yet ready for that.Despite Synod and the CSOM the Australian populace seems to have cared little for moral and humane arguments. As President of the Australian Council of the World Council of Churches Mowll was able to help begin the immigration programmes of that body by commissioning Miss Margaret Holmes of Melbourne to assist migrants. In the first instance, she was to help find accomodation and occupation for migrants.The social problems of migrants had changed little from the beginning of the programme23.
23 The Australian Church Record ,vol.16 ,no.4, Feb.22,1951. p.11 - 83 -
Other events were beginning to have their effect in Australia and change the nature of Australia's perception of its identity and place in the world. One such was the Colombo
Plan,designed to assist in the development 9f South and South-East Asia by mutual co-operation and external assistance. Foreign ministers of the Commonwealth devised the plan in 1950 following one of their meetings in Colombo.Among other things it meant Asian students lived in Australia in large numbers,something hitherto unknown The Anglican Church in Sydney established the International Students Friendship Centre at Drummoyne which also served as a Hostel for about twenty-two students.The purposes were both hospitality and evangelism. In responding to newspaper reports that Asian students were being refused acco.modation on racial grounds The Australian Church Record made the following point: "It must be realised that the treatme;.)t these students receive here will contribute much to their attitude to the Christian faith which is professedly the religion of this country.Never has the Church in Australia been given such an opportunity to reach potential leaders of Asian countries"24. The writer went on to say that within the hospitality of the
24 vol.19 no.l January 21,1954. - 84 - home there was an opportunity for missionary service complementing the work of well known missionary societies25. Although the article described the actions of some landladies as reprehensible it did not tackle the issue of racism at all. While the emphasis on practical christian hospitality could not be gainsaid regarding vulnerable students as targets for evangelism might have caused some reflection. It did not do so. However,by 1957 Sydney Anglicans perceived that there were bigger problems facing the community than Asian students or the White Australia Policy.What they saw was the drastic impairment in the future of the traditions and culture of Australia by the large increase in southern European immigration and the consequent increase in the influence of Roman Catholicism.26 The British and Protestant heritage should be maintained. In order to do this Mowll encouraged Anglicans to become involved in the "Bring out a Briton" campaign which had recently replaced the Personal Nomination plan.This new scheme was an attempt to approach the problems of accomodation
25 Ibid. Also in the same issue a report entitled "Friendship with Asian Students" ,p.6 ,and an editorial of July 8th.,1954. p.2 which makes the same points. 26 The Year Book of The Diocese of Sydney,1958.pp.235-237. Also reported at length in The Australian Church Record, vol.22,no.19 October 10 1957.p.3. - 85 -
and employment collectively.By the time of Synod a fulltime officer had been appointed in each State and NSW already had formed one hundred committees.Mowll was anxious that all Anglicans become involved in the committees as more than 50% of all British immigrants were members of the Church of England. He called for the greatest persona] response. He announced the appointment of an Immigration Officer, the Rev.L.J.Wiggins, Rector of the parish of Mascot27. By July,1958 the office was upgraded and taken over by the Deputy Registrar of the Diocese,the Rev. K.Roughley.In this way the office was centralised,upgraded and brought under the closer scrutiny of the Archbishop. In March, 1959,The Australian Church Record called for a day of prayer to contemplate the problems and consequences associated with Australian immigration policy28. It was particularly worried by the Catholic hierarchy's Pastoral Letter for Immigration Sunday which called for unlimited southern European migration to Australia. It was particularly worried that the same arguments might be applied to Asian immigration.Behind this call and its particular occasion lay
27 Ibid.,p.236 and The Australian Church Record,vol.22,no.22. November 2,1957.p.5. 28 "Our Migration Responsibilities" ,vol.23,no.4. March 5, 1959.p.2. - 86 - the failure of the Personal Nomination and the Bring out a Briton schemes.The lay people were not nearly as worried about it as their leaders.Their response, or lack of it, was an indication of the lessening influence of religion in the public arena. The Archbishop was unable to inspire Anglicans sufficiently that his sectarian worries were surely grounded. The episcopate of Archbishop Mowll laid the groundwork for official Sydney Anglican attitudes to immigration and it continued to bear fruit well into the 1980s.In the following episcopate of Hugh Rowlands Gough only one new initiative in the area of immigration was taken. Almost everything else continued or refined the patterns laid down under Mowll. Hugh Gough was elected to the See of Sydney in November 1958 as an evangelical with wide support among non-conservatives. He brought to the post a concern for the church's relationship to the wider community and a desire to bring the Diocese of Sydney's administration swiftly into the modern world. He resigned in 1966 ,his health broken 29. In his first Synod Address Gough raised two issues related to immigration. The first was to do with refugees. 1959 had been declared World Refugee Year and Gough was anxious to involve the church. His late arrival in Australia meant that
29 Judd and Cable,Sydney Anglicans,pp.264-282. - 87 - he had been unable to raise much enthusiasm among Sydney Anglicans.He had personal experience of visiting camps for displaced persons' where their loneliness and despair had become deeply etched in his mind 30.He commended the World Council of Churches Inter-Church Aid for its help of refugees and laid the needs of refugees on the consciences of synod representatives. One of the most curious omissions in Mowll's episcopate was the lack of emphasis on refugees.Its not that he wasn't aware of their plight.In the Synod of 1954 he spoke briefly of the needs of those who remained homeless,stateless and workless31.He commended the work of the Re-Settlement Department of the Australian Council of the World Council Of Churches which had re-settled 697 refugees in the first six months of 1954. Sydney Anglicans left refugee work to other agencies. It appears that its sectarian concerns overshadowed the refugee issue.Very few refugees would have been Anglican and British. The only other time Gough spoke publicly about refugees was in 1962 when he raised the issue of Chinese refugees in Hong Kong 32 .Again he referred his readers to The Inter-Church Aid
30 Year Book of the Diocese of Sydney,1960.p.232. 31 Ibid.,1955.p.51. 32 Southern Cross, vol.2,no.7. July 1962. p.2. - 88 -
Department of the WCC and he cursorily raised the issue of White Australia. However,Gough had another plan and refugees and the White Australia policy were marginal to it.He had raised the idea in his first speech to Synod and he called it "Bring out an Anglican Crusade" 33 . The failure of Bring out a Briton from the church's point of view was that many of those brought out, although nominally Anglican ,had no more interest in joining a church here than they did in Britain. So Gough refined the idea and called for the nomination of Anglican families.Accommodation was the practical problem and the Archbishop called for parishes and Rural Deaneries to purchase houses and flats as a practical way of achieving their goals.The Synod approved the scheme , emphasising its sectarian underpinning with the words "the essential importance of a greater proportion of migrants being of the Church of England" 34 Gough was refining the pattern begun by Mowll by making it more sectarian. It illustrates the subtle changes that were taking place in the relation of the church to the community.It was not so much the bearer of community interests (the British culture) as a preserver of its own (the Church of England).
33 Year Book of the Diocese of Sydney, 1960 .p.232. 34 ibid.,p.255. Resolution 19. - 89 -
In the same year Gough appointed the Rev. Ralph Fraser as the first full-time Immigration Officer for the Diocese of Sydney.His brief was to make "Bring out an Anglican" work35. Gough himself promoted the cause through the local press and, on the B.B.C.on a return trip to England, he criticised the British Government's parsimony towards aspiring immigrants to Australia36. Not surprisingly The Australian Church Record gave space to articles on the project in which Mr. Downer the Minister for Immigration extolled the freedom and democratic principles of our forebears and promised that the British character of Australian immigration policy would remain 37 .The most important thing to note was that no new argument was put forward.The arguments and the problems remained the same as ten years before. The Synod and Standing Committee continued to give financial support for the Officer and some office staff38 and the Church Property Trust and Glebe Administration Board were prepared to
35 "Full-time Immigration Officer for Sydney",in The Australian Church Record, vol.23 no.23,December 23,1959. p.7.
36 "U.K. should back migrants-Archbishop"The Sydney Morning Herald, 12th February,1960.
37 "Immigration and the Church", vol. 24 no.12. 23 June 1960. p.4
38 Year Book of the Diocese of Sydney,1961,pp.219,250,261,262 - 90 - make at least four properties available.In The Sydney Diocesan Digest,a public relations document, the Immigration Chaplain had his own page which represented a very real upgrading of the post in the eyes of the Archbishop and ordinary Anglicans 39 . The Diocesan magazine Southern Cross carried an article "A Warmer Aproach to Immigrants"40.It was a story about the provision of housing for a British couple by the Parish of Miranda.Its message was that the provision of accomodation was a key to migrant asimilation.Hall gently attacked Australian expectations of migrants and tried to get her readers to see things from the migrant perspective.It was a clever article, serving the purposes of the Archbishop admirably. In the same issue of Southern Cross Fraser stated his philosophy in response to clergy complaints that the British migrants were worse churchgoers than Australians. He quoted Max Warren, a contemporary English missionary statesman: "We have an inescapable obligation to love men, not in order to bring them into the church but simply because as men God Himself loves them.Somehow,with all our longing for a response to our Gospel, we must demonstrate that Gospel even if there is no
39 "The Diocesan Immigration Chaplain" Sydney Diocesan Digest no.3. 1961. 40 By Helen Hall ,vol.l no.3.August. 1961.pp.8-9. - 91 -
apparent response. We have to give a service disinfected of any ulterior purpose. This is tremendously difficult,but it is only the love which loves people for themselves which will be recognised as love at all" 41. Fraser argued against the instrumental use of human beings prevalent among Sydney Anglicans. He was criticising the use of friendship or pastoral care as an instrument to another, covert end which usually was evangelism or church attendance. While not true of all, the fact that Fraser felt constrained to address the issue in such strong language indicated that many clergy were interested in immigrants only if they responded by church going. Another house was bought by the parish of East Roseville and provided two furnished flats 42.By the end of 1962 the number of Anglican migrants had doubled Nine houses were now in use across the Diocese,thirty single people had been accommodated and there was need for more volunteer Hostel Visitors to visit the thousands in the Hostels provided by the Government.
Fraser wanted a social worker and more trained staff43.9000
41 Ibid.,p.14. I have been unable to find the source of his quote from Warren. 42 Southern Cross, vol.2 no.1.January,1962 p.7. 43 "More Anglican Migrants here" Australian Church Record, no.1278 December 20, 1962.p.4 - 92 -
British immigrants lived in eleven Hostels within the Diocese
and Fraser had trained 20 Visitors in child welfare,counselling and related areas44. In 1963 Fraser resigned and Rev J.R.Henderson became full- time Immigration officer.The 1963 Report showed little change in either the approach, the needs or the problems45.In the Report of Achbishop's Commission the needs for more accommodation for migrants,money for the training of Visitors and welfare needs and suitable office accommodation for the Chaplain were highlighted46. A little later John Henderson wrote an article "A New Look at British Migrants"47.His concern was with the fact that about 20,000 Anglican migrants would arrive in the Diocese in 1965. Therefore, the article was mostly given over to examples of how parishes might go about the busines of contacting migrants and making them welcome. It was obvious from the article that many clergy did nothing about the newcomers because they had no church connections in the United Kingdom, although nominally Anglican. It was clear that the parish clergy found
44 Year Book of the Diocese of Sydney,1962.pp.396-397. 45 1963 Annual Report of the Diocesan Immigration Chaplain. 46 p.101. This is the document on which Gough restructured the administration and finances of Sydney Diocese. 47 Southern Cross,vol.5,no.3,March 1965.pp.12-13. - 93 - them all too much trouble.Hen~erson saw it as an opportunity to train and use lay people, but his agenda was obviously different from the parish clergy.His approach was both humane and 1 i beral . Throughout this period The Australian Church Record kept its anti-Roman sectarianism quietly smouldering thus giving added incentive for Sydney Anglicans to support Gough and the Chaplain in their efforts to Bring out an Anglican48. These articles generally repeated and reinforced the old sectarian arguments against European migration and indicate that under the ecumenical and liberal rhetoric of a chaplain like Fraser or Henderson lay the psychology of a none too subtle sectarianism. The A.H.M.S. had become aware of the problems associated with non-British migrants ,especially in the area of language and socialisation. The Society proposed to the Standing Committee ,on the basis that large numbers of such migrant were deprived of pastoral care,that it consider appointing chaplains who could provide ministry to such people in their own language 49.
48 No.1279.p.1 "Effect of Immigration: Canadian Protestants outnumbered by R.C.s" and "Religion and Immigration" January 17,1963.p.2 No.1318, "Roman Denomination Biggest in 1970's", July 30,1964. p. 1 49 Year book of the Diocese of Sydney,1964.Standing Committee Report at 1963 Synod.p.288. - 94 -
In 1964 the Diocese appointed a Mr. J.Lenton ,of Italian origin, to be Lay Chaplain to foreign speaking migrants (sic) especially on the South Coast. Mr.Lenton was an evangelist , a
converted Roman Catholic, whose aim it was to convert others.This was an evangelistic thrust and sat well with the prevailing mood of Sydney Anglicans.In order to help Mr.Lenton the Immigration chaplaincy purchased special audio equipment and tracts 50.This was the first move towards what they called "foreign migrants" and was the only real initiative of the Gough era. Until 1974 the Immigration Chaplaincy, or Anglican Immigration Office as it was later called, was the main focus for Sydney Anglican activity among migrants.It continued its concentration on British migration and British immigrants51. With a full time chaplain and two fulltime field officers it went about its work of meeting ships,sending referrals to parishes, visiting Hostels ,bringing out Anglicans,welfare, counselling and sponsoring.The system often broke down at the parish level and many parish clergy saw little use in it. A few parishes organised visitors to Hostels ,but on the whole
50 Southern Cross,vol.4,no.6,June 1964.p.13. and Year Book of the Diocese of Sydney,l965.p.274. Resolution 32/64 51 Leslie Jillett , "Church's Concern for the Newcomer" Southern Cross vol.9 no.7 July,l969.pp.10,16-17. 1969 Report of the Church of England Immigration Office. - 95 -
it was considered unproductive from a parish priest~s point of view. The question of the Anglican church's responsiblity,if any, to non-British migrants continued to exercise the minds of some.52 There was confusion among the clergy as to how to approach the issue. Some opted for ministry to British migrants only,others were trying to learn Italian or Spanish. Others felt they were poaching if they approached European migrants so only ministered to Asian immigrants, who, being non-christians, did not cut across the old sectarian boundaries .While most clergy agreed that they had some responsiblity towards the non-English speaking migrant few had any idea what to do. The Immigration Chaplaincy made
suggestions about English classes~ social and recreational activities, courses to teach clergy languages,multi-lingual church services, counselling, child-minding centres, kindergartens and expresso bars.Writers drew parallels with the preparation of missionaries for overseas service with its language and cultural studies.But the impact was minimal. There did not appear to have been any lasting attempts by Sydney Anglicans at a local level to reach out to the
52 Leslie Jillett, "How can we help non-British migrants more" in Southern Cross,vol.9 no.8, August 1969.pp.ll-12. Tony Molyneux, "The Challenge of Immigration" in Southern Cross,vol.lO ,no.4. April 1970. p.6. - 96 -
immigrant. Language ,culture,welfare needs all stood in the way.So did the alien,bookish, Britishness of Anglicanism. Clergy confusion about their role did not help. Ordained to minister to Anglicans , what could they make of the call to minister to Southern Europeans and Asians? Nothing in their culture or training could help them. Nurtured in sectarianism they could not make the necessary leap. And even if some clergyman was able to make some sense of what was happening it was very unlikely that many lay people would follow him. At the local parish level a choice was made to remain as before. If the immigrant could assimilate ,well and good,they were welcome. Otherwise,little could be done. They were, of course, only following the leadership offered them. The effects of immigration were beginning to be seriously felt in the inner city by 1972 Declining Anglican population and attendance meant that many churches were becomimg unviable.The Inner City Report dealt with this issue along with many others but came to the same conclusions as those previously discussed and foundered on the same problems 53 . One small note in the report indicated some dissatisfaction with the Immigration Chaplaincy and suggested that the chaplain should be the Rector of an inner city parish and
53 Southern Cross, vol. 12 no.11. Nov. 1972. pp.3-5 ,,
- 97 -
conduct migrant work from that base. From this time on the future of the Anglican Immigration Department became very uncertain.In April 1972 the Standing Committee received and adopted a RePort on the Financial
~N~e~e=d~s~--~o~f~--~t=h~e~----=A=n=g~l~l~·~c~a=n~--~I~m~m~i~g~r~a==t~i~o=n~--~O~f~f~i~c=e~.That report recommended that the structure of A.I.O.be dissolved, that the Chaplain/Director be the Rector of a parish close to the city and that a ministry be establishedalong the lines of the Church of All Nations in Melbourne 54,that the office be located in a shop-front in the same parish staffed by the social worker,secretarial staff and part-time lingual helpers and that the staff include two field officers, one of whom would have linguistic skills, to work in Wollongong. In order to pre-empt any move as suggested in both the foregoing and the Inner City Report the Rev. John Henderson,the Immigration chaplain,had Synod set up a committee to examine the whole question of immigration as it affected the ministry of the Anglican church in Sydney 55.
54 This was a Methodist church in the suburb of Carlton surrounded by high-rise and high immigrant population.The services were conducted in English but simultaneously translated into Spanish, Portugese ,Arabic and Italian and conveyed to the pews through headphones. The church conducted language classes in homes,met welfare needs and gave counselling where needed. 55 Year Book of the Diocese of Sydney,1973.p.301. - 98 -
In 1973 three reports were produced concerning the future
role of the Anglican Immigration Office 56.The report to the
Synod to consider Resolution 42/72 was a plea for minor
restructuring of the A.I.O. in order for it to become a service organisation supporting parish bridge building to the
migrant community and for continued financial support in
economically tough times. Several issues underlie those
recommendations. The piecemeal release of the Labor
Government 1 s immigration policy and the reduction in intake
from 140,000 to 110,000 seemed to make people think that
immigration was coming to an end. Why spend more money? That
led into the second issue. The Priorities Committee of the Standing committee wanted the Director and A. I.O. in a parish to reduce costs.Immigration as an issue and as a recipient of funds was considered to be a low prority. The A.I.O. was not even 0onstitutect by an ordinance of Synod. In Sydney terms an ordinance is like a charter. All committees that have priority on funds have an ordinance. To have no ordinance is to have no priority institutionally. Therefore, the monies received from
56 Report to Synod of the Committee to Consider the Synod Resolution 42/72 concerning Migramts in the Diocese. Immigration Advisory Committee-Diocese of Sydney: Report to Synod 1973. Report to the Standin~ Committee by the Sub-Committee Appointed by the Standing Committee to meet with the Committee appointed by Synod re the F~ture of the Anglican Immigration Department. - 99 - the Special Purposes Assessment were slashed from $29,000 in 1972 to $16,000.The highly critical report of the committee of the Standing Committee recommended dissolving or completely restructuring of the A.I.O. This lack of priority and lack of funds highlighted a profound weakness in the approach to immigration by the Diocese of Sydney. No research arm exjsted which could have helped to clarify the decision making with an input of empirical data. Certainly the Synod Committee did some research and heard from people like the Rev. David Cox, then Director of the Victorian Ecumenical Migration Centre. A.I.O did produce from time to time demographic charts to try and help people see the changes that were taking place 57. But the A.I.O. was defeated by Anglican insularity and was in no position to penetrate that wall of resistance. By 1975 the Standing Committee was looking to hand over the A.I.O. to the Counselling Service of the Home Mission Society and thus remove it from its account books58.Thus the A.I.O. met its
57 Such as the material given to Synod members at the 1973 Synod. 58 Year Book of the Diocese of Sydney 1980.pp.339-340. This is the Standing Committee's response to a request from the Home Mission Society that its grant be increased for its work among immigrants according to the Society's agreement with the Standing Committee when it handed over the work of immigration to the Society. The Standing Committee refused to grant the request because its funding agreements did not envisage the work among migrants expanding. Standing Committee had no interest in funding migrant work to any significant extent. - 100 - demise. The Diocese of Sydney would now only be involved with migrants and immigration through the A.H.M.S. Putting immigration into a large organisation meant that insularity could now be maintained and that only enthusiasts need be concerned about the difficulties and questions it posed for the identity of the Anglican Church in Sydney. As further proof of this the Sydney Anglican submission on poverty to The Commission of Enquiry into Poverty mentioned migrants only once and told the story of a British deserted wife 59 Migrants do not appear as a class or group with special needs. It might have been supposed that migrant needs differed little from those of the general populace but that did not take into account the one essential difference ,that migrants were also involved in a process of integration which placed them under severe stress60. It is clear that lack of research in this area allied with both an insular outlook and minimal contact with migrant populace prevented the Diocese of Sydney from responding to their needs. This probably marked the nadir of Sydney Anglicans' response to migrants.
However in 1975 new voices were being heard.In the
Anglican submission to the Royal Commission on Human
59 Casebook Sydney, Anglican Information and Public Relations Office, 1973.
60 Cox,D. Migration and Welfare, Sydney. Prentic-Hall.1987. - 101 -
Relationships of 1975, migrants rated a section of their own61. Issues canvassed included the ignorance and the non-caring attitudes of the host society ,the special family problems of migrants,failure to achieve expectations,the discontents of migrant women, language problems,loss of a wider family support network,housing and other welfare needs. In the following year the Diocese of Sydney made a response to
Prqfessor Henderson's report on poverty62.The editors commented: "Sadly the churches have not contributed very much to the settlement and assimilation of non-British migrants.the (sic) exceptions to this are the Ecumenical Centre in Melbourne and the Australian
Council Of Churches Resettlement Division. The Angliean diocese of Sydney has some work among Italian, Turkish and Aboriginal communities,and for ten years has made contact with all British migrants as they arrived in Australia. However, a great deal
more needs to be done by the community as a whole alongside the ethnic groups before non-British
61 (eds.) Shatford ,Ruth and Harrison, Ken Human Relationships,Sydney .Anglican Information and Public Relations Office. pp.42-45. 62 Poverty:is money the answer? Sydney. Anglican Information Office. 1976. pp.16-17. - 102 -
migrants feel at home here. "6:3
The ideology of assimilation raised its head to cover the
process of migrant integration and the Aborigines were thought
of as migrants. The paragraph reflected the confused attempts of Sydney Anglicans to respond to the process of
immigration. However, change was on the way and migrants were
to figure with increasing prominence in the attempts of the following years by the Sydney Anglicans to understand and
respond to their changing context 64.
One event which did spark Sydney Anglicans to become more aware of the issues of immigration and possibly began a reorientation of thought that continues until today was the fall of South Vietnam and the ensuing flood of refugees. Marcus Loane addressed himself to the Federal Labor Government, demanding it open the doors to refugees 65. He said:
"I appeal to the Australian Government to lift
immigration quotas, cut red tape, and make it immediately possible to allow a large number of
63 Ibid.,p.17.
64 Year Book of the Diocese of Sydney,1977. The Social Welfare Commission Report to Synod. espec. p.339.
65 The Australian Church Record,April 17 1975 p.1. - 103 -
refugees ,adults as well as children,into this country . "
In the same issue the editor of The Australian Church Record gave strong backing to the Archbishop66 . It continued to make its demands 67, parodying the Prime Minister's visit to Peruvian ruins .It pointed out that the Government admitted
refugees from Chile who were Left in politics and white-skinned The Record tested the Government with a case of the Rev.Nguyen Van Hai who had studied in Australia and had a child born here who held an Australian passport 68 .Only the child would be allowed entry according to the acting Minister for Immigration, Mr.Morrison. The Government's attitude was described as heartless d i sgracefu 1, lacking not only in compassion but also common decency and afflicted with with a lack of capacity for moral judgement. The issue was not resolved until 1977 when Loane indicated in his Presidential address to Synod his pleasure at the new guidelines and programmes for refugee intake proposed by the
66 ibid. "The agony of Vietnam "p. 1.
67 "Has the Australian Government no Compassion ?" The Australian Church Record May 1,1975 p.1. and May 15th 1975 "Government implies responsibility "p. 1. 68 ibid. "Government Implies Responsibility" May 15,1975. - 104 -
Australian Government 69. He expressed his displeasure at the Whitlam Government's approach and his severe disappointment at the Coalition's earlier mean attitude.He encouraged the Government to proceed vigorous]y with its new policy Loane twice quoted Bishop Bell of Chichester who had spoken of the refugee situation in Europe between 1933 and 1939. Bell had described this tragedy as " ... deeply personal, all T.o do with human beings and their feelings,their misery ,their despair" 70 . Later in the Address he quoted Bell as saying: "These refugee movements represent a challenge to
humanity.Indeed in some ways I believe that our attitude to refugees is a test of our attitude to God,as well as our attitude to man.It is a question of the quality of our faith.To despair of our being
able to do anything is to be guilty of infidelity,just as to be the cause of men becoming refugees is to sin against the Almighty." 71 Yet the issue of refugees was not to go away so easily as articles in the Southern Cross were to testify. Refugee settlement became a major issue 72. Michael Charles reported
69 Year Book of the Diocese of SydQ_~ 1978 .pp.225-229. 70 ibid.p225 and reference there cited. 71 ibid.p.226.
72 "Refugees-our problem", Southern Cross , July 1978 . pp. 10-11 - 105 - the views and the analysis of the head of the St. Vincent de Paul Society on the subject. He did so because no Anglican was in a position to know the situation of refugees. The only reference to Anglican work noted that a Mr. Frank Garforth, a social worker and eleven volunteers from the Fairfield district worked among two hundred families throughout the western suburbs. The Anglican Immigration Office was securely locked away in the Counselling service of the A.H.M.S. and operated in isolation from the rest of the work of the Society73 That meant that the A.I.O.was in no position to provide the church with any useful material with regard to refugee settlement. The relegation of the A.I.O. to a bureaucratic backwater,bereft of funds,meant that it could not disturb the Anglican church's Anglo-Saxon slumber. Those who wanted information could obtain it from the Catholics. The Anglicans would make their token gesture at pastoral care. Further debate on the issue of refugees followed from an editorial in The Australian Church Record which discussed the issue of illegal immigrants 74. The editorial criticised the legislation of 1958 which appeared to make it simple for someone to be an illegal immigrant in Australia and was
73 Committee re Ministry to Ethnic Minority Groups, 1986. p.7. 74 "57,000 Illegal Immigrants" May 21,1979 .p.l. - 106 -
scathing in its condemnation of what it saw as Government
cynicism in using amnesties to overcome the problem 75. At the end of the piece the writer raised the issue of refugees and began by noting that although they had no place to go Australians didn't welcome them either despite Australian Government policy.The question was then raised : "Is there a
Christian outlook ?" The writer answered the question by noting God's concern for the widow,orphan and stateless person and that racial prejudice was incompatible with christian belief and practice. The writer did not find that his theological views conflicted with his further statement that "there is nothing unchristian in determining the racial content of a
country,although our government by 1973 had abandoned that principle without consulting the electorate" 76. This seemed to exp~ess a desire to return to the Whi~e Au5tralia Pol~cy, which presumbably was not a racist policy in the eyes of the Record. The editor then went on to say that the "present government's policy of non-discrimination on the grounds of race, colour, nationality, descent, national or ethnic origins
75 See also "No wonder they call it the lucky country" ,The Australian Church Record July 14,1980 p.2. This criticised the amnesty offered by the Fraser Government to illegal immigrants in 1980.
76 "57,000 Illegal Immigrants" op.cit. - 107 -
is not necessarily Christian or wise " 77.This rejection of a non-discriminatory immigration policy was not explored, merely baldly stated. No alternative was offered except that of maintaining ethnic distinctiveness by which was meant not a multicultural society, but distinctiveness behind national boundaries. The only exception was the refugee. The editorial brought a swift response in the Letters to the Editor page. One reader agreed heartily with the editor and interpreted the editorial to mean a return to V1hi te Australia 78. She extended the argument to its limit when she wrote : Surely as Christians we must realise this (that there is nothing unchristian in determining the racial content of a country)even while giving what help we are able - only without committing genocide which would be the suicidal result of mixing our race (each after its own kind) with totally different ethnic peoples" 79. She considered that any agreement with the U.N. to accept refugees of any kind was Satan's attack on the strongholds of
78 "Disintegration of races " The Australian Church Record June 18 ,1979. from Mrs. P.Creasey. - 108 -
christianity. Scripture did not support a conglomerate mixture of races and does not countenance even the mingling of seed. The letter was published without comment and together with the editorial brought forth a storm 80. The Record defended
itself as an opponent of racism and disassociated itself from the views of Mrs.Creasey. Two clerical writers attacked Mrs. Creasey's views but this only made her increasingly apocalyptic in her statements.Her final thrust was " ... if God had intended to Asianise this land,it would have happened centuries ago" 81.
This little episode highlighted the confused nature of the debate among Sydney Anglicans. While declaring itself non-racist the Record hankered after the return of the White Australia policy Conservative lay people expressed their concerns in biblical and apocalyptic language and scarcely concealed their fear of Asia , its peoples, culture and religions. Clergy ,on the other hand , seemed more ready to
80 "Record Racist" July 2, 1979 a lett;er from Rev. G. S. Clarke and "Church Record not Racist" an editorial in the same issue. Also "Lord,Lord Did We Not" July 16.1978 p.6 from Rev R.C.Forsythe. "My defense is" July 30th p.6.Mrs. P.Creasey which is a reiteration of her previous arguments . "Refugee Controversy "August 13 ,1978 p.6. Mrs P.Creasey "More on the Refugees" August 13 ,1978 p.6.Mr.E.Rock agreeing with Mrs. Creasey. 81 "Refugee Controversy" August13,1978 p.6. - 109 - accept a racially mixed society and strongly supported the cause of Indo-Chinese refugees. The 1980's begin a period "multicultural" awareness for Sydney Anglicans. It appears that a watershed for the Anglican approach to immigration and the issue of multiculturism was the 1979 Billy Graham Crusade. In an article published in Southern Cross Geraldine Luciano looked at the Crusade as an ethnic affair 82 .The first important point to emerge from that article was the vision of ethnic groups as a" mission field all around us" 83. On this view the church was central and the world a place where converts were picked up and taken out from it. Ricci's approach could be summed up in the words " (w)e can open the door to evangelism by opening the door of our homes. "84 She quoted St. Paul's injunction in Romans 12.13 to "practise hospitality" but did not notice that for the Apostle hospitality was its own virtue. Ricci was trapped by her ideology of church and society to such an extent that she could not see that hospitality as means to another, hidden end is not hospitality at all but manipulation and an exercise
82 April 1979. pp.5-6. 83 Southern Cross ,April,1979.p5.
84 ibibd. 1 p. 5. - 110 - of power over especially vulnerable people. Her other approach was to establish ethnic Bible study groups.The plan was to start work among first generation Australians encourage them to learn the language of their forebears and start study groups among family units.The unreality of this, given migrant family structural patterns is breathtaking. It fits with the view that the culture and the immigrant experience of the migrant family have .. no significance for their religious experience. Indeed the migrant's previous religious experience and affiliation,christian or non-christian, was of no account in this article. The migrant needed to be rescued from that previous experience. What to do with them when they were "converted" was a serious problem.Ricci proposed simultaneous translation in church or alternative weeknight groups.The ideology here was assimilation to a predominant religious structure perhaps thought of as a denomination but more likely as a pattern of evangelical/fundamentalist belief system. During 1980 Luciano and Geraldine Ricci joined the staff of the Department of Evangelism. Their task was to do evangelistic work among Italians.85 Both the Riccis were
85 Reports on the work of the Riccis is found in Southern Cross Nov.,1979 p.21 and May 1982 pp.19-20. - 111 -
graduates in Italian .Geraldine had an English Evangelical background and through her Luciano also joined the Evangelical Anglicans of Sydney. They both attended the University Church of the University of NSW at Centennial Park.That experience framed their whole approach to multicultural ministry as one of evangelism of a distinctly sectarian kind. In time the Ricci's were able to establish tiny groups of
"converted" peop1e in Liverpool and Leichhardt but this work proved very frustrating86.They moved in 1985 to the Anglican church at Haberfield ,a suburb 85% Italian, and started to operate English and Italian services there 87. Ricci acknowledged the cultural differences between Italian and Anglo-Saxon Australians but retained the evangelical vision and the nexus between friendship offered and pressure for conversion. Sydney Anglicans sought to minister to Sydney's Turkish population using the Rev. Erol Tozer, a Turk and a christian88. Again Tozer was an evangelical,with a strong evangelical
86 "The Italian experience"in Southern Cross sept.1986 p.10 87 Committee re Ministry to Ethnic Groups p.4 88 "Ministry among Turks" Southern Cross July 1977 .p.7 "Reaching out to Sydney's Turks" in Southern Cross,April,1984. 19.and "From Turkey with Love" Ibid.,September,1986. p.12 Committee re Ministry to Ethnic Groups p.4. - 112 - religious experience. At first this ministry was attached to St.Stephen's Newtown then to Canterbury but in reality this work was based in Ozer's home . The Ozers also developed a complex of buildings in Picton where Turkish people could take refuge and be evangelised Up until 1984 the Inner City Committee of the Diocese of Sydney funded Ozer's work and capital funds came from West Germany, Erol Ozer's homeland. In 1984 Ozer was attached to the A.H.M.S. chaplaincy division and linked with the Auburn parish as a base for work with local Turkish people. He was funded by the A.H.M.S. and that organisation granted capital funds for the completion of the Picton property A chaplaincy to the Maori community and Spanish speaking peoples began but operated erratically 89 . The showcase was the parish at Cabramatta About 70% of the Indo-Chinese migrants in that area were of Chinese origin The parish began its work in this area in 1978 and in time developed itinto a congregation of one hundred adults and eighty children A Chinese evangelist, Miss Irene Mok, had been central in this development as had English classes and friendship visitation90.
89 Committee re Ministry to Ethnic Minority Groups, p.5. 90 ibid .p.6. - 113 -
The effects of migration have been felt especially in the Marrickville Area Deanery, an area including Belmore, McCallum's Hill,Clempton Park,Campsie,Canterbury,Hurlstone Park ,Dulwich Hill, Earlwood and Marrickville.The decline in the Anglo-Saxon population likely to support the Anglican church has been very marked. The area is now made up of six struggling Anglican Parishes.In 1984 this Area Deanery came under the charter of a Synod ordinance91 This was forced on them as their Anglican populations shrank and the ethnic population grew.They decided that they needed to take the unusual step of co--ordinating their patterns of ministry and the uses and development of their surplus properties.They called in the help of Ms. Mesina Soules who provided them with a report which was highly critical of the insular clerical nature of much of the activity of the four churches she studied 92 .Almost none of the work of these churches had anything to do with the local ethnic communities.Her recommendations were headed "Strategies for mission"93 but she really means strategies for evangelisation. She recommended the appointment of an E.S.L. teacher to "facilitate
91 Year Book of the Diocese of Sydney,1985 pp.312-317. 92 Pressing problems in Parochial life with some creative strategies to meet these problems. n.d.
93 Ibid. I p. 3. - 114 - integration into church life "94 .Ethnic groups can be targetted and missionaries brought from overseas to work amongst the migrants95.She suggested other activities, such as accessing groups that use the church , visiting the elderly,scripture teaching and sensitivity to community issues such as racism. However, all of these were means to an end - evangelisation of the recipient. These approaches produced some success stories. St John's Campsie had twenty different nationalities worshipping in its church,Chinese language Bible studies and supported the development of the Chinese congregation at Dulwich Hill under the care of the Rev.Irene Mok. The Rector,the Rev. John Woo was a Chinese-Australian96. The "success" stories can be repeated at Cabramatta among the Chinese and ministry to Japanese97. The common factor is summed up by the following: "Away from familiar culture and traditional ties,Japanese people will often drop their guard and warm to the Gospel message"98.
94 Ibid.p.3. This appointment was made in 1989. 95 Ibid. 96 "Cross-cultural ministry at St. John's Campsie" in Southern Cross, Sept.1986. p.11.
97 Graeme Cole, "Sashimi Sydney Style" in Southern Cross,Sept., 1988 pp.24-25 98 Ibid.,p.24. - 115 -
The question does not seem to have been asked: What was really shaping the church's responses to the change in its environment? The assumed responses were evangelism, charity and welfare99. These might be seen to be a religious form of the old assimilationist policy.There was no emphasis on the migrant's need for justice in the workplace or in education . There wasn't much emphasis on equality or mutuality or the recognition of culture that includes religion. By 1988 the A.H.M.S. had responsibility for immigration. Under a division known as Care Force there was a Migrant Services Team ,under Chaplaincies Division there was an ethnic Ministries chaplaincies (the work of which we have noted above) and there was an area devoted to Cross-Cultural Ministries.100 The Migrant Services Team were located at Wollongong,Ashfield and Cabramatta. This was a multi-lingual group of people from eight different nationalities who gave direct assistance to ethnic groups. They were mainly supported by Government grants.101 Early in 1979 the various complex
99 Arthur Faulkner , "Post-war Immigration and the Australian Churches", in Migrant Action vol. 4 no. 3 1980 pp. 9-12. 100 Planning to Meet the Needs of the 90's, Anglican Home Mission Society Annual Report ,1988. p.2 101 ibid., p.5 - 116 - welfare ministries of the A.[J.M.S. were co-ordinated under one administration -that of Care Force . One important benefit was that the Counselling Service would no longer operate in semi -isolation as it had done for many years. The Counselling Service had been the basket into which the Anglican Immigration Office had been placed and all but forgotten since 1975. The concept of Care Force was that of a community based regional team service . The Migrant Services Team was the first Anglican organisation to develop am integrated migrant policy 102 The policy statement began with a statement of purpose which contained the following significant elements First, the provision of services for everyone regardless of race, religion, sex, social class,handicap or status was predicated on the commonly received christian belief that all people were created and loved by God 103. The statement developed the christian idea that the neighbour was any one in need and that includes the poor the oppressed the sojourners, the uprooted and the alien .Second, the policy made it clear that christians were required to act with love and justice. A foundation was being laid so that Care Force could move beyond
102 Draft Migrant Policy - March 1988
103 ibid, 1 p,1, - 117 -
the old helping hand mentality to a more radical involvement with society and the political structures on behalf of migrants. Third ,the drafters declared that christians were required to combat and declare their opposition to racism within both the church and the general community 104. Fourth, they drew the conclusion that these principles required christians to act in a preventative way by understanding what it was that brought about the need and further that there was a need for research in order to prevent christian action being reactive and piece-meal 105. In a critical analysis of its own history in migrant work to date the drafters came to the conclusion that that there was a disjunction between Care Force's stated purpose and what was happening at the level of policy The remainder of the document wrestled with the problems of policy implementation . It argued for such changes as the need to recruit workers from non-English speaking groups , to publicise their services in appropriate languages and ethnic channels, to train staff more fully in migrant needs, the history of immigration and the impact of multiculturalism , to improve service delivery and research 106 .
104 ibid, 1 p, l.
105 ibid. ,pp.l-2.
106 ibid. I pp.S-12. - 118 -
A particular problem for the Migrant Services Team lay in its relation to the churches. It noted that there was no interchange of ideas and no structure for the churches and Care Force to work together 107. The Team gave itself an educational role in order to enable people in local Anglican churches to gain an understanding of migrant experience religion and culture and their special needs so that they could channel resources into appropriate ministries 108. Although much of this document was written at a high level of generalization it provided a framework within which the Anglican church might work. With its emphasis on service and justice it provided a corrective to past approaches . The highlighted need for research indicated a shift from the abstraction often associated with Sydney Anglicanism towards an integration of theory and praxis rarely achieved in the past .The expressed purpose to educate the churches will probably be harder to implement, for it requires voluntary co-operation from clergy and laity who, until now, have shown a marked reluctance to become involved. In the Annual Report of A.H.M.S. ethnic chaplaincies were not singled out for any mention.Emphasis was placed on FACS
107 From the context "churches " seems to refer to parish churches rather than to denomination. 108 ibid. ,pp.12-14. - 119 - chaplains and chaplains in the Department of Corrective Services.However, hospital chaplains weren't mentioned either so the report of this division was obviously geared towards the perceived readership. Presumably,neither hospital work nor ethnic ministry rated highly.This Division had 22 fulltime chaplains and a budget of $1,000,000.109 The Cross-Cultural Ministries Division was a mission arm rather than a welfare organisation. It was set up in response to the report Committee re Ministry to Ethnic Minority Groups {1986). The Society employed Mersina Soules as a coordinator. Her work was to help parishes set up strategies of cross-cultural communication and ministry110. We have noted above some of Ms. Soules' work in the Marrickville Area Deanery. These were hopeful signs of recognition that Australia was no longer simply a white Anglo Saxon nation but a complex cultural entity with an identity in transition. These initiatives did not appear to be parallelled by anything happening at the level of the Diocesan structures. Clergy used the Australian Prayer Book in parish worship with the high of level of literacy it required. Most clergy remained unconvinced about the need for a recognition of the
109 ibid., p.10. 110 ibid., p.ll. - 120 - migrant presence. The doing of the A.H.M.S. was outstripping the thinking, the planning, the renewal of parish structures and the freeing up of worship necessary to take account of the immigrant presence. Sydney Anglicans showed considerable humanity in their responses to Australia's immigration programme and the people it brought into this country. At the same time their ideology clouded many issues for them. They branded non-English speaking migrants with a sectarian tag and, for a long time, acted accordingly. They fumbled in the darkness, unable to make use of research material as a basis for action. Until very recently, they showed little understanding of migrant needs not only for welfare but also but for justice. They had no way of interpreting society, except through a narrow theological framework and were ,therefore, only able to react to change in a piece meal way. An ideology of dominance and assimilation tainted their humanity. - 121 -
HOW MULTICULTURAL IS GOD ?
The purpose of this chapter is to examine some of the attempts that have been made by Sydney Anglicans to forge an understanding of immigration from a theological-biblical point of view. This as an important area, as theology or theological thinking may well act as an ideology. This is a chapter about the way Sydney Anglicans think ,both the dominant party and those who chose to think differently . Before the Second World War Evangelicals believed that attention to social issues was secondary to evangelism.Some went further and considered such attention a positive hindrance. They believed that all social problems would be solved by personal regeneration and a strong legislative programme by a government that supported the moral teaching of the church 1. Liberal evangelicals opposed this viewpoint and advocated the analysis of social and structural issues, of politics and economics.These people encouraged the church to take a very active role in providing principles and initiatives for social change.They refused to acquiesce in silence to the existing social order and called for a new order based on Christian
1 Judd and Cable, Sydney Anglicans, pp.243-246 - 122 - principles. Before World War II liberal evangelicals were a minority who failed to convince the evangelical majority. The latter were able to keep sacred and secular separated.But the war changed all that. Return to pre-war depression and unemployment could not be envisaged. A new order had to be constructed and that meant that housing education ,employment ,national construction works all came under scrutiny. Inevitably ,so did Australia's population and hence immigration was placed on the national agenda. During this period those church people who had been thinking about the social order for some time found themselves being taken more seriously. In 1943 they formed the Christian Social Order Movement (C.S.O.M. )2.It saw it itself as a think-tank providing the impetus and directions for social change though its journal New Day, its parish discussion groups and its encouragement and organisation of christian participation at every level of societal life.The movement had its strength among the liberal evangelicals of Sydney. Although Archbishop Mowll encouraged C.S.O.M. because he
2 Their story is briefly told in Judd and Cable ,Sydney An.!tlicans .J...pp.243-245 and in Joan Mansfield , "Social Attitudes in the Church of England in New South Wales 1929-1951." M.A. Honours Thesis, Sydney University 1979 pp.226-246. - 123 - agreed with their emphasis on justice ,equality and the common \'lelfare, the organisation met the resistance of suspicion and apathy.Many evangelicals felt that the emphasis on a new social order simply excluded the gospel In 1951 C.S.O.M. folded because it was starved of funds and at its last meeting many speakers deplored the apathy of church people on social questions 3.There was little to show for all its efforts.The evangelicals went back to their primary concern,evangelism.The failure of C.S.O.M. to have a significant impact on church thinking in Sydney left the way open for the evangelicals to retain their distinction between sacred and secular ,between salvation conceived as an individual matter relating primarily to heaven and justice as a social and earthly matter. It meant there was little challenge to their scale of priorities or vision of the world. At the Synod of 1945 Archbishop Mowll described the question of immigration as "a difficult and anxious problem"4. He went on in that address to raise what were to become ,for Sydney Anglicans ,fundamental issues in the debate. The first key focus was Australia's relation with Asia.
3 The Australian Church Record vol.16,no.1 11 Jan., 1951. p.16 and vol.16 no.4 22 Feb., 1951. p.4 4 Presidential address to the Synod in Sydney Diocesan Magazine.Sept.1945. p.5. - 124 -
Australia's immigration policy had to prove as little offensive to Australia's Asian neighbours as possible. He was acutely conscious of Japan,China and India.This no doubt reflected his long missionary experience in China. The focus on Asia allowed him scrutinise the "populate or perish" idea and the White Australia Policy.He was critical of the idea that, as a general policy, Asians were seeking Lebensraum in Australia.Only Japan had shown any inclination to that end. It was his view that the White Australia policy could not continue indefinitely as the centrepiece of Australian immigration policy . The issue of Asia raised cultural and economic issues which were for him the key problem. Race and colour he did not see as significant. Instead he believed that differing cultural and economic standards were more likely to create difficulties than race or colour. He made reference to the experience of the USA and its problems in assimilating migrants from southern Europe as opposed to those from northern Europe. It is interesting to note that Blacks receive no mention at all. In this context selection becomes an important area for consideration. While not happy with a quota system he did recommend a system biassed towards University education or to outstanding technicians or agriculturalists. The purpose was to make the test so exacting that the migrant would be culturally and educationally ready for assimilation. - 125 -
However,in the last two sentences of his Address Mowll provided an important clue to the future of Sydney Anglican thinking. He said : "We want to build our country,but we want to build it of God-fearing men and women.Naturally we look to those who have been long nurtured in our faith and
our own literature as offering the best material with which to realise our hopes. "5 Clearly , British protestant immigration was the preferred option. Mowll raised all the key issues in this speech. They were not developed in any extensive fashion and although mildly critical of some of the debate he clearly looked for a white Anglo Saxon Australia , monocu 1 tural and perhaps monoreligious too.
The Christian Social Order Movement echoed Mowll's concerns in December,1945 6 but went further than the Archbishop. An article summarised for the readers of The New Day Professor Elkin's article "Re-thinking the White Australia policy" and pointed to Willard's History of the vfhite Australia Policy_ and the recent statement on White Australia by the National
5ibid.,p.6. 6 Rowland,P.R., "The white Australia policy" in The New Day, vol.3no.6,December1945-January 1946.p.12 - 126 -
Missionary Council.Elkin was a leading Anglican layman as well as noted anthroplogist and his opinion was highly respected. Already he had written articles on "Man,Society and Change" for The New Day ?.Clearly this group of educated and articulate Anglicans were encouraging their readership to act towards changing the immigration policy of Australia.
It would be wrong to overestimate their influence in Sydney.
In 1944 CSOM had groups in only ten parishes in Sydney8.Yet the membership of its first Council elected in 1946 was overwhelmingly from Sydney9. CSOM picked up the theme of immigration during 1947 10 and devoted an issue to its discussion The issue is a good example of the editorial policy of CSOM. The main purpose was to set people thinking and on that basis the editor invited anyone whom he thought had something to contribute to the debate.It was a typically liberal and ecumenical approach11. A Sydney Bishop,Arthur Calwell and the RSL all contributed essays.
7 In the June ,July and August issues Vol.2 no.11 and vol.3 nos.l-2.
8 Jhe New Day, November 1944. "Supplement" Vol. 2 no. 5. 9 Ibid .. vol.3 no.9.April ,1946. p.B. 10 The New Day,vol.5 no.1. July-August,1947. 11 Ibid., vol.4 no.8. April 1947. p.2 - 127 -
Two articles represented a fairly conservative viewpoint. Eric Millhouse's "Australia needs British Stock as Immigrants" represented the view of the RSL and its title said it all 12. British stock are kinsfolk and others are aliens. One concern for the RSL was that the aliens seemed to have it easier than the kinsfolk.The British must receive outright preference. A suspicion was raised that aliens had it easier because of 8ome illegal dealings although nothing is spelled out.In another article Jack Hooke, Secretary, Services Department, Labour
Council of NS\i~ stated: "The Australian unionist is suspicious of organised immigration"13. Speaking of the Australian worker he commented that " ... he is prepared to cooperate and assist newcomers who are prepared for assimilation and to accept our way of life especiallly as it concerns industrial organisation"14.He argued that the strong emphasis on assimilation ought not to be taken as a sign of racial prejudice by the Australian worker. The bulk of the articles follow a pointer provided by Aileen Fitzpatrick's article in which she argued that migration is a part of a humane attempt to bind up the world's wounds 15 . The
12 Ibid. I p. 6.
13 Ibid. , "Immigration Economic and Industrial Aspects", pp. 16-17.
14 Ibid. I p. 16.
15 ibid., "Some Wider Aspects of the Movement of People", pp.1-3.The author was Director of International Social Service (Australian Branch). - 128 -
Right Rev. C.Venn Pilcher,Bishop Coadjutor of Sydney, attacked the White Australia policy as unchristian and argued for a policy that could balance the good of the Australian people and the good of other people 16.Dr. Maurice Laseron rejected the assimilation policy as not practicable nor desirable on the grounds that immigrants' background and education enabled them to contibute as well as receive,that they wish to be treated as equals and not lose their identity.All that was needed was loyalty to Australia ,not suppression or submission17. The most sustained attack on White Australia came from the pen of the Rev.Dr.A.Capell an Anglican clergyman and lecturer in Anthropology at the University of Sydney 18.He was the only contributor to set the debate firmly in the context of Asia and to seek to face the fears of the Australian community head on.He noted that the fears were three-fold:(1)the lowering of living standards if coloured people were admitted in any number;(2)the creation of coloured minorities which would be a danger to security and (3) a rapid increase in in the coloured population that may swell to dangerous proportions. He
16 Ibid. I "Is it possible for an Immigration Policy to be based on Christian principles",pp.3-4.
17 Ibid. I "The Refugee's Point of View".p.9.
18 Ibid. 1 "White Australia".pp.17-18. - 129 -- rejected the White Australia policy:"From the Christian point of view the White Australia policy is indefensible;of that there is no doubt" 19.While some of his solutions seem quaint today (Australian families be encouraged to increase from 2.6 children to 4) his arguments for maintaining the language, literature and culture of the immigrant in order to enrich Australia's future sounds more like arguments for multiculturalism than for asssimilation. Capell pointed out that Asians were offended by the thought they are inferior to even the poorer types of European.He called for a quota system as in the USA.Asiatics didn't complain about a quota system, he asserted, because they recognised the right of governments to regulate the influx of foreigners. Mowll continued to raise and discuss the issue of immigration in his Synod address of 1949 20. Immigration was still a key social issue and he was con0erned by two trends.The first was the rapid birthrate and the high population to the north and the second the fact that southern European immigration exceeded northern European immigration during the past year .. The latter was preferred to the former but" ... British migration must be fostered most of all". The
19Ibid.,p.17
20 The Year Book of the Diocese of Syd~ 1950 pp.49-50. - 130 -
problem was that the nomination system was breaking down under the strain of the acute shortage of housing in Australia. Migrants who had arrived in 1948 were still living with their nominators and had no chance of finding suitable accomodation or housing. Australians were reluctant to nominate because the chances wer·e that they would be saddled with the migrants for a long period of time. Housing was not the only problem. The Church of England
London Council had sent out particulars of 500 families who wanted to migrate but they were almost all town people who had children and who sought employment in the cities. Much easier to place were rural folk with no children. No criticism was offered of a government policy that produced such an anomaly. Furthermore,southern European migration would exacerbate the problems.The first batch of European migrants were about to come onto the labour market after two years working for the government.This would increase pressure on scarce resources such as housing.Because they had been working they had money and they also had business instincts .This ,he believed would lead to ill feeling among Australians and British immigrants who had found work hard to get.
Mowll believed that the housing problem would jeopardise the whole success of immigration policy. He pointed to despair and disappointment among British and European migrants who had little hope of getting houses under a two year period.Because - 131 - of this ,he argued, they would not have children and this would defeat the purpose of immigration in building up Australian population. He suggested that a proposal be put to the Prime Minister that the government import, on a large scale, pre-fabricated homes. It is clear that Mowll was struggling with immigration as a question of cultural identity and a problem of social cohesion and justice. On the first, he was fighting what would prove to be an abortive action but on the second he was well-informed and was able to isolate out the key issue of housing. In the Synod of 1950 Mowll made use of some census figures then newly available.Anglicans in NSW made up 43.38% of the population and in Sydney with a population of 1,847,658 there were 824,223 Anglicans (44.61%)slightly higher than the State average. Roman Catholics ranked next with 8.99% followed by the Presbyterians (8.78%),Methodists (8.27%),Baptists (1.17%), Congretationalists (0.65%),Salvation Army (0.36%) and the Church of Christ (0.34%). Later in the same address he referred to some figures which detailed the religious affiliations of European migrants.The Orthodox accounted for 16%, the Lutheran for 22% and the Roman Catholic for 58% of the non-British immigrants.Although Mowll suggested these figures "raised issues" he did not seek to relate these figures to the census figures and to the figures available to him on European immigration. If he had done so he might have - 132 -
seen some warning signs of the major shift that was just about to take place in Australia's cultural identity 21. By 1951 the failure of immigration policy to bring out predominantly British migrants and the increase in southern European immigration caused some concern among Sydney Anglicans. Archdeacon Frank Hulme-Moir ,Senior Chaplain to the Archbishop and a man of considerable influence among church men, wrote an article in t.he Church Record deploring the policy of increasing Italian immigration pursued by the Menzies government. The basis of Hulme-Moir's thinking was that Australia should develop into a homogeneous unity and that those who came here should expect to assimilate into the common life of the nation22.No analysis was made of either of these two ideas.They were simply accepted as axioms for which no substantiation was needed nor exploration required.No theological critique was offered. Hulme-Moir argued that Italians, being non-British, cannot fulfill the first condition and because of their tendency to" remain together in separate communities,tenaciously preserving their own condition"23lacked the initiative seriously to try
21 Year Book of the Diocese of Sydney,1951-1952. pp.51-52. 22 The Australian Church Record, vol.16, no.8.April 19,1951. p. 11. 23 ibid. - 133 - the second. Hulme-Moir wished to preserve the British traditions and the democratic constitution of Australia. Specifically, he referrred to the fact that Britain had signed the European Convention on Human Rights.From that he argued that it was foolish to allow into the country any who would diminsh Britishness and the rights and freedoms which that conferred and which was set out so clearly in the Human Rights Convention. Hulme-Moir argued that Italians were a threat because their political and social training had not instilled such desire for freedom among them.They had a large communist party,were the source of fascism,they were brutal oppressors of the Abyssinians,persecutors of political opponents and religious minorities. All in all, a bad lot. Such people would despise freedom and jeopardise the Australian heritage. The only solution was large scale British immigration which would provide Australia with the quality it needed. This analysis provoked no discernible disagreement among the the readers of the Church Record. In the next issue Rev.Basil Williams congratulated the Archdeacon for his lucid statement on immigration 24 . He regarded the article as a timely warning
24 The Australian Church Record, vol.16,no.9, 3 May 1951. p.11 - 134 -
for those who valued the Evangelical faith and the British way of life. Mr. Williams hoped that Synod would pick up the issue and deliberate on it. Synod did deliberate but the resulting resolution, while emphasising assimilation and implying homogeneity, did not come out against Italian migration. Synod stated: "Recognising the importance , not only to Australia,
but to the world, of a well··planned and wisely administered policy,and having in mind the essential value of the healthy assimilation of migrants into the local community,Synod urges both parishes and individual churchmen to co-operate heartily in the task of building the newcomers happily into our national life. "25
The debate lacked intellectual content. Evangelical commentators were content to pick up common ideology and add their own weight to it.They did not seem to have a methodolgy which would allow them to explore issues and bring their own insights to them.It has to be remembered that they thought of themselves as the Church of England in Australia.They were completely British in outlook led by an English Archbishop.
25 Year Book of the Diocese of Sydney,1952. Proceedings of Synod,1951, Resolution 33.p.33 - 135 -
They were ,therefore, easily led into sectarianism and chauvinism if not racism. Other Anglicans in Sydney addressed themselves to other issues concerned with immigration. In an Editorial on 12 September 1952 the h_pglican, in only its sixth issue, attacked both the Federal Government and the ACTU , the first for curtailing its immigration programme and the second for voting by a large majority to close its doors on immigration altogether 26.The ACTU decision was severely critjcised as a majority made up of right wingers and communists.The decision was seen as both unchristian and unpatriotic. The first criticism is really that Australians seemed to be becoming more selfish and less generous thus denying the christian doctrine of the brotherhood of man. The second criticism was really a re-statement of the populate or perish argument with an emphasis on security. It is instructive to con·trast the above with the attitude of The Australian Church Record 27 to the same Government action. The Editors took their cue from the Social Justice statement of 1953 of the Roman Catholic hierarchy which dealt with, in part, Australian immigration policy. The Roman Catholic
26 The Anglican,Sept., 12,1953.No.6.p.4. 27 vol.18,no.19. October 1,1953.p.5. - 136 -
hierarchy was reacting to the Australian Government's cutbacks in immigration and the statement was a plea to let more immigrants in on the basis of cultural and economic riches received.The Record stated: "There is no doubt that most Australians have viewed with grave disquiet the enormous inflow of southern Europeans into their land .We would accept the
"infusion of ancient culture" with a far better grace if we were not convinced that it bas been drawn from a source polluted by superstition and priestcraft.Southern European states will not resolve their bitter religious , social and economic conflicts by shipping their surplus population to Australia or any other Protestant country. But we in Australia do need to be aware lest these same curses of national disunity and despair should be perpetuated in our own fair land"28. Clearly,brotherly love was far from the minds of the Editors and good old fashioned sectarianism was the quarry from whence this opinion was hewn.Archbishop Mowll's often repeated calls to welcome the immigrant had fallen on deaf ears.Welcome was restricted to British Protestants. Mowll's ambivalence was
28 Ibid. - 137 - part of the problem . Throughout his espiscopate he emphasised the sectarian and racial element in immigration and his desire to keep the Protestant proportion intact 29. Yet the same journaJ a few months later could run an editorial entitled "Asian Students and White Australia"30 which attacked the White Australia policy in the following terms:
"Revision of the White Australia policy is long
overdue. The titJe is anachronistic. It invites hostility from our neighbours in South-East Asia. Those who live in overcrowded countries cannot understand Australia's profession of friendship,when
they are confronted with a refusal to tolerate any form of immigration.Many Asiatics would be ready to appreciate a policy of controlled immigration,but they resent the implications of the White Australia
Policy now in force. The policy is selfish, short-sighted and unchristian.It demands revision in the interests of Australia's future peaceful relations with her northern neighbours "31.
29 e.g.The Year Book of the Diocese of Sydney,1955.pp.50-51. 30 lpid., vol.19 no.13 July 8,1954 p.2. The copy in the Archives of Moore College has the initials MLL pencilled in against the editorial.Marcus Lawrence Loane ? Later Archbishop of Sydney. 31 Ibid. - 138 -
The article went on to point out that Archbishop Mowll, during the 1930s, had constantly appealed for the policy to be revised in order to allow a limited number of Chinese students into Australia.The writer lamented the lost opportunity to influence China's lt'3aders who now turned to the Soviet Union for guidance. He commended the Government on the Colombo Plan and noted the increasing number of private students availing
themselves of education in Australia.Church people were encouraged to offer hospitality and take the opportunity for
personal evangelism. The writer of the editorial did not refer to Asian settlement in Australia at all.His concern was solely with Asian students.However,the extraordinary criticism of the White Australia Policy and the advocacy of a policy of controlled immigration pointed to a disenchantment with the Immigration Act even among some conservative, Empire-oriented
church men. In the Synod of 1954 a very strong resolution on the White Australia Policy was passed and conveyed to the Prime Minister and the Parliament of the Commonwealth. It read: "That this Synod deplores the use of the term "White
Australia Policy" with its implication of exclusiveness on grounds of race and colour,and considers that the term will not disappear while the absolute prohibition of immigration of Asians - 139 -
continues.It,therefore,urges on the Commonwealth Government the wisdom and rightness of administering and ,if necessary,amending the immigration laws in
such a way as to remove this absolute prohibition- for example,by introduction of a limited quota system.It further requests His Grace the Archbishop to convey the terms of this resolution to the Prime Minister and to the Leader of the Opposition in the Commonwealth Parliament. " :32 The mover was Dr. R.R.Winton who headed the International Friendship Centre and Hostel at Drummoyne.For the first time the underlying ideology of racial and cultural superiority was addressed.The idea of the quota was common, having been advocated for many years by people such as Professor Elkin.
The resolution marked a step forward in Sydney Anglican thinking as never before had the fundamental issues been so clearly exposed. Although some concern with Asian immigration and the plight of Asian students surfaced in Sydney Anglican circles33
32 Resolution 46 "White Australia Policy" Year Book of the Diocese of Sydney 1955 . p.85. 33 e,g.The Australian Church Record, vol.22.no.16 August 15,1957.pp.4 and 6. The issue was mainly taken up by individual clergy such the correspondent on p.6 Rev.David Livingstone.The issue was regarded as low key and a matter for individual parishes and parishioners. Also a report on the Lambeth Conference resolution calling for a modified White Australia Policy. "Bring in Asians" in vol.22 no.41 .September 4,1958.p.3 and "Our Migration Responsibilities" in Vol. 23, no. 4, March, 5 . 1959p. 2. - 140 -
in the period to Mowll's death in 1958, the bulk of effort and writing went into attacking the immigration policy of the Commonwealth Government on sectarian grounds.In an editorial The Australian Church Record proudly boasted the sectarian tag34. The editorial attacked southern European immigration and called for the absolute preference of suitable migrants from the United Kingdom.They claimed ,quite rightly, that the character of Australian society was changing under the influence of immigration and in directions that they did not wish to go. The editorial spoke scathingly of the civilisation stemming from such Roman Catholic countries as Italy, Spain,Malta and the countries of the South American continent. They looked for an homogeneous ,Protestant society.No mention was made of Asia.It was obviously not
relevant for the author.One of the claims the author made was that there were many British people ready to emigrate to Australia and that obstacles were being put in their way by the Government.That "many" reached tens of thousands in a later issue35.A letter on 15 March from the Secretary of the
34 "A Disatrous Migration Policy" in vol.21,no.3. February 16, 1956 . p.2 See also vol.21,no.19 .Sept.,27,1956.p.2 and no.21 October 25,1956.p.7. vol.22,no.17,August 29,1957. p.4,no.18,p.1. ;no.19,0ctober 10,p.3. 35 Ibid., vol.21 ,no.12.June 21,1956 p.4. - 141 -
Federal Inter-Church Migration Committee sought to put some issues right, such as the decline in U.K. Government assistance to those wishing to emigrate to Australia and recommends both protest to the Government of the UK and ensuring more nominations come from Australia 36 .The latter was the key issue and behind the sectarian rhetoric lay the failure of the Immigration Bureau and Mowll's vision. After the death of Mowll in October 1958, Anglicans turned their actions towards "Bring out an Anglican" but their thoughts were often exercised by the White Australia debate. It so happens that the episcopate of Hugh Gough and the debate about Asian immigration coincided. Gough seems to have made some confused statements on the issue 37.0n the one hand he stated that the policy seomed necessary ,in principle ,for the economic and social well-being of Australia and that Australia would not remain a christian country if large numbers of non-christians are allowed to enter freely.
On the other hand, in the Southern Cros~ he commended a recent statement by the Australian Council of Churches saying, not only that he supported the statement but that he had been
36 The Australian Church Record, vol.21,no.5, 1956. p.6. 37 Sydney Morning Herald 12th April,1960.A report of an address he made to the Constitutional Association on "The Church and Politics". Southern Cross, vol.2,no.7,July1962.p.2. - 142 -- its initiator .The statement was a call for the dismantling of the White Australia Policy by removing all discrimination based on race, colour and national origin. Instead , the government should consider only education,technical skill, employment opportunity and character.The Council made the following recommendations: (l)Extend the categories whereby certain groups of highly qualified and distinguished non-Europeans are admitted for permanent residence,to include any skilled tradesman at present in short supply. (2)Follow the Canadian example in making naturalisation procedures equal for all resident aliens. (3) Allow Australian citizens of non-European origin to sponsor relatives on the same basis as
Australians of European origins 38. The Statement criticised the Government and asked it to retract statements in the Commonwealth Year Book of 1960 which upheld the White Australia line in immigration. Gough regarded the White Australia policy as grievously misunderstood but didn't say how or by whom.He acknowledged that it was seriously harming our relationships with Asia,
38 "Statement on Immigration Policy" reproduced in full in The Australian Church Record, no.1267,June 21,1962.p.6. - 143 - even the christian churches in Asia complained about it. What was in Gough's mind ? Perhaps a correspondent to the Herald was right 39.He was basically pragmatic and had no moral or philosophical grounds from which to work at the issue. Or was he caught up in the sectarianism so characteristic of Sydney Anglicanism ? Other Anglican Christians were now taking up the debate and both the Reco:cd and The Anglican periodically raised the issue in their columns or reported stories that made telling points against the policy 40.They supported the aims of the New South Wales Association for Immigration Reform and defended those aims on theological grounds. Clearly the church in Sydney,despite the unclear message from its Archbishop, was in favour of reform of the White Australia Policy in line with the Australian Council of Churches Statement. It was not until November 1963 that Gough finally took a
39 "Political issues and Christian Opinion" Sydney Morning Herald,19th April ,1960, 40 e.g.The Australian Church Record "Immigration Policy on the Mat" vol.23 no.22 December 9,1959.p.4 ;"Australian Immigration",vol 24no.16 August 18,1960.p.4;Association to fight White Australia Policy" no.1266 June 7,1962 p.3; "Made of one Blood" ibid.p.2; "\i~hite Australia" no.1308 March 12,1964.p.4. The Anglican, "Hong Kong Chinese very Eager to Come Here" no. 468 July 28, 1961.p.1. "I'd Like to Know ... ", ibid. - 144 - lead in the debate over the White Australia policy. On 13 November 1963, as Anglican Primate of Australia, he signed a statement which was an appeal to both political parties to allow more non-European migration to Australia. The statement was prepared 'by the N.S.W. Association for Immigration Reform and its signatories also included Bishops Loane and Kerle of Sydney. The statement was issued during the election campaign and raised an issue both parties would have preferred to have kept quiet. The signatories were asking for a more liberal, generous and flexible policy for the entry of non- Europeans to Australia. Whatever its immediate effect on the parties and policies it was an important stand for Gough to have taken. Newspapers picked up the fact that Gough had headed the signatories and lent his weight to the cause against the White
Australia policy. In contrast, the eleven professors who signed the document were not even named 41. From 1966 to 1973 ,the first eight years of the episcopate of Marcus Loane, almost no mention was made of immigration policies.The church continued with its programmes but until the restructuring of its Immigrat;ion Chaplaincy in 1973 paid little attention to the nature of the issues involved.The
41 "Appeal to both parties",The Daily Mirror 13 November 1963. p.7. "Statement urges non-European migrant increase" The Sydnt2.Y Morning Herald 14 November 1963. -- 145 - reason for this were expressed in Part Three of Loane's Presidential address of 1969: "The Role of The Church in Modern Society"42. It reflected the perceived decline in the church's influence in matters of public policy and its need to reconsider its relationship to the community outside its own borders 43 .This illustrated the continuing evolution of the Anglican Church in Australia which began as a branch of a church wh:i ch represen-ted a nation and which by the 1970s was moving towards becoming a sect.The Anglican church in Sydney had no experience in such reflection and little idea just how to stop the process. Loane's description of the changes then shaping Australia were accurate enough but did not lead to any analysis that might have led Sydney Anglicans out of the maze.He was concerned that society would affect the church but,although be did not wish the church to be isolated from society, provided no guidance as to how the process might become dialectical.His only proposal of principle was that the church " ... must always study how to remain consistent in character and principle while it learns to be flexible in attitudes and enterprise. "44
42 Year Book of the Diocese of Sydney,1970.pp.248-253. 43 See F.L.Jones, "Changing Attitudes and Values in Post-War Australia" · in Au~t_r·alian Society,_ ed. K. Hancock. Melbourne. Cambridge University Press.
44 Year Book of the Diocese of Sydney,1970.p.251. - 146 -
This reflected an attitude to society much like two people permanently stuck in an unsatisfactory marriage.It would be preferable if the other weren't there. Loane's only practical suggestion bore this out.The parish system, whatever its shortcomings, should remain.Nothing need change. For the first time for many years Synod appointed an Ethics and Social Issues Committee which became a feature of Sydney Anglican life 45 .The committee was set up to study the
Christian teaching about Family Planning, Abortion, Homosexuality and Divorce. It was noticeable how quickly the church's restriction to the private sphere had taken place. No major social issue found a place in the discussions. No objection was made to this confinement indicating that it served the purposes both of the wider community and the church.Sydney Anglicans were developing a constricted theology of the church that, on the one hand, confined it tu its disparate meetings on Sundays, and on the other, to heaven46.Clearly,involvement in major social issues did not fit this pattern of thought. Not everyone agreed and in 1974 .$guthe_;rn Cross published a supplement entitled"Meeting Human Need"47.It was an attempt to
45 ibid., p.350.
46 Judd and Cable .Sydney Anglicans,pp.289-291. 47 November,1974.It was produced by the Social responsibilities Commission of the General Synod but 7 out of 8 members came from Sydney. - 147 -- take seriously the fundamentals of christian belief and. worldview and at the same time to integrate cultural information then becoming available about the changes in Australian society. Although abstract it did provide a base from which further reflection might have taken place.It seems to have been completely ignored in Sydney and no response to it was forthcoming. In 1974 Loane gave a substantial portion of his Synod Address over to the subject of immigration. It was his first major foray into this area and it was a masterly survey of the whole history of Australian immigration policy right up to the then Labour Government 48.While be favoured the Labour Government's non-discriminatory, non-racial policy he was worried by some of its possible consequences.Racial tension in Britain,U.S.A., and South Africa sprung to his mind.Would the reunion of fami 1 ies wi t;hout regard to race (a plank in the Labor immigration policy) lead to an increase in assisted passages to non-Europeans?If it did it could mean a sharp escalation in non-European migration and thus an increase in their proportion of the population.That could create another Britain or U.S.A. His vision was of a fundamentally and predominantly British
48 Year Book of the Diocese of Sydney,1975.pp.214-222. - 148 -
society in which non-Europeans would be eligible for admission
if they had the personal qualities that would enable them to fit into the Australian community.He gave no indication of how such requirements might be tested.His concern was for enough homogeneity to secure stability. Although he regarded Australia's future as lying wi·th South-East Asia his allegiance was with Britain and the Queen.He considered that European migrants had successfully integrated into that social vision. Now the non-Europeans must do the same. The subject of immigration only attracted Loane's attention once more, in1979 49.He added nothing new to what he had previously expressed. It was basically a note that the decrease in the Anglo-Saxon population was a social problem for the eighties along with a second social problem that, of the Aborigines. Precisely what was the social problem was not explained except perhaps in comments about migrants who were not "firmly integrated" and who continued to cling to their own language customs, religious traditions and social net-works 50.He showed no sign that he understood the particular needs of migrants nor that they may have some right to the things which he criticised.
49 Year Book of the Diocese of Sydney, pp.220-222. 50 Ibi_Q_,__._p. 222 - 149 -
Loane's successor, the Most Rev. D.W.B.Robinson, has never addressed himself to the issue even though the Blainey debate and the Asian immigration debate of 1988 both occurred in his time as Archbishop.It would appear that from Robinson's point of view the issues raised by those debates have no need of theological elucidation assessment or exploration which is rather surprising as the questions of justice,race and equality have had a long history of debate and discussion in christian history.
In 1984 the Synod did address the question of Cross-Cultural ministries 51. This was the year of Blainey but not one mention was made of that debate. It was as though it had not existed. Instead the Synod asked the Standing Committee to set up a committee to consider ministry to ethnic communities. In 1986 the committee reported 52. This document discussed the strategies for and difficulties of evangelism among ethnic communities. The report began with the Chairman's comments in which he pointed out the fundamental issue that immigration posed for the whole community - that what it means to be an Australian
51 Year Book of the Diocese of Sydney,1985.pp332-333. Resolution 44.
52 Year Book of the Diocese of Syqne_y, 1987. pp. 287-293 ~ross-Cultural Ministries Sydney. Home Mission Society, 1986. - 150 - is undergoing rapid and irreversible change 53. He rightly grasped that immigration posed the question of cultural identity. He pointed out that Anglicans could ignore the process and become a ghetto or they could choose to co-operate and as the largest ethnic group play a significant role in the forging of a new and dynamic Anglican church representative of the newly emerging Australian community. Anglicans ,he claimed, had the resources to do this, especially if they evangelised all the nominal Anglicans in the Diocese. Having identified cultural identity as a key stessor on the host community it might have been expected that the report would explore that idea in relation to the the present attitudes and practices of the Anglican church in Sydney.But it wasn't approached that way. After a brief "historical" survey the report became a discussion of cross-cultural evangelism. Up to this point there was a presumption that the report was speaking of Cross-Cultural Ministries (its title). The word ministry is a synonym for service and is very general in its application . It can apply to welfare ,charity or counselling or friendship. Evangelism , too , may have many applications but crucial to it is the expectation that the
53 Ibid., p. 287. - 151 - evangelised should move from their context to the context of the evangelist , in this case, the Anglican church in Sydney. This simple change of words provides a clue to the perspective of Sydney Anglicans . The service they wished to render to the migrant is the chance to crossover and join the local Anglican church. No wonder in its historical section the authors noted that this was long , hard , slow work 54 and that clergy were on the whole , unwilling to engage in cross-cultural evangelism55. They also noted that those who had most successfully grafted into Anglican congregations were those fluent in English, those already settled in the Australian community to some degree and those who had already made a significant break with some of the dominant features of national culture such as Indians or Egyptians who came from established christian traditions in their own societies 56. This was the closest to a piece of social analysis in the Report. Even that small amount should have elicited some analysis about the role of religion in the immigration-integration experience. But it did not. Instead readers were treated to an exposition of Principles
54 Ibid.,p.288. 55 Ibid.,p.291. 56 Ibid. - 152 -
of Cross-Cultural Evangelism by Anglican Churches. The basis was described as "the one new man (sic)"57. It was meant to describe unity in diversity but because there was no discussion of how that unity might be achieved it was all too easy to confuse unity and uniformity. Although the principles included the overcoming of racism and division, without clear analysis the theory of the one new man and the one fold acted as camouflage for the old assimilationist attitude. Although the Report mentioned that work among Aborigines led to the lesson that integration could mean domination instead of equal partnership58, it gave no structural analysis which would support equality and overcome domination. The remainder of the Report was really an exhortation to get on with evangelism and noted some ways of going about that activity. Although this Report pointed the reader to the longer Report produced by the Home Mission Society it must be allowed to stand in its own right as a Standing Committee selection of what it considered to be the central issue. Furthermore ,this Report was distributed to all 830 Synod members. So it was significant for establishing the official view of what was important. This meant that the almost complete lack of
57 Ibid.,pp.228-229 58 Ibid., p. 290. -·· 153 --
analysis of the role of religion in the immigrant integration process had become institutionalised The immigrant situation did not appear to have any significance for the writers of the Report. It was this that gave the Report its air of abstraction and unreality. The experienced difficulty of the task , the experience of Aborigines and the experience of those migrants who had joined an Anglican church were not analysed as possible areas for further understanding, correction and development of policy. They were simply ignored. Much the same criticisms couJd be made of the full report entitled Committee re Ministry to Ethnic Minori_ty Groups. The report differed from the Standing Committee summary in including an historical survey of cross-cultural work in the Diocese of Sydney and the questionnaire sent to parishes and clergy concerning their involvement in ethnic ministry 59. Despite the title, it was a document about evangelism ,a concept and practice that remained undefined throughout the document. The key issue, which the report did not address ,was expressed by some of the clergy respondents to the questionnaire "Thirteen respondents felt that there could be no
59 pp.2-8. - 154 -
progress until the diocese was prepared to "expose"
Anglicanism to multi-culturalism in a way that demonstrated real willingness to allow it to be changed to make it more relevant. The nettle uf what
it means to be "Anglican" in multi-cultural Aust;ral ia has to be grasped . " 60
The issue of identity was nowhere discussed although it was raised most acutely by the thirteen respondents. Obviously the committtee made nothing of it, presumably because they bad focussed their attention on evangelism which was seen as forming congregations in some already existent "Anglican" mode. In this instance evangelism was functioning as a way of avoiding the question of identity . On the other hand, the report seems to indicate that the parish clergy avoided the issue of identity by ignoring the multi-cultural issue altogether. They had little or no knowledge of the ethnic demography of their parishes and most did not believe that they needed that knowledge to survive, at least in the short term. They felt overworked ministering to their Anglo-Saxon flock without being caught up in the problems associa·ted with ethnic ministry 61.
60 ibid., p.12. 61 ibid_,_ - 155 ·-
This Report resulted in the appointment of Ms. Mersina Soules to the position of Cross-Cultural ministries with the Anglican Home Mission Society . It is perhaps significant that the Diocese could not make up its mind v1here t.o put Ms. Soules. Should she be in the Department of Evangelism as had
ethnic workers before her ? Or should she be situated with the
Home Mission Society ? The complete confusion about this work is summed up in this choice What will Anglicans do with
ethnic minorities ? In contrast to the above, Bishop John Reid on 16 April 1986 ,formed a committee called "1988 Evangelism Executive Committee "62 It was not in its membership a specifically Anglican group but it was significant that it had an Anglican bishop chairing it. In the area of cultural pluralism the committee·wanted the church to seek to understand the diverse forces which have shaped Australia, to express its worship and life in such a way that it was both at home in Australian culture and able to speak prophetically to it and to recognise the needs of Aboriginals and other minorities, and including them within a true fellowship of diversity within unity . The committee rejected assimilation as the model for evangelism .
Instead it argued that men and women prefer to become
62 Stuart Robinson , "Multicultural Mission" in .Southern Cross September ,1986 pp.8-9. - 156 -
christians without crossing barriers and rejected the notion that people must alter culturally for the sake of a religion which is supposed to transcend such barriers 63 The full implications of such an attit.ude for a church J.ike the Sydney Anglican were not clearly presented except in a formal way, that is people must expect change and a break in some of their traditions But which traditions and what sort of change remained unanswered In 1988 John Reid attacked the Australian Chamber of
Commerce's contention that multiculturalism was a dangerous policy 64 .He took the opportunity to reflect briefly on the multicultural history of Australia and the changes already taking place in some areas in the Diocese of Sydney . He stated his belief that Sydney Anglicans were just dabbling as far as these changes are concerned and went on to say We represent the major ethnic group which came here by migration It is easy for us to use our influence to reinforce the Anglo-Saxon-Celtic dominance To do this would , in my judgement , miss the opportunity to share 2n the whole life of our people " 65 .
63 ibid.p.9.
64 "How "dangerous" is multiculturism ? in Southern Cross May 1988 . p.7. 65 ibid. - 157 -
Latest research in the Dioceses of Sydney and Armidale may indicate that the Bishop amd Ms. Soulos have a lot of work to do to convinee many church members 66. Generally speaking the Social Issues Committee's Report on racism is hopeful and positive, indicating that Anglicans show a surprising openness to people of other races .In general, they approve of them more than the general community does 67. However the report does not deal with behaviour, on]y attitudes, and the compilers note that on the whole Anglicans are assimilationists They want a community that is becoming more alike over time .It is not clear if they see this alikenes as the pattern of the present Anglo-Celtic Australian community or some different pattern 68 . The Home Mission Society has another arm called Care Force with strong interest in immigration and migrant welfare. This interest stems from the time when the Anglican Immigration office was subsumed under the Counselling Service of the Home Mission Society. In this arm of H.M.S. the philosophy of care was uppermost and that was seen in recent documents produced by Care Force In December 1987 the members of Care Force
66 Racism : A barrier to mission .Diocese of Sydney Social Issues Committee ,A.I.O. ,October 1989. 67 ibid., p.15. 68 ibid. - 158 - made a submissior1 to the FitzGerald Committee on Immigration. It is only three pages long and represents the only Anglican submission from within the Diocese of Sydney 69 The submission raised five issues. The first was the requirement to balance economic and humanitarian considerations It argued for a full recognition of Australia's wealth and the suffering experienced by many who lived under oppressive regimes The second was a proposed new definition of refugee as II a person deprived of basic rights, with no recourse to his home government and requiring
access to international assistance. II 70 It argued that the UNHCR definition was too narrow to account for present circumstances ,such as internal refugees or people fleeing from famine. The third issue was that of the points test which it maintained still discriminated against non-English speakers and specifically people from poor situations in Asia who could not compete financially educationally or
69 The Submission from the Ar~lic~D_ntocese of Melbourne to the Committee to Advise on Australian Immigration Policies was nineteen pages long and very detailed,indicating the higher priority given to the issue in Melbourne . It also indicated a great deal more research had been done by those responsible for the Melbourne submission.The Melbourne submission was a Diocesan submission. Sydney Diocese made no such submission.
70 Sub~ission to the Committee to Advise on Australia's Immigration Policies pp.2-3. ·- 159 -
linguistically. Fourthly , it argued for an extension of the notion of family to include some members of the extended family and fifthly it brought settlement issues to the
attention of the Committtee .Specifically, it was concerned about employment and access to training and the recognition of overseas qualificatjons , the non-recognition of which was described as " a blatant display of selfish racism " 71 . The recommendations had a humanitarian base and would facilitate the further opening up of Australia's immigration policies . Their genesis lay in the Care Force experience in its Migrant Services Teams in Ashfield Cabramatta and Wollongong However , the submission suffered when compared with the submission to the same Committee by the Diocese of Melbourne . The latter was a document of high professjonalism which canvassed issues such as Australian identity and goals , Australian migration principles and detailed analyses of most aspects of Australian immigration policy and the church's input to the success of that policy . The A.H.M.S. submission touched on almost none of these issues and thus lacked substance in some parts of its submission. The highly detailed proposals for the reform of the administration of i~migration policy by Melbourne Diocese indicated an awareness of detail
71 ibid.,p.3. - 160 -
in immigration policy and implementation not evident in Sydney. Two different approaches to social issues were made evident The Melbourne submission was a statement about justice for migrants and justice in the administration of immigration policy . The Sydney submission was more in the mould of a welfare statement. That broad generalisation helps to distinguish two streams present in both submissions but given different weights . In Sydney ,advocacy for justice was still in its infancy and the research necessary for it almost non-existent.
In the December issue of Southe~n Cross the Director of Care Force wrote a short article "September:the Immigration Debate" 72. This very short article was a catena of biblical texts concerning God's care of the alien expressed in the Old Testament and love of the neighbour expressed in the New There was no detailed criticism of the Opposition's arguments against Asian immigration, although there was a repudiation of that stand on the basis of the biblical texts. The remainder of the article dealt with the way in which parishes or Area Deaneries (groupings of parishes) could help refugees settle in the community. The weight was on welfare and the justice
72 December ,1988. p.17. ·- 161 -
issue was not taken up either intellectually (except through the biblical texts) or practically . Although the Director was advocating .justice in a small way, there was no guidance as to how parishes or Area Deaneries might practically advocate justice in immigration. Sydney Anglicans were more comfortable with welfare and that is where the emphasis lay. At the same time Care Force was working to generate a migrant policy. In March 1988 it produced a draft Migrant Policy outline which is now being used as a working document within the organisation 73. Some of it was about internal issues such as employment of migrants but much of the document illustrated the tension bet;ween servicing welfare needs and advocacy . The statement of purpose and perspective grounded itself in the notion that christians were required to act with love and justice to all people 74. Specifically, they believed that christians were called upon to combat racism both within the church and the general community . To act in love meant to provide services for everyone, regardless of race ,religion, sex, social class ,handicap or status 75 The document
73 Draft Mi~rant Policy Outline - March 1988 74 ibibd.,p.l 75 ibid. - 162 - concluded that christians were called not only to assist those in need but also t.o act in a prevent.at;i ve way by understanding what brings about the need. Further ,it called for christians to predict and plan for needs rat.her t;han react to situations.
This latter highlighted the need for research For the first time among Sydney Anglicans there was an awareness that goodwill and Bible verses were not adequate on their own. This policy spoke in structural t.erms and of the need to address those structures It spoke in terms of research as undergirding and guiding action It spoke in general terms of taking positive policy actions on behalf of those most likely to be discriminated against and described one of the functions of the Migrant Services Team as acting as an advocate and lobby for migrants and their service needs 76 .
The document advocated educating staff in such a way that they would be equipped to become responsive to the needs of migrants by the provision of relevant population characteris-tics, statistics ,information on immigration policies, migration processes and needs and development of communication skills Clearly the first signs of professionalism were beginning to emerge and they reflected the insights and ideals of the younger, professionals
76 ibid. p. 12. - 163 -
employed in A. H.M.S. The setting out of the document with its
objectives and strategies clearly indicated that
professionalism. Also , from the statement of the document's
aims it might be fair to suggest that there was a difference
between the approach of the leadership of the Diocese and the
professionals of Care Force which may, in the future, lead to
some considerable tension. It probably also illustrated
tensions between clergy and laity and represented an aspect of
the de-clericalisation of the church. A.H.M.S. was still
appointing clergy to senior positions and managerial roles in
which they often had less professional expertise than the lay
people who serviced the various depart:ments.
Immigration not only elicited responses from the leadership
and the official organisations of the Diocese of Sydney.
Individuals, representing a wide cross section of opinion,
also responded.
With the appointment of Rev.Dr.D.B.Knox in 1959 to become
the Principal of Moore Theological College, the main training
ground for Sydney Anglican clergy, thinking became of prime
importance for Sydney Anglicans. A fundamental tenet of theological methodology taught by Knox was that if thinking was straight then policy and action would automatically follow by a series of logical deductions derived from the straight thinking. In order to understand the way in which this proposition was put into practice it is important to - 164 - understand that Sydney Anglicans belong primarily to the
evangelical wing of the church. In their understanding of the nature of the Bible they were fundament.alists. Although many of them would reject; the la·t.ter term, they believed that the Bible was the inerrant , infallible Word of God. This had important consequences for the method by which they approached social issues such as immigration. Primarily it meant that they approached the issue via the text of the Bible. The Bible text was studied for any relevant information it might yield on the subject . Then that material became a grid through which the subject was approached and understood and policies formulated. Present knowledge or relevant information from the area of study was of secondary importance and must be made to conform to the biblical grid already formulated. This methodology was rationalist rather than empirical and gave the discussjons an abstract flavour. An example appeared in the Australian Church Record written by Dr. D.B.Knox 77 . Dr.Knox occupied a unique position to influence generations of theological students with his brand of fundamentalist rationalism Thus what he said and wrote was of great significance . Knox began his discussion with an argument of three steps
77 "What the Bible says about Racism" in Australian Church Record, 12 December, 1974. pp.6-7. - 165 - " that characterised this whole way of thinking. First, he cited two biblical texts which set up the parameters of the discussion. Galatians 3.28 and Colossians 3.11 both dealt with the universal application of reconciliation 78. Second, from these verses he derived the proposition that "the differences that estrange man from man (sic) no longer do so when the Spirit of Christ changes the heart. "79 Third ,he argued however, that it would be a mistake to to use these passages as though the old differences had evaporated. He restricted them to relations between christians and asserted that they had no application outside the boundaries of the christian church.He went further: "The Gospel deals with the supernatural relationship of the believer with Christ in the Holy Spirit and the consequent relationship of Christians with Christians in the heavenly church or gathering, as
we all stand together in the presence of God.To turn
78 Galatians 3.28. "There is neither Jew nor Greek,slave nor free,male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." Colossians 3.11. "Here there is no Greek or Jew,circumcised or uncircumcised,barbarian,Scythian slave or free,but Christ is all ,and in all." Both texts are quoted from the New International Version. Hodder and Stoughton, Sydney, 1978. 79 Op.cit.,p.6. - 166 --
the Gospel into a social program as modern preachers do will greatly mislead those who follow them. "80 Knox set up the parameters by which his argument would work. The biblical understandjng of r·econcj liation applied only to believers and their relationships seen from the perspective of a heavenly gathering. A great djvorce existed between the gathered community and the world outside which could not share its privileges. This approach allowed Knox to look at racism in and through other biblical texts but. removed the universal and social implications of the texts from further consideration. The abstract and rationalist nature of this approach is apparent. Knox proceeded to claim that race ,nation and culture were synonomous and referred to the fact that people formed themselves into groups around a common centre of loyalty. The simplistic understanding of anthropological data, cultural studies and linguistic studies was breathtaking. The theological understanding Knox gave of separateness was that it was a sign of God's judgement on humankind. The tower of Babel myth was his biblical justification for this statement. This myth, Knox believed, indicated that the isolation and division of humanity was the result of the
80 ibid.,p.6. - 167 -
growth of self centred loyalties due to sin. At the same time Knox believed that the Bible also made it clear that the separation of the nations into geographical areas each in its own territory and land was the will of God. It was a way of having some sort of order and peace. "God has ordained that national groups should occupy their own geographical area. "131 Immigration policy was a way of resisting t;he take over of a country by another national group. Further he said: "Australians need to ensure that our migration polic'ies are wise to forestall the destruction of
our homogeneous society through the development of unassimilatable groups in the same geographical area. "82 In this artless sentence the purpose of immigration policy was clearly set out. The goal was an homogeneous society.This was nowhere described nor its merits debated. The article indicated only that its merit lay in the preservation of peace and order and the avoidance of conflict. But none of ·this was argued in any satisfactory way. The nearest one found to an argument in defence of the propositions was an analogy drawn
81 ibid.,p.6. 82 ibid.,p.7. - 168 - from domestic life which was superficial and inadequate and suffered, like all argument from analogy, in that it simply didn't fit another more complex entity 83 .Not one piece of empirical evidence was brought to bear on the issue.
Knox asserted that the destruction of homogeneity was brought about by the development of unassimilatable groups.
Such groups were not identified or characterise4. Was it a question of race ,colour, culture,Janguage or all of these?
Was it a question of simply being different or coming from a different geographical area ? Again ,none of these issues were debated They were left hanging around the emotive
"unassimilatable".At tbjs point another aspect of the ideology cloked as theology was made plain. Assimilation to the dominant racial. culture was the necessary requirement or else immigration was counter-productive. Again no evidence was produced to support a case for assimilation.
Knox was also concerned about what would happen if a situation came about in which one group found another different group inhabiting the same geographical area. The solution was for the two to assimilate. But it is unlikely that they would, so the christian state must act justly.Based on his previous arguments about nations and God's will he
83 ibid. p.6 - 169 - argued that the formation of separate geographical areas was not an unjust solution provided it was done justly and fairly.
His argument was for some form of a'partheid. Again theology cloked ideology .
Knox saw no use for empirical data .The realities of the world escaped him.His argument was abstract and thus a prey to ideology. In this case the ideology of a homogeneous society assimilitation and apartheid underlay the theological and biblical arguments so t.hat that data inevitably conformed to the structure of the ideology.
In this kind of argument the reality was the text. The world of events and people, of politics and economics. must be made to conform to the text.That world had no reality of its own nor could it generate knowledge t.hat would be useful in determining the nature of the problem or policies and solutions.This approach found its basis in tLe disconti~uity between heaven and ear·th , between ·the situation now and the future between salvation seen as heavenly and future and reconciliation now 84. Thus Knox had no need to develop a methodology which would take account of the empirical realities as well as theological issues. Texts were the answer, the \'lhole answer and the only answer to any social ... 170 ... problem including immigration ,race and apartheid. it says something for the place Knox oucupied in the Sydney constellation that no one challenged this point of view until very recent times. The challenge to Knox's dominant view has came from another staff member of Moore College. Dr. William Lawton wrote and lectured on the subject of imnd gration and multicultural ministry for some years and published a book _Bg.ing Christian, Being Aust.ral ian 85. Lawton described himself as pastor and historian mainly interested in the history of ideas. His work was not dominated by specifically theological reflection but was more an evaluation of responses made to the growth of a pluralist society in Australia. In a paper entitled "Australia as a pluralist society" Lawton waited unti1 the end t.o give his reflections on the relation of christian faith to immigration and the growth of a pluralist society. He chose the idea of "Reconcilia·tion" (rejected by Knox) as a major focal point and wrote: "Between humanity and God is the Mediator,the Man Christ Jesus ;between each of us 1s the same Mediator. We know God, and we know each other, only through him.God broke into the narrow boundaries set
85 Lancer Books,Homebush Australia ,1988 .pp.33-59. - 171 -
by our sin and reconciled us to himself.Imagine a
love like that! With no thought for position, or
prestige, or other people's opinions,Christ gave
himself for the world.His command is that we love
one another,just as he has loved us .That love
without boundaries ls the destiny of every follower
of Christ. "86
A little later in the same paper be wrote that" ... loving means hearing the cry ,the silence,the apathy,the joy of others. "87 He regarded St. Paul as the best example of a cross cultural evangelist who would not allow boundaries of race and culture to stand between people 88.
Lawton followed the same approach in his chapter "Mixing it with the weird mob" in his book Being Christian,Being
Australian.89 Only in the last three pages did he begin to discuss the theological implications for his wide ranging study of immigration in Australia and its effects on society and churches. In this work he stari;ed with the doctrines of sin and atonement because they lay at the heart of evangelical
86 Lawton,W.,Australia as a Pluralist Society. Held in the Moore College Library ,p.19.
87 ibid. J p. 19
88 ibid.' p. 20.
89 op.cit., pp.33-59. - 172 -
theology90. The cross expressed the paradox of a dying God who
drew together in the crucifixion the vastness of divine
compasssion and human need. This act was the basis of
reconciliation, a profound symbol of lost and foundness and a drawing together of human potential and divine sovereignty.
Lawton asserted that these themes had vast possiblities but only drew two implications from them.First,through language christians must engage with the others' culture and perspectives on life From such experience might flow the capacity to respect. other communi·ties' ·traditions and values.
Second, christians will need to engage in inter-faith dialogue.
Lawton engaged in sermonising rather than theological reflection. His emphasis on the reality of change in
Australia ,his evident passion for reconciliation,made him the acceptable face of the Diocese of Sydney. Knox's racial prejudice finds no place in his writing.
However,it is important to recognise that the same methodology was used in both cases. The only difference lay in the starting points,theological and chronological.Knox's text was the Bible texts read in isolation,Lawton's was theological doctrines drawn from the Bible.This allowed Lawton to be more
90 ibid. ! p. 53. - 173 -
open to reality because doctrines tend to be generalisations and allow more latitude for interpre·t;ation and application. The link between the two and their shared weakness was the desire to jump from "text" to context without a clear,explicit method.The problem that plagued all attempts of the Diocese of Sydney to come to grips with any social issue lay at this point. Lawton was far better than Knox in "exegeting" the context. This gave his work a far less rationalistic flavour than Knox's but like Knox's it failed at the level of providing a guide and a meaning for action. While his proposed actions expressed a more compassionate atti·tude than Knox's they were no less abstract. The reason was that Lawton was really an historian of ideas rather than a social analyst.Thus he was unable to formulate a viable social policy. There were also hidden assumptions about the church's relation to society.They both saw the church in sectarian terms. The church was not. so much for the world as the world for the cburch.God was understood as active in the church rather t.han the world. This perception meant that the things that happened in the world were of less signifcance than the things that happen in the church. It also meant that strategies were designed to pull in from the community rather than to explore, work with and point to a God whose primary concern is the world. Thus,in Sydney) a great deal of strategy - 174 - was devoted to social welfare and evangelism. Another addition to the literature of this debate was an essay by the Rev. Dr. B.N.Kaye Master of New College at the
University of N.S.W.91 Al thOU€fh this was an essay in Multiculturism it had direct relevance for understanding how some Sydney Anglicans are viewing the end product of immigration policy. Kaye examined the history of Australian pluralism since 1945 along with High Court rulings about what constituted a religion under the Australian Constitution. His concern was with the persistent seetarian mentality in Australian christianity which underst.ood religion as having to do with private individuals and the groups they form to exercise their religion. Sectariansm was a defensive mentality92. By defining religion as a personal,inner matter with no significant connection to others or differing religions or philosophies it opted out of mainstream , commurdty life. Sydney Anglicanism shared that sectarian attitude.. Kaye intended to provide an alternative. However, he found that what was known as the Christendom mentality was of little use as a model either. The Christendom
91 Kaye,Bruee N., Christianity and Multiculturalism in Aust~©,lia ,Canberra, Zadok Institute ,June 1989.
92 i bib ._,_p. 6 - 17.5 - model presupposed a link between belief and life at the personal and the social level of existence .In a pluralist society, however, there was no agreed common set of beliefs upon which a cornrnon social policy might be built. Australia, with its pluralist, multicultural, anti-·discriminatory and secular approach to social life made the christendom mentality irrelevant. Therefore Kaye proposed "The good of the whole approach" Kaye wanted the church to go beyond simply arguing its own corner in the market-place. His view was that there must be a search for those values and policies which are for the good of the whole. Kaye believed that within a broad christian tradition it was possible to distil two individual values which have social implications. The first. was the necessity of individual, informed choice that carried with it the implication of responsibility and the second, the preservation of human dignity and worth 9:3. The first would have an impact on the quality and character of education available to the Australian populace. Kaye lamented, in the style of Leonie Kramer, the lack of a critical intellectual tradition in Australia. It affected the question of the flow of information available to the
93 Ibid.,p.6. " 176 -
community,the role of the media and the way in which
leadership was conducted 1n the society.
The second implied, from the point of view of the christian
tradition, the possibility of being able to love one's
neighbour and of experiencing the sense of transcendent in the
life of the community or the individual. Kaye thought that the
intellectual challenge for christianity was the development of
a way of relating these 'two primal values to the existing
christian traditions on the one hand and social conditions on
the other 94.
The theological framework that he proposed consisted of
two main elements ,the penultimate nature of the social and
political order and the socia1 nature of religion. The first
found its basis in the eschatological and transcendent
dimensions of christian tradition and the second arose out of
an understanding of God's relationship to the world
expresssed in the incarnation ,the creation of humans in the
image of God and the ongoing sustaining and creative activity
of God 95.
Pluralist society tends to relativise all viewpoints How will the christian tradition which has always regarded its
94 Ibid.,pp.6-7.
95 Ibid~ - 177 -
view of God as unique interact with such a society ? Kaye proposed a separation of the sense of uniqueness from the exclusiveness that has often accompanied it He really suggested a reappraisal of the whole christian intellectual tradition as it has been received in Sydney 96. The impor·tant elements in this paper were the repudiation of sectarianism , the call for a re-assessment of theology in the light of social realities and. the expressed intent to take account of those social realities in the formulation of policy and practice However, there was still an abstraction about this paper Kaye did not seem to be able to develop a satisfactory method and model for creating a dialogue between the christian tradition and pluralist soc]ety He mentions the natural law and natural theology tradition in christian thinking but showed no inclination to pursue that tradition in this paper His own proposal was a policy of invitation and persuasion rather than one of command and compulsion . That presupposed a method by which c.:hrist:ians arrived at their perception or policy Invitation and persuasion are last links in a chain and would only have any force if it could be seen that the proposed perception had taken account of social perceptions of others who also have input in a pluralist - 178 - society. Kaye's two principles were really what was known in ethical debate as middle axioms. Historically they have little proven value in making public policy possible from abstract principle. Furthermore , they have not had success in relating theory and practice in a critical way 97. Kaye's paper stood in the tradition of the C.S.O.M. rather than the evangelical tradition of the Diocese of Sydney In its approach it provided an alternative to dominant ideology. It was a genuinely "liberal" alternative with its cutting remarks about the lack of genuine intellectual tradition in
Australia and its sanguinity about the role of education. Another liberal voice outside the Sydney Anglican establishment was that of John Ingleson , Professor of History at the Universit.y of N. S.liL His lmowledge of the historical roots of Australian xenophobia served him well as he demolished Blainey's arguments in 1984 98. The significance of this little article was that it was the only response to that debat;e to c.:ome out of Sydney Anglicans. It did not emanate
97 A defence of middle axiom thinking is given by Ronald Preston The Future of Christian Ethics London. SCM,1987. pp,99-112. A middle axiom is the middle ground between general statements of goals and principles and the details of policy. 98 John Ingleson "Immigration and the Blainey view" in National Outlook, June 1984. pp.8-11. - 179 -
from the centre but from the margin (from the establishment perspective!) and from a layman and not a c1eric. It was a defence of the non-discriminatory policies that sucessive Australian Governments had begun to pursue since 1966 . It set Australia firmly in the Asian context and argued that our place in the world was firmly and securely tied to Asia. It was the capacity to set the Blainey debate in the context of our relation to Asia and t.o expr:Jse our historical ambivalence about that relationship that is the strength of the article .
Although the article was not overtly theological it raised an issue of great concern for Sydney Anglicans - What kind of society would it be possjble to create ? A laager mentality or a mixed community, predominantly white and European but open to Asia and enriched by its culture and by immigration. The predominant Sydney bias had been towards the white and the English This article placed that view on notice and ,like the whole debate ,demanded some sort of response. Surprisingly, none was forthcoming and perhaps the cause for that was that the old ideology was still at work as already noted \i~hi te Australia may be dead and buried but assimilation lived on . In 1988 Professor Ingleson followed this up with a short article on the FitzGerald Report 99 which is much more overtly
99 John Ingleson, "The Immigration Debate", Eremos Newsletter Summer '88/89. no.25.pp.8-12. This article is subtitled a review of Imm:bgratign:A Commitment to Australia. The Report of the Committee to Advise on Australia's Irmnigration Policies. - 180 -
theolog·ical . The article was generally favourable to the Report . The only real criticism be made of the Report concerned the immigration of skilled young people because he perceived that this may be a way of avoiding the costs of training Australian young people in the same skills. He also argued for a higher proportional intake of refugees . He applauded the continuance of the non···discriminatory policy and pointed out that by t.he year 2025 Asians will compose only 7% of the Australian population. It is ,to my knowledge , the only Sydney Anglican response to the FitzGerald Report None of the churches major agencies made a response to the Report.
What kind of Australia do we want ? That's the question Professor Ingleson posed and he saw it as central to the immigration debate. Immigration was a way of posing the question of cultural identity cultural change cultural senstivities and what he described as "inchoate fears of miscegenation "100. He placed the debate firmly in the context of ambivalent Australian attitudes to Asia. He proposed that Anglicans should think and work from several principles in order to undergird and inform their action 101 . They were that God is the universal Creator who
100 Ibid., p. 9.
101 ibid~,pp.11-12. - 181 -
creates all in his own image ; that in dealing with non-white
peoples and societies Europeans must bear in mind t:he collective experience of of the colonial /missionary era God has a preferential op·t.ion for the poor ; a.ll we have , we have in trust ; christians have responsibility to the "strang·er at the gate".
On the basis of these principles certain lines of action would flow. There would be a need for repentance 102 which would
seem to mean that Anglican~ will havA to start by working out their social attitudes from their basic principles and not be carried along by community prejudice . Also they would have to develop contacts at a local level 103 not so much for the purposes of evangelism, as for understanding dialogue and the breaking down of stereotypes.Anglicans might learn something from Muslims Again, christian people could have a community role in understanding and explaining the changes that would have to take place if Australia were to create a prejudice and fear-free society . Ingleson's approach was radically different from much of the official and unofficial or theological approaches which have been already not;ed . The t.heology was influenced by both
102 ibid.,p.9 103 ibid.,pp.9-10. ·- 182 -
liberation theology and a liberal approach to those of other religions His first hand knowledege of Asia provided the authority often lacking in discussion by other Anglicans. However, much remained unpacked The whole notion of soeietal repentance requires considerable exploration and unpackjng So t.oo does the concept of God's preferential option for the poor or at least how it would operate in Australian society in any effective way. What was provided were the first steps in a critical theory of soeiety from a theological perspective That , at least. is more than on offer from any other Anglican source in Sydney currently addressing the quest.ion of immigration . This chapter began with attention being paid to Asia and it ends in the same way So many of our stereotypes are reinforced by negative media images Even their cricket umpires (:beat. They are poor war like partial to fundamentalisnJ of an Islamic kind For almost forty-five years Australians have lived with the questions about its place in Asia but have mostly lived with the eyes firmly fixed on Europe The Anglican church in Sydney bas often reflected the same approach ,with some exceptions . It would appear that at the end of 1988 its leadership was no better placed to guide Sydney Anglicans on the question of immigration than it was in 1945 Indeed, they may even be worse off for at least in 1945 they were led by an - 183 -
Archbishop who saw clearly the significance of both Asia and immigration to the question of the fut.ure of Australia . There was no indication, at least in their public utterances and with one exception, that the Sydney Anglican leadership had any such perception in 1988. - 184 -
CONCLUSION
Is Sydney Anglicanism a monocultural church in a multicultural nation ? Is it the archetypal, middle class church of the old ethnic establishment? The answer must be yes. Despite the work of the A.H.M.S. in the latter part of the nineteen-eighties the church remained overwhelmingly wedded to the vision of white, protestant and British immigration set out by Archbishop Mowll in 1945 and the consequent vision of a white, protestant and British
Australia.
This is hardly a surprising conclusion given the derivative nature of the religious culture and theology of the Diocese of
Sydney. The early pattern of ministering only to British migrants, a pattern which lasted until the late seventie~, left the Diocese of Sydney with no working model to use in a society transformed by immigrants. Isolated by theological suspicion from the experience of other church bodies such as the Australian Council of Churches and its refugee services its own experience was diminished.
Only a small number of thinkers and workers provided an alternative vision. Lawton .. Kaye and Ingleson and more recently Professor Michael Horsburgh 1 tried to provide
1 "Christian Values,Immigration and Australia" in Kaye ,B. and Nevile, J., Immigrqtion-What kind of Australia do we war;~t? Sydney. New College,University of New South Wales, 1989. pp.3-15. - 185 ·-
Sydney Anglicans with an intellectual framework other than that which dominated the Diocese of Sydney from 1945. Their efforts highlighted the abstract and restricted nature of the intellectual life that has been prevalent among the clergy and the leadership of the Diocese. Their efforts created a context in which more serious debate could be contemplated. However, their weakness lay in the fact that they did not reflect critically enough on the method and model they used to arrjve at. their c::onclusions. Only Horsburgh has begun that process and some comments have been made below about his essay The workers in the field belonged predominantly to the A. H. M.S. and more recently to the Migran·t Services Team of Care Force. The Cross Cultural Ministry Division and the chaplains have worked among migrants providing pastoral care and initiating evangelism. Many of those employed in these tasks are social workers and clergy whose main task was to do case and pastoral work which noncentrated on the individual.That approach omitted the questions of justice for migrants in access to services, education and employment. It also tended to isolate ministry to migrants from the mainstream of the church. Much the same could be said for the appointment of ethnic: clergy to serve ethnic groups. The advantages they had were a knowledge of the language and a commitment to evangelism. However, t.beir experience has been one of isolation and al ir-mation as the denomination has - 186 ·-
required them to fit the "Anglican" pattern yet. has not provirled them with the skills nece::wary ·to interpret the changes in modern Australian society, the transitional nature of that society and consequently its changing ident,i ty. Three possible reasons emerged which explain how the Diocese of Sydney has arrived at its present situation. The first reason was that the leadership of the Diocese was vocally British until Marcus Loane and silent since. Only an Assistant Bishop ,John Reid, offered any leadership in the areas of immigration or multiculturalism. Part of the reason for this has been that the "world" of Sydney Anglicanism is the geopolitical and economic world of the "North". Asia bas been a mission field and therefore perceived as dependent, unstable and unequal.
The most crucial issue for Sydnoy Anglicans as for the Australian society was the issue of identity.Pressed by the process loosely described as secularisation2 and the changing nature of Australian society due to immigration the Anglican
2 The most satisfactory definition because it focusses on the meeting between religion and socio-cultural change is contained in Peter Berger's The Sacred CaD..QQY: "By secularisation we mean the process by which sectors of society are removed from the domination of of religious institutions and symbols". New York. Doubleday ,1969. p. 107. A critical acount of secularisation in ·t;he Australian context is Rowan Ir~land's The Challenge of Secularisation Melbourne.Collins Dove. 1988. - 187 - church lost the confidence which a secure identity provided in the past.The leadership of Sydney was not able to respond in a way which would have allowed it to forge a renewed identity. Instead, emphasis was placed on shoring up the inherited identity mainly through legal measures within the Synod 3 . The second reason has been the reluctance of the parish clergy to become involved in ministering to ethnic groups within their parishes. Except in areas such as the Marriokville Area Deanery they have felt under no pressure to do so. The geographical parish has been the core of Anglican strategic and ministry planning. Yet some of the key requirements of feeling at home in an Anglican parish are a high level of language skills. literacy and a capacity for abstraction. There has been very 1 i t.tle success incorporating non-English speaking migrants into Anglican services or structures and, on the whole, little initiative taken. The third reason lay in a yawning gap between theory and practice among the majority of Sydney Anglican clergy, undergirded by a general antipathy towards empirical knowledge and critical social theory. The text contained all that
3 The paucity of references to any social issue and the concentration on "in-house" matters of a bureaucratic nature can be found in any of the latest volumes of the Year Book of the Diocese of Sydney. -- 188 - needed to be known 4 Intellectual life consisted in understanding the texts in great detail. This was the way the world was known and understood. This view is a direct consequence of their training. Only one conclusion was possible and it was stated succintly by James Barr: "Fundamentalists on the whole believe that nothing can be done to improve the present world, except for the preaching of the fundamentalist gospel. Only the second coming of Christ will overcome the tensions of human existence and conflict. Any attempt to organise human society in a different way, in order to reduce these tensions and conflicts, is necessarily an illusion, and obscures the fact that these cannot be overcome except by a special act of God. Reformism and radicalism are therefore revolts against the true plan and purpose of God. In this sense the overwhelming weight of fundamentalist opinion is socially conservative. Apart; from the preaching of the fundamentalist Gospel, nothing can
4 The Old and the New Testaments are the prime texts. However, these texts are interpreted through a grid of received Evangelioal ·theology which strongly separates heaven and earth, body and spirit, mind and matter. See Barr, James Fundament@,lism London .SCM, 1981 (Second Edition) and also his summary "Religious Fundamentalism" in Current Affairs Bulletin 1 June 1982. pp.24-30. - 189 --
be done to ameliorate the lot of man until God himself t.akes action. " 5 In other wor-ds the knowledge of the text did not operate as critical tool for reform and change as it did in
non-fundamentalist liberation theology 6. The difference was
the fac~ that liberation theology arising out of a Third World situation, took account of the social situation as it read the text and allowed that situation to be a grid through which the text was understood and acted upon. The fundamentalist approach led to a devaluing of social research . The key is the text, not society. Only recently did some Sydney Anglicans become aware of the value of research
with the publication of Kaldor' s v~ho Goes Where?Who Does.n' t Care and the subsequent work of the A.H.M.S. in making further research on parish demography and the changing relation of church and society available to all parishes. Was Sydney Anglicanism representative of the church in Australia or was it trapped into its own pattern of circular reasoning ? The Joint Board of Christian Education in Mel bourne produced some readings in cross···cul tural theology and mission. They could usefully serve as a point of
5 Barr, J., "Religious Fundamentalism" QQ... cit._,_p. 30 6 E.g. Miranda ,J., Marx and the Bible New York. Orbis. 1974 and Communism in the Bible London. SCM,1981. - 190 - comparison because they arise out of the experience of the writers immigration and multiculturalism and were designed to provide a basis for courses on multicultural ministry in theological colleges and other training institutions 7 In the first part of the book the essayists took up the question of the nature of the theological enterprise in the context of a multicrultura1 society. Two theoretical issues emerged as keys to the debate. One was the social location of theology and t.he other the interpretative proeedures that were required to take account of that location 8. The thesis was that Australian theology had been co-opted by Western hegemonic thinking and was in epistemological and cultural bondage to its perceptions 9. What was needed was a methodology which placed the power and control for the process in the hands of people in their social context 10. This approach was well known in other parts of the world and especially in Third World countries. There were plenty of
7 Houston ,J. ,The_Qultur:ed Pectrl. Melbourne. Joint Board of Christian Education,1988. 8 Carrington,Don, "Theologians Struggling to Cope at -Lhe End of an Era " ibid. pp.12-27. 9 Carrington, ibid. ,p.13. 10 ibid. p.20 - 191 -
resources to assist in the process 11. Apart from Michael Horsburgh 12 no Sydney Anglican addressed this issue at all. Even Horsburgh's attempt was a hearking back to methodology used successfully in Britain between the two world wars when Anglican social thinking was in formation and it took little account of the social location of theology nor how to integrate empirical data into reflection 13 . He was still
proposing a movement from principle to practice. v~hat he lacked was a method and a model of reflection that allowed theory to flow into praxis and for praxis to contribute directly to theory 14. The second theoretical issue t.hat the writers of The Cultured Pearl reflected upon was the nature of the church as multicultural 15 . This raised the issue of the identity of the
11 E.g. Gill,R., Tbeology_and Social Structure London. Mowbrays. 1977 and Beyond Decljne,London. SCM ,1988. Whitehead, J.and E. Method in Ministry, New York. Harper and Row , 1980. 12 Horsburgh M.,Qp.cit. 13 See his unpublished paper "Middle axioms and social policy: an Australian perspective". 1988. 14 Gill,R., Beyond Decline p.6. Praxis is usually used to denote a practice that is seriously and critically related to theory. Practice often refers to any observable action. 15 Charles Sherlock" Many flowers-One fragrance " pp.42-50 and Graeme Ferguson, "Social cohesion in the multicultural society" pp.90-97. - 192 - church. What kind of community is it? What forces have shaped
its present form? Does it have resources from its experience and tradition to reshape itself? Such questions have rarely surfaced in the Diocese of Sydney. The research indicated that little interest has been shown in the question. Most Sydney Anglicans did not see any need -to think of their church as multicultural.
On the side of praxis the book portrayed a kaleidoscope of activity covering evangelism and church growth to ~ulti-faith concerns. Parish and theological educat.ion was re-thought and practised in a multicultural context. Worship and pastoral care found fresh sources of inspiration as \~ell as new problems.
The Diocese of Sydney bad no critical life of this kind and magnitude. Only the A_H.M.S. had begun to approach the issues of immigration and mul ticul turalisn, wit;:l arothine; like the same rigour. li~hether or not Sydney Anglicans remain a monocultural church lies with the A.H.M.S. whose work, reflection and research could form the basis for change. - 193 -
BIBLIOGRAPHY.
Primary sources for Sydney Aqglic~pi~m
Anglican Immigration Office Sydney Diocesan Archives: Moore
Theological College Archives.
Church of Engl._,a""n""d"---"Imm~gration Bureau Sydney Diocesan
Archives.
Report of the Archbishop's Commission Sydney, 1964.
Southern Cross 1961-1988
The Anglican 1952-1970
The Anglican Home Mission Society Sydney Diocesan Archives.
Jhe Australian Church Record 1945-1987
The New Day 1943-1950
The Sydney Diocesan Digest - 194 -
The Sydney Diocesan Newsletter 1945-1961
Year Book of the Diocese of Sydney 1945-1989
Bopks,Journals,Theses,Reports and Newspaper Articles
Ab.jorenson, Norman "Admi::::sion changes rock ethnic community"
Sydney Morning Herald 18 June,19BB.
A Garden of Many Colours:The Report o:f the Archbishop's
Commission on Multicultural Ministx:y and Mission Anglican Church , Melbourne Synod.Melbourne Diocesan Registry, 1985.
Allender,Jackie "Multiculturalism a security risk" Australian
13 June 1988
Anglican Information and Public Rela·tions Offiee, .Casebook Sydney , 1973.
Poverty: is money the answer Sydney. 1976.
ApJin, Graerne; Foster,S.G. and McKernan,Michael (eds) Australjans: A Historical Dictionary Sydney. Fairfax,Syme and - 195 - liveldon, 19137
Australians:
Events and Places Sydney. Fairfax, Syme and Weldon, 19137
"Appeal to both parties" The Daily Mirror 13 November, 1963
Ata,A.W.,Religion and Ethnic Identity:An Australian Study
Spectrum,Richmond ,Victoria. 1988.
Aubin,Tracey "Facts dispute theory of Asian invasion" Sydn~
Morning Herald 25 August, 1988.
Austin, P., "Family reunion migrant policy flawed.: Howard"
Australian 18 M~y 1988 .
Australian Council of Churches, Ref~gee apd Migrant Service~
.Submis.§.ion to .the Committee to Advise on Australia's lmmigration Policies Sydney. ACC, 1988.
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