AURORA BOOKS Cf) EUREKA STREE I DAVID LOVELL u ro THE GOOD LIFE n-· Edited by Michael McGirr OJ 'This is a book of stories. Most of the stories are about people who are well known, even famous ... But these are not conventional celebrity exposes. They reveal a side of people which is of deeper and more lasting interest to the majority of Australians than gossip. We seldom admit it, but we are interested in the sacred, in God, in that friendly but sometimes unco-operative neighbour ro known in old Australian slang as Hughie.' -Michael McGirr u Thanks to Aurora Books/David Lovell, Eureka Street has 15 copies of The Good Cl) Life to give away, each worth $21.95 . Just put your name and address on the back of Q.. an envelope and send it to: Eureka Street 'Good Life March Book Offer', PO Box 553, Cf) Richmond, VIC, 3121. (See page 9 for winners of the December 2000 Book Offer.)
summer qwz answers I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I
1. They are all Christian rock bands. 2. a) Summer of the Seventeenth Doll; b) Under Milkwood; c) Waiting for Godot; d) The Importance of Being Earnest; e) As You Lil
)> Al COMMENT -I V> )> 4 Morag Fraser N ew decade z 5 Andrew Hamilton Holding fast 0 -I I m 0 r 0 LETTERS C) 9 Patricl Kerryn Goldsworth y' s essay an d jon Greenaway's Bu rm a reportage has THE MONTH'S TRAFFIC been ass isted by the 1 0 Anthony Ham Gujarat in m.ind Commonwealth 1 2 Grant Mitchell Swedish m odel Government through the COVER STORY Austral ia Council, its a11s 13 Kathryn O'Connor Out-foxed funding and advisory body. 14 Jon Greenaway The difference 16 The peace of jeru sa lem between m an and man fohn Levi walks through the Publisher Andrew 1-lornillon SJ lessons of history on Temple Mount. Editor M orag Fraser Ass istant editor Kate M anton Graphic designer Siobhan Ja ckson COLUMNS General manager joseph Hoo Marketing Kirsly Gran! 7 Ca pital Letter Advertising representative Ken Head Jack Waterford Spoils of One Nation BOOKS Administration manager Mark D owel l 34 Paradoxes of the papacy Subscription manager Wendy M arlowe 12 Summa Theologiae Ed itorial, production and administration Andrew Hamilton The East Ender Paul Rule reviews three controversial ass istants julietle Hughes, Paul Fyfe 5), new books on the papacy, by George 15 Bus h Lawyer Geraldine Ballersby, Ben Hider, Weigel, John R. Quinn and Garry Wills. Mrs Irene Hunter Seamus O'Shaughnessy Jail break Contributing editors Adelaide: Greg 36 Interrupted by play 21 In a Word O 'Kell y SJ, Perth : Dea n Moore, Sydney: Michael McGirr reviews Brian Edmund Campion & Gerard Windsor, Andrew Hamilton 'Innovation' Queensland: Peler Pi erce Matthews' As the Story Goes and Un it ed Kin gdom Deni s Minns OP 22 Archimedes A Fine and Private Place. So uth East Asia Jon G reenaway Tim Thwaites R&D gets a bit of TLC j es uit Editorial Board Peter L' Estrange SJ, 3 7 Th e art of the matter Andrew Bullen SJ, Andrew Hamilton SJ 46 Watch ing Brief Matthew Ricketson reviews Bridget Peter SteeleS), Bill U ren SJ Juliette Hughes Play stationary Griffen-Foley's Sir Frank Packer: Patrons Eureka Streel grat efully ac knowl dges the supporl of The Young Master. C. and A. Ca rter; the lrustees o f the es tale o f Miss M . Condon; W .P. & M .W . Gurry FEATURES Eureka Street magazine, ISSN 1036-1758, Aust ralia Post Print Post approved 20 Raw dea l ART pp349181/00314, is published ten times a Royce Millar and Tim Costello look at 38 Morag Fraser 'Federation' on the road yea r by Eureka Street Magazine Pt y Lid, ga mbling addiction, both personal and 300 Victoria Stree t Ri chmond VI C 3 121 PO Box 553, Ri chmond VIC 3 12 ·1 political. Tel : 03 94 27 73 11 Fax: 03 9428 4450 23 Nameless library THEATRE email : eureka @je spub.jcs uit .o rg.au http://www .eurekast reet.com.au/ Kerryn Goldsworthy in Freud's Vi enna. 42 In the good ol' summa time Res ponsibility for editori al content is 27 Last disrespects accepted by Andrew H amilton SJ, Geoffrey Milne on the Midsumma 300 Victoria Slreet, Ri chmond After the Alder Hey scandal, have we Festival. Printed by D oran Printing lost our faith in scientists? Moira 46 Industrial Drive, Brae ide VI 3 195. © j es uit Publica tions 2001 Rayner looks at the consequences. U nso liciteclmonuscripls w ill be returned 28 Su rviva l tactics FLASH IN THE PAN onl y if accompanied by a stamped, se lf-a ddressed enve lope. Reques ls for Jon Greenaway goes on patrol with the 44 Reviews of the films Hannibal; Harry: permi ss ion to reprint material fro m th e Karen National Liberation Army in He is Here to Help; Crouching Tiger, magazine should be addressed in writing Burma. Hidden Dragon; Shadow of the lo I he editor. 32 News days Vampire; Ca st Away and Almost This month : fohn Coleman remembers Fleet Street Famous. Cover design by Siobhan jackson. before Murdoch. Cover photograph and photogrJph< pp 3-4, 16- 18, the Dorn e of th e Rock, 33 Dah-dum Jcru sJiem, by Michocl Coyne. SPECIFIC LEVITY Graphics pp 13, 15, 27. 33, 42 Tim Stoney, not waving but drowning by Siobhan Jackson. in New Caledonia. 47 Joan Nowotny Cryptic crossword COMME T: l MORAG FRASER New decade INTH' D cc'M"'" 1997 i" u ' of Eumka S"eet thm is a photograph which catches one of the highlights of our first ten years of existence. Yo u can look it up on pp26-27 (if yo u have the requisite ord erly m agazine shelves). T hree m en, Paul Lane, Frank Brennan and Patrick Dodson, sit together at a kitchen table. The afternoon ligh t reflects the animation of their conversa tion. It's the clay that the N ative Title Amendment Bill passed through the Upper house. It is also the cl ay on which Nugget Coom bs died. That evening, Pat Dodson and Frank Brennan spoke about reconciliation to a full church meeting at St Ignatius, Richmond. It was a good night, not without its ironies and abrasions. N either speaker is a man to fudge fac ts or skirt difficulties- and there are plenty. But I rem ember the evening as much for its preparation as for its completion. There is another fi gure in the photograph, a m an in a striped T-shirt, his back to the camera. He's cooking spaghetti for all of us. His name is Brother John Stamp. 'Stampy'-which is how I knew him- was one of Eurel Eureka Street Mondays at Newman College 'When Was Our Nation Bo rn? ' A ta lk by john H irst, histori an, Barton lecturer and author of Th e Sentimental Nation: Th e Making of the Australian Commonwealth Fo ll owed by a brief response and open discuss ion. All welcome. Enquiries: Kirsty Grant (03) 9427 73 11 26 M arch 2001, 5.30pm for 6pm 887 Swa nston Stree t, Pa rkville, Melbourne 4 EU REKA STR EET • M ARCH 2001 COMMENT:2 ANDREW HAMIL TON Holding fast I NTH< "WNN>NG, Lent w., 'bout h>ting• fir>t fm ' significant for the way in which Christians live their few days before Easter, then a rigorous period of 40 lives. days in which, as in Ramadan, you were allowed only But the period of fasting before the feasting of one meal at evening, and without meat or dairy Easter also shapes the imagination in less tangible products. ways. It moulds the connections we make between this Later Lent became less onerous, and now in the life and the next life, between work and play, between West, it is less a time of fasting than of reflection and discipline and fulfilment. An imagination shaped by of generosity, especially to the needy. While the the rhythms of Lent has to take time and history change is good, the tradition of fasting is often seen seriously, because it encourages us to understand hap as an embarrassment. Understandably so, given the piness and fulfilment only in the light of a period of contemporary cult of dieting and its pathologies struggle, and vice versa. It suggests a tension between (anorexia, for instance) prevalent in the wider culture. what is fought for and what is achieved, between the Many scholars of comparative religion, too, explain harshness of bodily disciplines, whether imposed or fasting unflatteringly as an attempt to gain the atten symbolically chosen, and the lightness of being which tion of the gods by showing that we are serious. The attracts us. It also suggests that, like the Sundays that Reformation reacted against fasting and against Lent interrupt the Lenten fast, minor victories for similar reasons, believing that they encouraged the are only intimations of a larger hope. belief that God is open to manipulation. Yet when heavy guns are so brought to bear, the w.LE THIS IMAGINATlON is crucial within Christian target often contains treasure that makes it worth living, it may also be more generally important within preserving. There is something more to be said about our society. Without an imagination in which journey fasting. In Lent, as in Ramadan, the value of fasting and destination, structure and vision, struggle and must be seen in its connection with the feasting which fulfilment, are always seen in relationship to one follows it. Lent is followed by Easter, a time of colour another, we are condemned either to the expectation and of feasting, and you misunderstand the fasting that major goals can be achieved without considerable unless you attend to what is to come. In folk Catholic cost and pain, or to a politics that avoids speaking of ism, children knew this instinctively. When they gave goals, dealing only in the discipline of structures, up lollies for Lent, and instead put them into a jar to administration and balance sheets. Such a politics await Easter, the jar was certainly a symbol of self breeds cynicism, because at election time it always denial, but it also symbolised their eager expectation promises feasting, while between elections, it offers of a pig-out come noon on Holy Saturday. only fasting, with no relationship between them. I suspect that those who see in fasting no more Reconciliation, for example, is either defined in terms than an attempt to manipulate or please God neglect of lightness of being, a state of affairs which can be its connection with feasting. It is widespread because arranged as easily as holding a party and a march, or it is a way of keeping alive and of giving structure to in terms of a series of minor practical measures that a stubborn, delicate sense of the lightness of being. forget larger hopes. This sense is embodied in feasting, but usually only So, if fasting in Lent has disappeared in favour of when the feasting is distilled in the heaviness of a something more practical, its passing may not be discipline. wholly comforting. But Lent continues to invite us If this is true, it suggests that in Lent and in its to ask ourselves how we attend to the discipline of symbol of fasting something important is at stake. It the imagination, and how we keep alive, through the has to do with the shaping of the imagination and the way in which we use our bodies, the tension between way in which we see the world. The origins of Lent fast and feast, between large hopes and the simple in the preparation for Easter emphasises for those who disciplines and predicaments of our lives. • take part in it the transition from the suffering of Jesus to the joy of his rising. It indicates that this rhythm is Andrew Hamilton SJ is Eurel VOLUME 11 NUMBER 2 • EUREKA STREET 5 Australia'sCaritas PROJECT COMPASSION 2001 Caritas Australia is Before, not an agency th at appears at the time during & of crisis and leaves when it is over. after the As part of a world wide network, Caritas headlines is present wherever people are in need, ... Caritas or suffering, or opp ressed, working is there! with them for self reliance and social change. On behalf of th e p eople you h elp we would like to say a big THANK-YOU~ Please accept my cheque for $.___ _ or please debit my credit card: D Bankcard D VISA D Mastercard D Diners Club D American Express Expiry Date _ I_ Card Number DODD DODD DODD DODD Name (Mr/Mrs/Ms/Miss) __ Signature_ Phone ____ _ Address ______Postcode Parish (Donations over $2 are tax deductible) Please complete and mail this coupon to: Reply Paid 60533 Caritas Australia 19 MacKenzie St NORTH SYDNEY 2060 Jack Waterford Spoils of One Nation I,PAUUN' HANsoN's One N.rion P"ty wcre to se.-ve only two withhold, particularly from the Liberal Party, their first useful purposes, it would be nice to record that it (a) did a good preference votes. job of reminding politicians about how deeply they are mis Slowly, but seemingly inevitably, the luck is shifting Kim trusted and (b) forced them to remember how basic to political Beazley's way. John Howard has given himself enormous survival is the maintenance of government goods and services. latitude to fight an end-of-year election, but seems increasingly Among the crowd with whom Peter Costello and John up against it. His frustration is much the same as Paul Keating's Howard walk, indeed down the same corridors that Jeff Kennett was with him in 1995 and early 1996: the government is and Richard Court have walked, the idea seems to be that being unpopular, as much a matter of mood as for specific sins, and in government is primarily about creating the right conditions Labor so far is being reasonably disciplined in preventing its for business to flourish. But that's only part of the equation. own policies and ideas becoming the issue. People may be increasingly agnostic about how goods and The Labor Party States in power when John Howard was services are delivered but they have not changed their minds elected are still in power-because they are better organised about expecting them to be delivered, or, indeed, about and project purpose more effectively than their Coalition rivals. expecting that their quality should increase at the general rate And one by one, States which were under Coalition govern of government growth. ment when Howard arrived have fallen. There have been ample One of the frustrating things for John Howard is that the local factors-One Nation, arrogant leaders, corruption, mis goods and services by which people judge the quality of management, and local economic malaise-but all have also government come primarily through the State government level. been affected by the personality and policies of John Howard. Yet, even after the post-GST boost to state revenue, all the signs And Labor in power at the state level gives federal Labor a handy suggest that, when people are focused on the quality of their local base from which to organise-almost as handy as using health or educational services, they are thinking of Canberra public funds for partisan tax advertising has been as much as of Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney or Brisbane. for the Coalition. An added irony might be that whenever John Howard galvanises himself about particular service issues which he 'IERE IS NOT MUCH comfort to be found from the polls either. knows are hurting his government, he only underlines the At the last election, Labor got 51 per cent of the popular vote, shared responsibilities. Extra money poured, with great fanfare, but failed to win government because of its performance in a into roads or regional services, for example, sometimes creates few key seats, particularly in Victoria and NSW. For the past the impression that the Commonwealth assumes responsibility year, two-party preferred voting has suggested that Labor is three for the state of the roads-even more dangerous if one does not or four points ahead of its performance then. That's a lot of ground program for an Auditor-General's report which indicates that to peg back, even if one has the resources of the federal Treasury. one is in any event careless about spending the money which is And even there, events are moving against Howard. The available. US economy is slowing down and Australia will inevitably be Pauline Hanson's other tactic-of trading off the public fear affected. The confidence that John Howard and Peter Costello and loathing of politicians by telling her supporters to put sitting are exhibiting that they will be able to manoeuvre a soft landing politicians last-has its own agenda of forcing other political is eerily similar to that manifested by Paul Keating a decade parties to deal with her. Sooner or later, the parties will; indeed ago. Some local factors suggest that the situation will be some Queensland Nationals have been doing it on an individual basis what more manageable here: our stock market never reached for some time. The idea, however, that feeding her titbits might the absurd levels of the US, CST tax cuts and increased spending mean that she will eat them last is probably displaced. Pauline have hit here earlier, and our very competitive dollar is propping Hanson's constituency is essentially a conservative one. But up our export performance. But even lower interest rates are fundamentally it is not loyal to the conservative side, and is unlikely to offset rising unemployment towards the end of the beyond the capacity of anyone, even Pauline Hanson, to year. Howard and Costello are already testing acknowledgment discipline. Hanson wins most support by attacking John that things are getting worse, in the hope that voters will rate Howard-an ungrateful act given what he did to create the the Coalition better economic managers in hard times. They circumstances in which she operates. Even more dangerously, probably will, but it may not matter. • every concession made to her in the hope of getting her second preference votes, annoys some conservatives who will then Jack Waterford is editor of the Canberra Times . VOLUME 11 NUMBER 2 • EUREKA STREET 7 • SOCIAL JUSTICE SCHOLARSHIP HAWKSTONE HALL Redc mpto ri st International Pasto r a l Ce n tre • • Creating opportunities for spiritua[ renewa[ • Hawks tone Hall is an international pastoral centre that has ser\'cd the uni \'crsal Church as a centre of sp iritual renewal for the past t wenty-five years. The house is set in • extensive pa rkland in Shropshire, England. It is a peace-fill ed pl ace. The Hawkstone Re n ewal Course is the first choice for many pri es ts, re li gious, and • lay people who come from all parts of the world on sabbati ca l. With the hel p of leading speakers and the resid ent staff of Redemptori sts of the London Province, religious and Ia)' people, it provides the opportunity to update and continue the process of personal and spiritual renewal. Co urse dates for 200 I &.. 2002: For furth e r details contac t: 23 April - 19 July 2001 The Secretary 10 Se pte mbe r - 6 December 2001 Hawkstone Hall 7 January - 21 March 2002 Marchamley 22 A pril - 18 July 2002 Shrewsbury SY 4 5 LG England 9 September - 5 Decembe r 2002 Tel: ++44 1630 685242 Fax: ++44 1630 685565 Emai l: Hawkhall @ aol.com The dosi11g "date Jor ap]Jiicatiom visit tfiis peace-j![[etf pface toaa!:l www.fiawl(<;tone-lia[(com T H E I N S T I T U T E of A RELIGIOUS \1~ FORMATION AT CATHOLIC THEOLOGICAL UNION, CHICAGO A N INVITATION T 0 The Formation Program for a Global Church Designed for those who prepare religious women and men for life and mission in th e Global Church, the In stitute challenges participants to a spirituality consonant with the needs of the complex global village we inhabit. FEATURES CONTACT: • Academic excellence of CTU faculty and other national experts Sr. Barbara Doherty, SP, Director • Theological reflection and collaborative learning Email:[email protected] • Global perspective and language respectful of diversity Ph: 773.256.4256 or 773.256.4257 or 51 • Choice of issues related to formation in the 21 century 1.800.265.4560 Fax: 773.667.1250 • Weekly scripture and spirituality courses Web site: www.ctu.edu • Month-long directed retreat • September- May schedule CATHOLIC THEOLOGICAL UNION LETTERS Eureka Street welcomes letters from its It is hard to estimate what effect the readers. Short letters arc more likely to rorting and stacking has on the Labour Welfare update be published, and all letters may be edited. Liberal voting pattern. However, they cer Letters must be signed, and should include tainly have a negative effect on the political From Patrick McClure, CEO, Mission Aus a contact phone number and th e writer's process, further discouraging people with tralia (Chair of the Reference Group on name and address. If submitting by email, ideas and ideals from joining parties, and Welfare Reform) a contact phone number is essential. deepening public cynicism about politics. Frank Castles' account of welfare history Address: [email protected] Waterford is correct in writing that (Emeka Street, January- February200l) was branch-stacking (w hich I define as recruit unfortunately more accurate and detailed ment solely for the purpose of internal than his analysis of the Final Report of the party preselections and ballots) has been Reference Group on Welfare Reform (2000). m ade a little more difficult in the ALP by Professor Castles' suggestion that the rule ch anges. But rules are not always Reference Group effectively reintroduced enforced. The major factions have an inter the stigma of the Poor Law by the back door I ~ est in hushing up m ajor breaches, some fails to reflect the content of the Final times extracting concessions from a rival Report. faction as the price for silence. Nostalgia for the welfare state with a Also lacking is a culture within the universal unconditional benefits regime party which regards branch-stacking as ignores the long-term conditionality of unacceptable and rorters as pariahs. A good unemployment benefits (as opposed to age example is the South Australian branch pensions) and the massive changes in the full weight to the whole Report in its imple where 2000 stacks were 'recruited' in one social and economic context of income sup m entation of all the recommendations. day. Those who blew the whistle suffered port over the past 20 years. This includes It is worth noting here that Castles' in preselections, while those who were changes to the industrial relations land article ignored the key features of the Final involved (and lost an expensive court case scape, as sketched by Castles, but also, of Report's reforms which relate to Individu on the issue) are evidently still in their course, the pervasive impact of globalisa alised Service Delivery, Simple and Res positions. Party leaders and publications tion on our regional economy. ponsive Income Support Structure, Incentives have m aintained a deep silence on this and There has been a significant increase in and Financial Assistance, Mutual Obliga tions other examples of rorting. job rich (double income) households as well (of govemment, business, the community Ordinary m embers often feel reluctant as job poor families over the past 20 years. and individuals) and Social Partnerships to raise their voices, because they fear pro There has also been a dramatic decline in Building Community Capacity. viding ammunition to political opponents. traditional single income (male breadwin Reliance on social security and Ia bour Some are affected by a kind of football-fan ner) families. The telling statistic of 860,000 market programs alone will not be enough mentality which rejects any thought that children growing up in jobless families if long-term jobless people are not supported there are dirty players in 'our team'. illustrates the magnitude of the problem. and included in the social and economic Another factor which inhibits members Globalisation and competition policy have life of the community. from speaking out more strongly is the fact also led to unemployment in certain Proper consideration of the welfare that branch-stacking often involves the locations (regional and rural) as well as reform will, I suggest, require all of us to manipulation of migrant communities. On unskilled workers unable to take advantage consider and embrace a bolder mix of social one hand, this heightens the sense of out of jobs in information, service and retail and economic policy to enable the m ost rage, being a prostitution of multicultural industries. disadvantaged among us to enj oy the ben ism and sometimes leading to bizarre The 'one size fits all' welfare approach is efits of full citizenship. situations. (In one preselection, the issue of no longer relevant to many people most in Patrick McClure amnesty for the Kurdish leader Ocalan was need, and radical changes are required. The Sydney, NSW cleverly u sed to sway a very large Turkish choice is not as Castles and others have branch against one candidate.) On the other suggested, between entirely arbitrary hand, the involvement of ethnic communi decision-making, resurrecting the spectre Rorts talk ties inhibits many people who fear being of the Poor Law, or a minimum income branded as racists if they speak out. with relaxation of all conditionality. From David Davies Ordinary members meet a wall of silence Instead, as a recent report published by Jack Waterford has accurately put his finger when they complain about stacking. There the Committee for Economic Development on a number of issu es associated with 'vote were plenty of warnings from the rank-and of Australia acutely observed, the welfare rorts' in the ALP (Eureka Street, January fil e regarding Queensland. Kim Beazley and reform recommendations combine a com February 2001). Steve Bracks, w ho I believe are people of mon participati on supplement with integrity, do not reply to m y letters detail December 2000 Book Offer Winners individualised service delivery. It is hoped D . Bradshaw, St Kilda, VIC; D. Crawer, Clovelly Wes t. SW; ing rorts which have a corrosive and poten the twin goals of an adequate income and L. Crocker, Armidale, NSW ; G . Forrest, Ga rlingford , NS W ; tially explosive effect on the Labour Party. B. Gayler, Port Fairy, V IC; M . Gill, Lane Cove, NSW ; services (sensitive to individual strengths B. Grenier, South Bri sbane, Q LD ; M. Kerby, Lakes Entrance, At least they don't tell m e that I am and circumstances) can be achieved. VIC; ). Maher, Mount Waverl ey, VI ; M . Mosch, Annandale, wrong. Q LD ; R. Nicholls, Kew, VIC; G. Peesse, Burrawang, NSW ; Robust debate ofwelfarerefom1 is essential C. Phillips, North Carlton, VIC; V. Pinder, Bendigo, VIC; C.A. David Davies if only to ensure that the governm ent gives Poussa rd, Doncas ter, VIC. N ewport, VIC VOLUME 11 NUMBER 2 • EU REKA STREET 9 the surface, the inhabitants of these two enticing alleys winding through the worlds have little in common. enchanting old city with its crowded Gujarat At 8.46am on 26 January they discov ba zaars. I can picture the smile of welcome ered a connection, far beneath the surface from an old woman close to the bus station. in mind of the earth. In less than a minute, both I remember Mr Jethi, the avuncular head of worlds were destroyed. A shared faultline the tourist office, so desperate to convince and the gradual northward shift of the Indian visitors that Kachch was a special place. In January, Anthony Ham subcontinent suddenly combined with I remember the man in the City Guest wrote for Eureka Street catastrophic force. All distinctions between House, right in the heart of the Old City, about the state of Kachch and Ahmedabad became meaning who spoke to m e as if possessed of all the less, these two juxtaposed faces of modern time in the world. I think of Pankaj Shah Gujarat. Then came the India forever united by tragedy. and the women of the Kachch Mahila Vikas earthquake. The m yths of Kachch are tales of Sangathan Co-operative whose stories he destruction. told me so compellingly. The man who One story speaks ofDharmanath, a 12th served me breakfast. Raju, the owner of a LECITY oF BHUJ and the salt deserts of the century spiritual warrior who settled under new guest house in the Old City who took Rann of Kachch in Gujarat have always a tree ncar the town of Raipur, expecting the time to tell m e his dream s for the been set apart from the rest of India. Inhab the townsfolk to provide for his material future. The two old caretakers who joked itants of this desolate, isolated land in the needs. Dharmanath becam e enraged w hen with me atop a tower which formed the country's far west have preserved a culture his requests were refused and cursed the centrepiece of the old town. inextricably tied to the land, a way of life town, forcing its inhabitants to move away. When I left Bhuj, I passed through the rapidly dying out throughout this rapidly Racked by guilt, Dhannanath climbed a town of Anjar and enj oyed its ramshackle modernising country. Theirs is a life of hill backwards and proceeded to stand on charm. At the time of the earthquake, close harsh realities, of existence won through his head for 12 years as an act of penance. to 500 students were marching there in a back-breaking toil and of a strong sense of Finally he relented when the gods pleaded Republic Day parade and they were killed, community identity and solidarity. with him to cease. He did so, but only when along with around 50 teachers. I pa ssed In a physical sense, too, Kachch fre granted the promise-on e last act of through Gandhidham, home to refugees quently becomes an island, separated from vengeance- that any land upon which his from across the border in Sind, Pakistan, and the rest of India by monsoonal rains- if gaze fell would becom e barren. When he visited the hotel opposite the bus station, they arrive. It is one of the bleakest land looked out over the countryside, the seas climbing to the third fl oor to look at a room. scapes on earth. receded, leaving a barren, withering waste The stairs on which I climbed, and the room Ahmedabad, the principal city of Gujarat land- the Great Rann of Kachch. itself, no longer exist; I do not know if the and home to between four and five million According to another legend, the 1819 fri endly man at reception survived. We people, lies almost 400km to the west of earthquake was so vast that it diverted the passed through Morvi, a bustling town of Kachch. A congested, impossibly polluted path of the Indus River; it now passes colonnaded archways and the exquisite Mala city, it contains within it all of the clamour through modern Pakistan, leaving behind it Mandir. There is reportedly nothing left. and contradiction of modern India. It is the grea t salt desert of Kachch. Ahmedabad too. Faces. People with names. India's industrial heartland, a place of high Early reports from Bhuj told a story as As I was preparing to leave Bhuj, Pan kaj tech internet cafes and universities, of a desolate as any of these legends. At the very Shah asked when I would return. I told him burgeoning middle class and of sprawling least, ten per cent of the population killed. that it would be soon. I no longer know if he shanty towns on the fringe. Along the Ninety per cent of the buildings in Bhuj will be there when I do. I also understand riverbank the Holiday Inn's best rooms cost destroyed. N o buildings in the old city still that I can now never leave Bhuj. Every time over A$450 a night. Directly underneath standing. A Times of India reporter I hear news of a disaster, natural or other the inn's balconies, India's urban poor described walking past the Hamirsar Tank, wise, I will think of my friends in Bhuj, shelter in their thousands in fragile, cor just outside the old city walls to the south reminded that these are the deaths of real rugated shacks. west, but being unable to enter because the people, not just strangers in a far-off land. Kachch and Ahmedabad are worlds buildings lining the narrow lanes had -Anthony Ham apart. One is a surviving bastion of rural imploded and access was impossible. Bhuj India, with a deeply spiritual relationship is no more. Still Standing: Mahabat Maqbara, the to the land. The other is a microcosm of a Four months ago, I walked the streets of mausoleum of a nawab (loca l maharaja) of country careering into the 21st century, Bhuj, then home to over 150,000 people. Junaga dh, in Gujarat, with obligatory li vestock. with all of the attendant dislocation. On I knew its faces. I can picture its streets, its Photograph by Anthony Ham. 10 EUREKA STREET • MARCH 2001 1 a e Swedish model Why can't we turn asylum seeking into an asset rather than The East Ender a liability! Sweden does. A WEEK has gone by in the last few NE OF THE SLIPPERIEST and most volatile theological words is 'experience'. N oT 0 months without some new revelation or Volatile, because we all treat it as an authority in our understanding of faith, allegation of injustice emerging from one of but then confront its fit or lack of fit with other authorities, like scripture and Australia's immigration detention centres. church teaching. Woomera and Port Hedland have become The appeal to experience is ambiguous. On the one hand, theology is empty regular headlines, with rioting and hunger if it does not reflect the generous instincts of ordinary Catholics as they live strikes commonplace new . their lives. On the other hand, our experience is not shaped simply by Christian The impact of these protests has been faith but also by our Australian culture with all its limitations. And that is true divided . On one level, the Howard govern of teachers as well as those who are taught. ment has been consistent in stating that To pin the slippery down, some theologians, particularly those who suspect they emphasise the need to increase security common Christian experience, appeal to the experience of the saints, extra measures and justify plans to implement ordinary Christians whose experience can be trusted. But that leads to further laws allowing increased power to Australa debate about which saints are to be trusted. A trifecta of Oscar Romero, John sian Correctional Management guards. XXIII and Dorothy Day, for example, will pay in a different currency than will And on the other level, community and Pius IX, Escriva de Balaguer and Pius XII. welfare groups have been outraged, claiming And so the debate continues. But if we ask precisely how the experience of it is the treatment of asylum seekers while inspiring Christians shapes our theology, the discussion becomes interesting. in detention that is causing these riots. Take, for example, the life of Brother John Stamp, a great Australian Jesuit, who This concern had initially been for women died in January. Stampy to all who knew him, he was greatly loved, and a legend and children held in detention, but has in Melbourne's Richmond. become a general voice of concern at the H e came from the London East End, cooked for the army during the war, government's hardening attitudes towards worked as a plasterer and, once in Australia, with the YCW (Young Christian asylum seekers. The call by the Opposition Workers). Stampy was street-smart. When he bought mushrooms at the market, and many major welfare and church groups the caps found their way to the scales, while the stalks were left behind in the for a full judicial inquiry into the manage box. He was passionate about people. When he visited your home, he would ment of detention centres seems to have always come through the kitchen door, check out the drains, taps and the fallen on deaf ears. refrigerator, would tick you off for whatever, and leave with a few well-chosen Detention should never be used as a words of wisdom and encouragement. If anything needed fixing, h e would return deterrent, both because it is ineffective and later with trowel and toolbox. Since Eureka Street's home is in Richmond, he because it retraumatises the already traumatised. Detention, however, may be would also offer his succinct judgments of each edition: this bit was good, that necessary in certain circumstances, such as was bullshit, this could be done better. He read well, was well read, and his in the initial period after entry to determine judgments were to be taken seriously. the identity of those who have sought Stampy's favourite term of abuse was boofhead: boofheads were people who asylum without identification. This deten by way of policy or by way of temporary clumsiness got in the way of people tion, however, must be sensitive and must being helped and encouraged- got in the way of the Gospel, in fact. The world not infringe civil rights beyond restricting and the church were full of boofheads, including people of intellectual eminence freedom of movement. and high dignity. But for Stampy, boofheadedness was an episodic and not a The Swedish approach to detention has permanent condition. been increasingly presented as a viable What can theology build on Stampy's experience? Not, certainly, on a alternative, with Canada and some Euro collection of infallible opinions! He was more like a roughly carved musical pean countries looking to introduce the instrument that played sweetly and truly. Theologians' words and theories, like model. The Swedish government has stated trumpets, are usually polished and smooth. When set against his life, they prove that detainees are not criminals and shall themselves resonant or thin, full-bodied or squawking. That is how experience not be treated as such, and although they works in theology. • are unauthorised arrivals, as soon as they lodge an application for protection they are Andrew Hamilton SJ is Eurel 12 EUREKA STREET • MARCH 2001 shall only be used when supervision is city. One writer to The Age suggested that deemed inadequate, and then used only for nothing short of 'absolute elimination' a minimal period. would suffice. Even my fri end the one-time The Swedish government has stipulated Out-foxed bat-spotter sniffs the smelly air and hopes that, during their time in the detention they will be 'got rid of'. centre, detainees shall be treated with A FRI END WHO moved to Melbourne from Why did the bats wait until the 1980s to respect and humanity. Detainees shall have New Zealand 12 years ago remembers seeing come to the ga rdens1 fr eedom of information, have contact with her first bat (Pt eropus poliocephahzs-the Fern Gully was established in the late the outside world, including NGOs, and grey-headed flying fox) in the Royal Botanic 19th century. According to P.W. Menkhors t, the option to speak to the media. They shall Gardens. She was thrilled by its rodent-like in his Mammals of Victoria, the grey-headed have the right to appeal their stay in deten body enveloped in shiny wings. It seem ed a flying fox has been a conservation concern tion. Children are never held in detention mystical creature, curled up tightly and in recent years because of dramatic loss of for more than six days, and in all but the hanging upside down during the day, hiding prime feeding habitat and secluded camp most extreme cases, families are immedi its night-time adventures from onlookers. sites in South Queensland and coastal NSW. ately released into the community. All She would wander the gardens in the To house their large colonies and provide detainees have one caseworker for the summer evenings and bat-spot. protection from daytime predators (large duration of their stay to ensure they are Now, as she joins the throng of joggers birds particularly) they need large areas of aware of their rights, are kept informed of around the tan, she can feel the black weight dense forest. Land clearing and deforesta their case and feel that they have had a fair of the creatures in the trees above. Without tion has minimised their options. So they and expeditious hearing. the need for concentrated bat-spotting she came south. In a way, our pests are refugees. So while Australia strives to deter can watch their mass exodus along the river There are other factors contributing to asylum seekers and attract skilled migrants, at dusk to find fruit, n ectar and pollen. the movement south, including climate Sweden has chosen to turn a difficult situation into a positive, by providing education and opportunities to their refugees. And the figures suggest this is working. Recent Swedish research has shown that resettled refugees have contrib uted enormously to the Swedish economy, with no indication of increased crime or welfare dependency. Sweden also has the lowest levels of illegal immigrants in the community in Europe and the highest level of voluntary repatriation on n egative decisions in Europe, with no n eed for coercive m easures or increased security. Major incidents of violence, riots and mass hunger strikes have not occurred since the Swedish Immigra tion Department took over in 1997 from priva te contractors in From a small migra ting colony of 150 in change and drought (in the 1998 drought managing the de tention centres and the early '80s, the bats are now a permanent the Garden s' bat population soared from implemented the above changes. The colony numbering more than 8000. And 3000 to 8000 over a few months). incidence of suicide attempts has also they are creating enormous problem s in But it's our progressive destruction of decreased and there has been little animosity their adopted Botanic Gardens home of Fern the bats' environment which has had the between staff and detainees. There has Gully. They smell. Their roosting habits, m ost significant impact and explains their proven to be a high level of compliance on their urine and fa eces are killing off the despoiling of one of ours. decisions, with very few asylum seekers plants. Over this short time they have m ade Culling or euthanasing has been sug absconding under supervision. A system of the transition from curiosity to pest. gested. This would entail amending the release into the community, after initial These 'pests' have generated a passion Wildlife Act 1975 (Vic), under which bats health and security checks, has brought ate m edia and public debate. The Botanic are protected. The suggestion has gener significant reduction in the use of taxpayers' Gardens web page has a 'bat crisis' link, ated outrage-killing off a native animal! m oney and in public outcry. detailing fears about the destruction of Fern A forum of bat experts has recommended A balanced, humane approach to Gully, which is home to botanically signifi against culling or euthanasing. The Gardens detention and refugee reception is vital in cant plants and som e rare and threaten ed authorities have decided instead to test a providing future citizens with a fair and species (the Cabbage Tree palm, Victoria's process of relocation. Director, Dr Philip equitable start in their new country. The only indigenous palm, for example). In the Moors, has described this as the 'least long- term benefits are self-evident both for n ewspapers, terms like 'invasion ' and offensive of the options considered' but those who have already suffered persecution 'menace' convey an atm osphere of threat. also admitted that the effectiveness of this in their home countries and for Australia People are angry. plan is 'still a serious doubt'. by preserving its international reputation. They are angry at the spoiling of that No wonder. The Botanic Gardens suit -Grant Mitchell precious commodity-a garden within a the bats down to the ground (so to speak). VOLUME 11 N UMBER 2 • EUREKA STREET 13 Fern G ully provides them with a quiet the least of Indonesia' woes. Given the area of relatively dense vegetation where Everest-like pile of cash allegedly shipped they can roost during the da y. It affords out of the country by Suharto, Wahid might them relative safety from birds of prey. And have been given more opportunity to explain. New for night feeding they are close to reliable Instead he was given official warning last food sources-fru it t rees and eucalypts in month, thus beginning a three-m onth suburban parks and back gardens. And the period, design a ted by th c Constitution, d u r Directions location of the colony- close to the Yarra i ng which he must account for his actions. River and the South Eastern Arterial- pro Wahid came to be president through the vides a visual aid, a perfect dusk flightpath . support of a broad coalition and accordingly Yo ur Sabbatical Of course there are also logistical prob chose Cabinet ministers from a range of i n B e rkeley lems of trapping and m oving large numbers parties oth er than his own. Almost of bats to the uggested site of Mallacoota immediately, problems emerged. Ministers, Inlet (t he only other large grey-headed flying particularly those in portfolios crea ted to fox colon y in Victoria), especially with h andle the problem s of corruption and around 500 new arrivals every week. If relo regional strife, got no strong lead from their cation does not work, culling may be back president and were demonstrably idle. on the agenda with all its ethi cal and legal Wahid bega n to dismiss them, in some dilemmas. cases offering the public no reason other And while we research and consult and than that their behaviour was childish . plan, more bats com e to roost and fight and Separatist and sectarian violence is Wahid's drop their toxic waste. Our dusk-time river biggest hurdle. The situation has deterior blanket is ge tting thicker. A dark reminder ated during his tenure- rapidly in Acch and of our impact on the earth. West Papua-and this is shaking loose his -Kathryn O'Connor coalition. But therein lies the talc of why Wahid migh t li vc on. The difference Ea rly las t year, Wahid's de puty, • Renew with a fl exible, holistic Megawati Sukarnoputri, who is also the leader of the biggest party in the coalition, program. Attend for one semester between man was given responsibility for finding or two. solutions to the strife. Here was an oppor and man tunity for Megawati, so spectacularly out • Re-vision with outstanding faculty manoeuvred in the run for the presidency, OcTOBER 1999, w hen Abdurrahman to show sceptical legislators that a woman in theology, spirituality & pastoral IN Wahid was elected by parliament as was able to lea d. T he lack of any initiatives studies. Indonesia's fourth president since independ from the vice-president has added weight to ence, many commentators breathed a sigh the widely held opinion that the political • Relax in the pleasant climate & of relief. N ot because he was the answer to savvy with which her father was so often the problems faced by the world's fourth credited has skipped a generation. rich cultural environment most populous nation, but because he was T he situation in Indonesia has interest of the San Francisco Bay area. the best of the alternatives. ing parallels in the Philippines. There, a Now that Wahid has been put on notice woman vice-president, Gloria Macapagal following corruption allegations, it is Arroyo, also the daughter of a formcrleader, ]STB: Renewing the possible that w hat brought him to power was sworn in as her country's leader at the could also forestall his ea rl y removal from Edsa shrine, the rallying point for the revolt minister for the it. It won't be the violence of his East Java that ousted Marcos, while president Joseph supporters so much as the lack of someone Estrada sailed away on the river that runs renewal of minis try. better to do the job. behind the presidential palace. Arroyo was It was not primarily an outraged sense of someone the Filipino elite could put up as probity that prompted legislators to act on a credible replacement fo r the disgraced New Directions the findings of a report, tabled in parlia form er actor, whose short, corrupt tenure Jesuit School of Theology ... ment, into the removal of US$4 million was symbolised by the spoils left scattered ,,, \I if.(,,_, from the government food agency by throughout the residence after his rushed atI i' l'iBerkeley Ld\"1 .-\ n·nu,·. ;::-<;""'' . .f:;_,. -:::_ Wahid's masseur, allegedly with the departure. If Wahid is fo rced from office, it l'll'rkl'kl C.·\ 9 4/ L~'i z ;;j president's knowledge. There was also the won't be because som eone like Arroyo is 'ill~.'i49.'il~ 16 ;;{ . .!! non-declaration by Wahid of a US$2 million waiting in the wing . Arroyo ha cam ·~. -~· F.-\X 'iiL~.:·'ofUi'ilh · .1f,q,l" gift from the Sultan of Brunei. What has paigned long and hard fo r Estrada to be EnLii l: Jb•/tj,t h.,·,lu goaded parliament has been Wahid's erratic brought to account. \1'1\'ll .l'fl'.l'clll behaviour in the top job and his adminis The presidential situations in the two tration's inability to provide solutions to countries are unstable, bu t distinct. Wahicl 14 EUR EKA STREET • MARCH 2001 might be n ear-sigh ted and at times BUSH ~ politically inept, but he is no Estrada. Included in the allegations against Estrada were details of money siphoned off for < mansions throughout Manila in which his various mistresses were stowed. Stories of his lavish late-night 'cabinet' sessions had ~ becom e legendary. Also, Estrada was Jail break ~ removed from power by a middle-class coup. /EASE, YOUR WoRSHIP, PLEASE. Please your Worship, please, I beg you, don't send me back.' I was having trouble hearing Hamish McDougall's (name changed) legal aid lawyer over his client's wailing entreaties. Hamish had been caught in a shopping centre with $300 worth of shirts he had purloined while on bail for his last shoplifting charge. Since he had a recent history of drug abuse and theft, he had, unsurprisingly, been refused bail over the weekend. 'Look at my fingers, your Worship.' He held up four bandaged fingers. 'They broke them.' He didn't say why. I guessed it might be that he hadn't paid for drugs he'd been given in jail, or that he wouldn't oblige with sexual favours. 'Oh please don't send me back. I'll do anything you say, only please don't send me back there.' The prison officers were looking at me expectantly, waiting for a peremp tory order to take him away, bail refused. I felt like telling him to go to his room Indonesia is dealing with its problems in a and that I would not be reading him Harry Potter until his behaviour improved. manner prescribed by the Constitution. A vote in the Philippines senate (where The lawyer a ked for bail and told me that Mr McDougall would report the case against Estrada was being heard) immediately to his probation officer if released, would take his medication and not to review evidence of funds acquired would be happy to report up to three times a day to the local police station if from gambling sources wa an act of corrupt only he were granted bail. politics, but it was not against the law. The The prosecutor handed up a summary of the facts and Mr McDougall's Filipino military's public withdrawal of sup criminal history. 'The prosecution opposes bail, your Worship,' he said wearily. port-theaction that finally forced Estrada's Mr McDougall's wailing started again. hand-was a clear contravention of the spirit Reading the facts and record I was reminded of a nasty old beak who had of democratic government. The manner in sat in that court some years before. After he retired I ran into him and he told which Gloria Macapagal Arroyo came to me about a homeless man who used to shoplift from a local supermarket on a power may come back to haunt her and regular basis-a few bread rolls and cartons of milk was the standard fare. He future administrations in the Philippines. was well-known by the shop and was often caught. He'd get a month in jail So, Abdurrahman Wahid has three months before the parliament decides from time to time, just to give the store some relief. 'Finally,' smiled the whether to proceed with measures to magistrate, 'when I was 12 months off retirement, I slotted him for 18 months, remove him from office. Perhaps in that just so that I would never have to sec his horrible face again.' Once they disap three months he might crack fewer jokes pear down the stairwell from the dock into the cells, they are out of mind. and work to repair some badly damaged 'You can 't send me back there,' McDougall began again. He was right. bridges. But whether he stays or goes, Indo I couldn't, not that day, not with his broken fingers. Knowing that if he went nesia will be better served if his future is back, whoever had done that to him would still be there and might do some decided by the rule of law. thing worse. Knowing that about 25 per cent of young men in jail claim to have -Jon Greenaway been sexually assaulted and more than 50 per cent claim to have been threat ened with physical violence or to have been actually assaulted. (Presumably This month's contributors: Anthony Ham the other 50 per cent are the ones dishing it out.) is a Eureka Street correspondent; Grant Mr McDougall may have staged a wonderful performance. Maybe his fingers Mitchell spent two years working at the Swedish Immigration Department and the were perfectly fine. Maybe he was just hanging out for his drugs and duped m e. Carslund detention centre. He now co I will find out in a couple of weeks when he comes back for sentence. But he's ordinates the Asylum Seeker Project at had a chance now, for a time, to show he can stop using and stop thieving. Hotham Mission in Melbourne; Kathryn If he gets a good probation report, he'll stay out of jail. If he does not, it'll be O'Connor is a fre elance writer; Jon a hard day for both of us. • Greenaway is EureJ VOL UM E 11 NUMBER 2 • EUREKA STREET 15 THE WORLD JOH N LEV I The peace of Jeru Elections come and go, as do peace negotiations, but Jerusalem endures, an inspiration and a site of confli ct. C OMMON """ .cwm 16 EUREKA STREET • MARCH 2001 sal on top of the Temple Mount among the ruins on the pediments and massive colourful columns of the site. In the year 324 the Roman Emperor Constantine Temple were pillaged by the builders of the New (Nea won control of the Byzantine Empire and, as a result, in Greek) Church and this destruction sent a wave of Jerusalem passed into Christian hands. The city once despair throughout the Jewish Diaspora. again became a place of pilgrimage and a huge church It is therefore not surprising to find that among was built within the walls to commemorate the site the Persian Army that conquered Christian Jerusalem of the resurrection of Jesus (now called the Church of in 614 were many Jewish volunteers who were eager the Holy Sepulchre). The Temple Mount was purposely to fight against Byzantium. In a furious act of venge kept in ruins as tangible evidence of the triumphant ance, the Nea Church was completely destroyed and truth of Christianity. After all, had not Jesus predict its stones hauled away to build a series of large ed the destruction of the Temple? Sadly, as part of buildings beneath the Temple Mount. Within a Christianity's struggle with Judaism for supremacy generation the armies of Islam had conquered in the Holy Land, it even became a popular religious Jerusalem and the military commander of Syria and duty for local Christians to dispose of their refuse by Palestine embarked upon a plan to give the city a spreading it on the site of the Temple. So it is that to Muslim character; the Mount was cleared and, even this day, the pilgrim walks through the Dung Gate in though there would be no rebuilding of the Temple, order to approach the Temple Mount. As Byzantine the Jews were content to be permitted to return and Jerusalem grew more prosperous, work was begun on settle in the city. Above: Arab resting in front of th e Dome of th e the construction of a second massive Christian And so the Temple Mount entered Islamic Rock. Photographs this sanctuary and the ruins of the Herodian Temple history. Every story in the Holy Qur'an about the page and page 18 by Mount were used as a quarry. Many of the ornamental prophet Mohammed is attached to a distinct place. Michae l Coyne. VOLUME 11 NUMBER 2 • EUREKA STREET 1 7 The sole exception concerns Mohammed's dream of not-so-distant hills of Moab is still awe-inspiring. a Night Journey made on the back of a mysterious Between the desert and those hills is the oasis of animal-half horse, half man- named al Burak ('Light Jericho and the Jordan Valley. On a clear day the ning') . Mohammed is ordered to ride to the 'outer' northern corner of the Dead Sea, close to Qumran, mosque where the angel Gabriel raises him up to sparkles in the sunlight. While the Roman Legions heaven to meet Moses, Elijah and Jesus. Whether the marched on Jerusalem in the year 68, it is now thought 'outer mosque' was in Medina or in Jerusalem is a scholars took dozens of scrolls from the Temple matter of conjecture; however, the Caliph of Damas library and hid them in the caves at Qumran and in cus was anxious to become the custodian of a sacred the limestone cliffs alongside the Dead Sea. site associated with Abraham the patriarch. The walls The southern end of the Temple Mount lies of the Temple compound were repaired. An octagonal below the great mosque of Al Aqsa. Beneath the rubble Dome of the Rock was designed to be a place of and former wasteland a broad archaeological park has pilgrimage with room for pious visitors to walk around been revealed. It is now possible to walk up the 30 the large rock that may have been the foundation of broad stone steps that allowed the crowds to enter the Jerusalem Temple. The steps, which extend for 70 metres, are alternately broad and narrow so that pilgrims would be obliged to walk up to the Temple gates slowly and with deliberate dignity. Modern pilgrims are a strange lot. Those steps should be the most revered stones in the Jewish Christian world, but very few visitors bother to climb them. Jewish tradition speaks frequently about the pilgrims as they walked into the courts of the Temple. It is recalled that famous Jewish teachers taught their disciples in the shadow of the Temple. In the whole of the Land of Israel those steps are the only stones on which Christians can be absolutely certain that Jesus and the disciples walked. And yet, because archaeo logy, and not legend, has revealed these mute witnesses, there isn't so much as a beggar or a votive candle-seller to be seen. It is a pristine and fascinating area. At the top of the stairs, on your left and to the west, stands a massive crusader structure built hard up against the wall to block easy access to the Temple's ancient Double Gate. A decorated arch of the altar in the Herodian Temple. The Al Aqsa (the an original lintel can be seen protruding from that 'outer') mosque faces toward Mecca and is built on square stone fortress. Behind the stones and directly the southern edge of the Temple Mount. Beneath Al beneath the Al Aqsa mosque are the corridors that Aqsa are water cisterns and ancient colurnns and the gave access to the internal courts of the Temple. Deep corridors through which pilgrims once walked into beneath the surface, floral and geometric decorations the Temple. So beautiful was the Dome of the Rock from the Temple built by King Herod have survived that later Christian and Jewish visitors to Jerusalem 20 centuries. would assume that they were looking at the By facing eastward, and walking along the broad Temple of King Solomon. pavement, one can see the outline of the Temple's Triple Gate, where the priests would take the flour, L AYERS OF LEGEND, intrigue and myth surround every oil and wine needed for the service. One upper window inch of the land of Israel. Nothing is ever as it appears that gave ventilation to the inner storerooms has to be. So let us therefore visit the physical heart of survived on the high south-eastern corner sometimes the present Arab- Israeli conflict by walking around identified as the 'pinnacle of the Temple' where Jesus the massive physical remains of the Temple. is said to have been tempted by Satan (Matthew 4:5, Thirty recent years of ongoing archaeological Luke 4:9). Walk around that corner and we stand on the Above: The Dome of th e work now permit us to visit one of the wonders of Rock on Temple Mount. the ancient world. The platform on which the Temple eastern side of the Temple Mount facing the Mount Th e new 24-c 18 EUREKA STREET • MARCH 2001 that seam are traces of more windows, an upper gate way and the remains of an arch. T he arch began a stairway that is now thought to have been the 'trades 37:£ "rl man's entrance' through which the wood and the an =7al.llngty-.--A imals would be brought in for the sacrifices and where, on the Day of Atonement, the scapegoat would be Advantage chased out into the Judaean desert. Tourists are far more familiar with the western Dire Mail~ 'E!ci !;t side of the Temple Mount. A portion of the Western Wall has been a place of Jewish pilgrimage for the past Proud supporters of three or four hundred years and the Israelis have EUREI Rabbi John Levi is the Regional Director of the Aus tralian, Asian and New Zealand Union for Progressive Judaism and Rabbi Emeritus of Temple Beth Israel in Melbourne. VOLUME 11 NUMBER 2 • EUREKA STREET 19 THE NAT ION ROY CE MILL A R & T IM COS TELL O Raw deal State governments, both Labor and Coalition, are facing community pressure to put the brakes on gambling. In Victoria, Treasurer John Brumby has declared that the Bracks government is not a 'wowser' administration. Brumby is not the first politician to play th e 'wowser' card to ensure the gambling goldstream continues to flow. 1994 OPENING of M elbourne's Tattersall's in 1999. 'Australians want to acquire a legendary status unparalleled Crown Casino triggered a bitter row in ga mble' insisted Sydney's Star City in Australian gambling history. Victoria over the burgeoning gaming casino the same year. The gambling debate simmered industry and what came to be known as But what are the real continuities through the 20th century and then sub the state's 'casino culture'. Similar com between two debates separated by a sided in the 1960s with the introduction munity concern was developing in other centuryz Is the controversy at the begin of strictly regulated TABs (no advertising, states and territories as the poker ning of the 21st century simply a resump no seats, no drinks, no toilets, no same machine industry, in particular, cut a tion of hostilities by age-old sectarian day pay-outs). Gambling took its place as swathe through suburbs and towns. rivals? Is Kerry Packer with his Crown a marginal leisure activity run by govern Church leaders and others criticised Casino a latter-day John Wren and Tote? ment TABs and non-profit clubs. But not the Kennett government for its blatant Are the modern ga mbling critics simply for long. promotion of Crown and comm ercial contemporary reincarnations of Rev. Economic upheaval and restructuring gambling. Premier Jeff Kennett had hailed W. H. Judkins? from the 1970s saw a shift of focus from the massive new casino as a 'beacon of John Wren grew up in the late 19th manufacturing and agriculture to service light' and the 'new spirit of Victoria' and century in industrial Collingwood, industries including leisure and gam rounded angrily on the casino's critics. where h e worked in the local boot bling. Australian gambling was swept up In 1995 Kennett dismissed the critics as factories for m eagre wages. H e was a in the global explosion of a once-pariah 'wowsers', resurrecting an Australian keen punter but soon learned there was industry embraced by respectable busi New Zealand term of abuse used to more money in selling, rather than ness. Governm ents loosened controls on ridicule evangelical Protestant clergy a buying, betting slips. advertising and on the operation of TABs, hundred years before. He cannily used the £180 h e won which were eventually corporatised or In the late 1800s and early 1900s, backing Carbine in the 1890 Melbourne privatised. Smooth-talking casino huck Protestant and Catholic clergy, feminist Cup t o establish the illegal Tote, the sters lobbied hard for opportunities in groups, bohemian intellectuals, political foundation for a gambling, sport and Australia, and pokies pread out from parties, unions and gamblers fought a entertainment empire. But for all his New South Wales li ke canetoads complex political battle over morality wealth and influence, Wren was never from Queensland. and social behaviour. Nowhere was the part of the establishment. Labor historian debate more heated than in Melbourne, Ross McMullin says that, outside the I NTHE FINAL DECADES of the 20th century, where the streets, church halls and news working class, Wren was viewed as a the States, battered by recession and papers were fu ll of the struggle between 'grubby upstart'. economic rationalism in Canberra, John Wren-the working-class, Irish The Tote provided the poor locals squabbled and competed for scraps of Catholic gambling baron and founder of with their own gambling Mecca at a time investment and revenue, and fell like the infamous Collingwood 'Tote'-and when off-course punting was outlawed dominoes into the arms of an industry W.H. Judkins-the middle-class and and the cost of a day at the races was pro promising great riches. relentlessly evangelical Methodist Rev hibitive. It also offered an escape from the The wet blanket of gam bling regula erend, the archetypal wowser. drab reality of industrial Melbourne and tion was cast off, but what lurked under By invoking the wowser as a counter the depression of the 1890s, although for neath was a very different animal to the point to the new gambling culture, Ken many women and children it probably one suppressed decades before. Gone nett was aligning himself with Wren . He made life even m ore depressing. were the back-lane totes, two- up schools was not alone in summoning the whinge So organised was Wren, with his and uneducated SP (s tarting price) ing wowser as a foil for commercial gam secret escape routes, pay-offs to the police bookies. In their place was a high bling. The gambling industry has and MPs, a brilliant legal defence and powered world of international finance consciously painted itself as a liberating local community support that, despite and technology, and gambling executives force in Australia, helping to free the regular police raids and an avalanche of with PhDs. Australian ga mbling instinct by casting anti-gambling legislation around the turn It soon became clear that the new off an oppressive wet blanket of morality. of the century, the Tote operated almost gambling culture was vastly more dan 'Australians love to gamble' declared unhindered for 13 years. It went on to gerous than that of a cen tury earlier. 20 EUREKA STREET MARC H 2001 Where the odd back-lane belting was in as much as both men profited at the dished out to punters who welshed on expense of gamblers. But in most other their debts to SP bookies, the damage respects they could scarcely be more done was incomparable to the suffering different. of families and communities in the mod The Tote was an illegal gambling den ern era of legal, heavily advertised and in grimy, industrial inner Melbourne. It highly accessible, hi-tech gambling. was a rallying point for the poor and a The modern industry spends $5 73 symbol of resistance against a system million a year promoting the falsehood that cared little for the downtrodden. The that we can all be winners. Australians wealthy had the members' enclosures at now lose $12.4 billion a year gambling Flemington and Caulfield. The workers and 42.3 per cent of pokie losses are from had 'the Tote'. Wren's Tote was an problem gamblers. Low-income Austral organically developed local institution, ians are the big losers. The residents of a statement of a worker's right to have a a Maribyrnong in Melbourne's west, one bet. It was disguised and hidden in the of the poorest municipalities in Australia, backstreets of Collingwood. There was lose seven times more on poker machines no advertising, no gala opening, no high \Vord per capita than their counterparts in roller rooms, no VIP cards and certainly Boroondara in Melbourne's leafy east, one no taxpayer-funded police security. of the wealthiest municipalities. The Although many women suffered for it, Innovation Productivity Commission conservatively the Tote was, and continues to be a estimates that the social costs of problem century later, a cultural icon. Now that we have become the gambling may be as much as $5.6 billion Crown Casino was imposed on Vic clever society, we offer prizes a year. Such devastation was unimagina toriai it did not grow out of it. Victorians for innovation. Webster, the ble in the days of SP bookmaking. never demanded a casino or a monolithic Elizabethan playwright, would not The social and economic impacts of gambling house on the Yarra River in the have approved. He spoke of: commercial gambling have sparked wide heart of their city. They never got a spread concern and anger. And it is not chance to vote on it, or debate it. Crown The hydra·hea ded multitude Judkins-like, Protestant wowserism. is not only legal, it has been heavily That only gape for innovation. Certainly, there have been Protestant supported and promoted by the State and clergy among modern gambling's leading advertised to the point of saturation. In Webster was not alone. Through critics, but they have not been alone. 1900, the police raided Wren's Tote. In the ancient world up until the 19th In 1983 the Catholic Church joined 2001, police guard Crown Casino. Crown century, innovation was something with the Victorian Council of Churches is a blatantly US-style casino-entertain you were charged with, not in formally opposing poker machines and ment complex with one of its main complimented for. It meant over casinos. A survey of Catholic laity in features being the Planet Hollywood turning established beliefs and Victoria at the time found that 80 per restaurant. It is devoid of local cultural structures, the sorts of things that cent did not want poker machines. The input. Even the two-up ring operates in heretics and revolutionaries did. Catholic Church is now an active mem restricted hours. The church, of course, frowned ber of the Inter-Church Gambling Task If Packer really were a John Wren-like on innovation with a more force and in 1995 unambiguously battlers' hero and liberator, we could furrowed brow than most. And so opposed 'pressure gambling', including expect him to be in tune with the views innovation began to get a good casinos and pokie venues. of ordinary Australians. In a 1998-99 press when the revolt against Now the gambling critics are a broad national survey, the Productivity Com church authority in the name of cross-section of Australians including mission found that 92 per cent of modernity became fashionable. Protestants, Catholics, Muslims, Bud Australians wanted no more poker But it is interesting that, dhists, agnostics, blue-blood conser machines and the majority wanted fewer. through the church, innovation vatives and hard-line leftists. Local Seventy per cent said gambling did more was even early on given one good government, business groups, academics, harm than good. A South Australian sur meaning. It enshrined the belief and countless community groups have vey by retailers in November 2000 found that the world would be made new, joined the churches in campaigning that 80 per cent of respondents opposed around modern commercial gambling. It legalisation of online gambling. What a would be innovated. But the is less a moral crusade against gambling bunch of bloody wowsers! • expansiveness of this view of by working-class Australians than it is innovation perhaps suggests that a campaign against their cynical Royce Millar and Revd Tim Costello are innovation is so airy a creature that exploitation. the authors of the book Wanna Bet! Win it is unlikely to be trapped by the Is there really a fundamental differ ners and Losers in Gambling's Luck Myth, innovating nets of commercial ence between Wren and his Tote and (Allen&Unwin). This is an edited extract grants. Kerry Packer and his Crown Casino? Not from the chapter Micks and Wowsers. -Andrew Hamilton SJ V OLUME 11 N UMBER 2 • EUREKA STREET 2 1 R&D gets a bit ofTLC c ARTOON,STS AND COMMCNTATO>S Ji,ve Jikeoed the Ptime it had to spend the first few years righting the econom y, turning Minister's Innovation Statement on science and technology to Labor's 'Black Hole' deficit into a surplus-only then could the revelation on the Road to Damascus, which turned Saul, m oney be spent on science again. But isn't this putting the cart persecutor of Christians, into Paul, their champion . While it's before the horse? If science and innovation arc so important to hard to look a $3 billion gifthorse in the m outh, Archimedes producing a booming economy now, why weren 't they before? suspects John Howard's conversion to science is neither so At least that's the way countries like Singapore, Finland and wholehearted nor so altruistic. Ireland sa w it, as they poured money into R&D to underpin There is no doubt that the statement, Backing A ustralia's their prosperity. Ability, contains m any useful m easures to strengthen the But the government clearly finds it hard to get away fro m nation's science and innovation. But it also appears curiously the idea that any help to business is a subsidy, and an inter incomplete and shows a lack of understanding of the way ference with the m arket. Many of the government's ideas in modern science works. And while Archimedes believes that the Innovation Statem ent cam e fr om two reports-Ch ief science now holds genuine interest for the Prime Minister, there Scientist Robin Batterham 's capability review, Th e Chance to arc som e who view the statement simply as a somewhat cynical Change, and the report of the National Innovation Summit attempt to take the wind out of the sails of Labor's Knowledge Implementation Group, Unlocking the Future (see Archimedes, Nation in the lead-up to this year's election. October 2000). The form er dealt with research-education, When the Coalition cam e to power in 1996, it clearly universities, and national research infrastructure; the latter with believed that 'the market' would weave its spell in the areas of development- business, entrepreneurship, innovation. While science and innovation as elsewhere-if industry had a need m ost of Batterham's proposals have been accepted, at least fo r Australian R&D, it would pay; if it did not, government partially, the Implem entation Group's plans for supporting an support am oun ted to a business subsidy, except in some useful 'innovation culture' in Australia have mostly been ignored areas of 'public good', like health, defence and the environment. most particularly the across-the-board reinstatement of the 150 So the government slashed and burned science. It reduced per cent tax incentive for private R&D . the tax incen tive for priva te investment in R&D, doubled the If we boost our capacity to educa te science graduates, and tuition fees for science students at universities, and put the produce m ore university research, what is there to attract screws on the CSIRO and all other publicly funded institutions students to take advantage of these opportunities? Where arc to scrabble for m oney wherever they could. All in all, about the jobs in industry or elsewhere? The government $5 billion was taken out of science and innovation over five has provided little to industry. years. The results were disastrous. By August last year, when almost all other OECD countries bad announced increased G ovERNMENT HAS deliberately flagged two areas for special spending on innovation to prepare them selves for the highly treatment- biotechnology and information technology. (They competitive world trade of the 21st century, Australia had just happen to be the very two areas which most of the rest of drifted to the bottom of the table in terms of the proportion of the world staked out just at the time when the Howard govern GDP it spent on R&D. m ent was rem oving m oney from research- but no matter.) But by this time, the government had begun to see the error Biotechnology makes sense, says Howard, because it is an area of its ways. It is said that influential in this process was a speech in which Australia has a lot of natural advantages. He's righ t, by US Federal Treasury head Alan Greenspan, in w hich he but his view is limited. When pressed, it seems clear that by attributed the buoyancy of the American economy through the biotechnology, he actually means health and medicine. What '90s to the m oney the US governmen t had invested in R&D in about our unique resources in biotechnology, our environment, previous decades. Greenspan went further. He quoted a study our biodiversity, and our ecological research ? We didn't hear a which showed that 73 per cent of the scientific papers cited in great deal about them . patent applications reported government-funded research, and So while Archimedes congratulates the members of Cabinet 52 per cent cam e fro m universities. Clearl y, 'the m arket' didn't on a fine start-and the Opposition fo r helping to goad them take care of everything, even in the US-especially in the area into it- he thinks there m ay be room for a more holistic under of research which led to long- term results. standing of the links between science, innovation and society. • To hear the Coalition tell it, pruning science and educa tion was necessary. When the Howard go vernment came to power, Tim Thwaites is a fr eelance science writer. 22 EUREKA STR EET • MARCH 200'1 ESSAY GO LDSWORT H Y less library T urm oorms ON THE SHW a V OLUME 11 NUMBER 2 • EUREKA STREET 23 dying of cancer when he escaped from here to London of knowledge, born in the wake of World War II and on June 3, 1938. educated to think of Europe as the cradle of the world, Did he use the contents of these bottles to care I engage in a sometimes appalling struggle to make for the thinning hair, the little beard? Do the metallic sense of what I'm seeing. And for some of what I'm surfaces retain anything of him- prints, traces, etheric seeing, Freud comes in very handy. It certainly vibrations, DNA? He touched them, he used them, enhances my understanding of Vienna to meditate on they speak of him compellingly. This is why clair the fact that two of its main tourist attractions, the voyants ask for an object, some daily, intimate, often Lipizzaner Stallions and the Vienna Boys' Choir, have touched thing, to locate the missing and the lost, to the same basic criterion for becoming a performer: communicate with the dead. testosterone levels. Hitler's sometime home is a city Vienna is full of the dead. where masculinity matters. The little person on I watch the home movie from 1939 of Freud in Vienna's pedestrian crossing lights is not the usual the London garden of his exile, surreally showing on androgynous stick figure: he's wearing the sort of half-a-dozen screens at once. Visitors to this museum snappy hat one associates with pictures of the young do not want to socialise, to watch a screen together. We each watch our own screen, all watching the same thing. Freud is ethereal and eaten up by cancer but still immaculate in waistcoat and tie. Unidentifiable women come and go, walking in striped silk skirts between him and the camera. What would he have said, if he'd known that 60 years later a random group of strangers from all over the world would be sitting in his abandoned home, watching these images of his dying body? Would it have been good for a whole new book on some aspect of the nature of the self, or memory, or memorialisa tion, which is not the same thing? He leans over in an exhausted way from his garden chair to caress the head of a small dog, and that is where I leave him; over and over, gently and forever, Freud will stroke the ears of the silky little spaniel, flickering in faded sepia on the row of high-tech screens. I T's cow TODAY in Vienna; it's late September 1997, and the season, after an Indian summer of blazing red leaves and daily skies of homesick Australian blue, has finally turned. The day is grey and the wind in the street is sharply cold, with moisture in it. What I have always liked about Freud, about whom I don't actually know all that much, is that irrespective of 'believing' or 'not believing' (I am not much interested in belief), his work offers or appears to offer a frame work for interpretation of almost everything that Frank Sinatra. Women, one assumes, are not expected happens, and in Vienna I am more grateful for this to cross the road. than usual. I am a tourist, and therefore I understand (Freud asked 'What do women wantl' I could have only small scraps of what happens. Tourism is gener told him; we want to cross the road.) ally theorised as a way of making money out of I go to hear the boys and see the stallions. In both cultural specificity and cultural difference; countries cases it is not a performance but rather the regular not the tourist's own are constructed as foreign and exercise. I go to Sunday Mass at the Hofburg, where exotic. If you understood what was going on, you the Vienna Boys' Choir sings for the tourists every would not, by definition, be a tourist. Sunday from September to June. There is a crush no For an Australian in Europe, though, this is not claustrophobe would survive. I get glimpses of the so clear-cut. Stopping over for three days in Bangkok, inside of the Burgkapelle and its baroque ornamen I knew, so to speak, exactly where I was: I understood tation but do not see the boys at all, except on the nothing at all, and the alienation, while complete, was screen over my head. They are making a lot of in its own way liberating. But here in Vienna, armed mistakes today and for some reason I find this with a small amount of German and a small amount reassuring. Celestial human voices are frightening; 24 EUREKA STREET • MARCH 2001 you need to see them earthed and flawed by the memorialisation, and could not, in the light of its disorder of the body. history, be otherwise. And this is brought home to The horses also make mistakes, but that's me on the day that the 1997 edition of Vienna: The because what I go to see is a training session. The Rough Guide leads me to the Judenplatz, the site of indoor arena is in another part of the Hofburg; the the city's first Jewish ghetto. On the 16th-century boys and the stallions both belong to the palace. They plaque at No. 2, the oldest house in the square, there's are young half-trained stallions who still haven't quite a bas-relief of Christ's baptism with a Latin inscrip learned that 'total obedience' is what is required of tion that my Rough Guide translates: 'By baptism in them. What they seem really to want is to throw and the River Jordan bodies are cleansed from disease and then maybe trample, just for good measure, the men evil, so all secret sinfulness takes flight. Thus the on their backs, some of whom are also barely more flame rising furiously through the whole city in 1421 than boys. Within the controlled, unnatural move purged the terrible crimes of the Hebrew dogs. As the ments of powerhouse hoof and haunch and the erect world was once purged by the flood, so this time it and rigid composure of the riders, there's a violent was purged by fire.' struggle going on in the arena for control: sweat, The plaque was put up to commemorate the saliva, whips and white-faced riders. By training and pogrom of 1421. Of the 300 Viennese Jews who did breeding over centuries they are war horses, after not escape to Hungary, 80 were killed by the rabbi, all. I'm watching the essence of masculinity, who then killed himself, to avoid the fate of the rest, bringing itself under the control of ritual perform who were burned at the stake. The book calls this a ance. These beautiful, unnatural movements 'pretty little square', but at the moment it is full of were originally designed to smash skulls rubble, excavation paraphernalia, roped-off areas, dug and win wars. out pits and information boards, and this is why I'm here. Vienna's city council has decided to erect a E EUD wouLD HAVE HAD a lot to say about the horses. memorial, the first, to the Austrian Jews killed in the But he is less useful in helping me sort out the chaos Holocaust. British sculptor Rachel Whiteread has of what I see classified and preserved: in the Jewish designed the memorial, a huge white concrete cast of Museum, the Teddy Bear Museum, the Mozart a library turned inside-out, books turned backwards Museum, the Clock Museum, the Museum of Patho with their spines to the shelves so no titles can be logical Anatomy. I am in a city whose raison d'etre is read. The monument is called Nameless Library. Its VOLUME 11 NUMBER 2 • EUREKA STREET 25 base is engraved with the names of the camps where documents and correspondence relating to the exper Austrian Jews were killed. iments. One details the official policy for procreation But recently, excavating in the square in order to and describes the research being done into the tech lay the foundations for the memorial, workmen found nology of human fertilisation, the aim being to make th e smoke-stained remains of a 13th-century sure 'every German m other' gets pregnant not only synagogue that was sacked and burned in the pogrom as quickly as possible, but with twins, so the master of 1421. And now, my guidebook tells me, the whole race can reproduce itself more efficiently. Another memorial project is stalled, as one faction of the Jewish outlines problems with experimen ts testing con community argues that the archaeological site should ditions for fighter pilots; the phrase I remember is 'the be preserved and the memorial moved elsewhere, and subjects tend to scream when they freeze'. the other, led by Simon Wiesenthal, maintains that In the fourth and last room there's a bank of video the synagogue can be preserved under the m emorial m onitors disconcertingly similar to the ones in the and that the significance of the site will now be doubly Freud Museum. A sign at the entrance to this room charged. has warned me that hidden cameras and microphones All over the site there are diagrams and photo in the death-mask room have recorded my reactions graphs, mostly of the ruins but also some drawings to the masks, and now I am obliged to watch and listen and information about Whiteread's proposed m emo to myself looking, from ten or 12 different angles, rial. So far there is no sign of anything like founda before I can get out. The fight against denial and forget tion s, only the excavations. The m emorial was ting is going well. Simon Wiesenthal would be pleased. originally due to be unveiled, says m y book, on the The exhibition records experiments done in the 58th anniversary of Kristallnacht: November 9, 1996, camps during 1941- 42. A couple of years earlier, almost a year ago now. I stand on the catwalk peering Stefan Zweig had spoken the oration at Freud's into the medieval pit under a grey autumn sky, funeral, just after the outbreak of the war. 'Each of looking at the remains of smoky walls. us,' he said, 'people of the 20th century, would have The dead are very close. been different in our manner of thinking and under standing without him; each of us would think, judge W EN I co THE NEXT DAY to the Jewish Museum and feel more narrowly and less freely. ' I don't know there's a special exhibition on until I get Rachel Whiteread's N ameless Library was finally inside. A young woman has put together a four-room unveiled, in the Judenplatz where it had been designed installation based on the Nazis' 'medical experiments' to go, on October 25, 2000. Sites of friction multi in two of the camps in the early 1940s. The first room plied. The right-wing Austrian coalition governm ent is a small white empty cube in which one stands up was asked to stay away from the ceremony, the against the wall and looks at about 200 slides projected organisers not wanting it associated in any way with onto the opposite wall. They are 'official' photographs Jbrg Haider's Freedom Party. Some of the Jewish com of the 'experiments'. Some of the subjects are still munity are unhappy because of the synagogue si te, alive in these images. They have been infected with even though that has been preserved underneath as a things like anthrax. There are shots of men lying on museum. Residents are unhappy because they fear the hospital trolleys, naked and conscious, their testicles memorial will make the square a target for neo-Nazi swoll en to the size of rockmelons. There are close activity. All sorts of people are unhappy because the ups of living female shoulders covered in the infected memorial is 'not beautiful' and 'ruins one of the most lesions of diseases I didn't know still existed. attractive areas of the city'- But most of the people in these pictures are dead. Simon Wiesenthal, now 91, spoke at the unveil One shot that might be a deliberate parody of porno ing ceremony. 'It is important that the art is not graphy shows a pile of women's bodies all of which beautiful, that it hurts us in some way.' have been neatly cut in half at the waist, eviscerated, Mary Braid, in her report for The Independent, stacked in a pile and photographed at such an angle, concludes that 'many Austrians just want to ignore with the bodies pointed towards the camera, that I am or forget'. The photograph of the ceremony that staring straight up the tunnels of their ribs at the accompanies her article has been taken from an places where their hearts used to be. upstairs window at the corner of the square. You can In the next room there is a rather oddly displayed sec how cold it is, from the light, and the way that row of white plaster death-masks taken from the people arc huddled into their clothes. It's only a small people who died in the camps. While I'm looking at square and the memorial takes up a good bit of it, but these, I hear a faint clicking and whirring, which I put it's half-empty all the same. Most of the people there, down to the air-conditioning or the slide projector in says Braid, are journalists. The Vicnnc c stayed at the next room. home. • In the third room there are framed enlargements on the wall of single pages from various Nazi Kerryn Goldsworthy is a South Australian writer. 26 EUREKA STREET MARCH 2001 Last disrespects Q ,o ' T H' MOST powedul images of love is the piet>, the due reverence. In some cases- heart transplants for instance mother grieving over her dead child. Yet, I am disturbed by the knowing that a life has been saved m eans that no-one is bereft response of the bereaved mothers of Liverpool when they found when the dead child lies in her coffin without her heart. The that their children, who had died at Alder Hey Children's Alder H ey parents have no such source of comfort. Their Hospital, had been buried without their internal organs. 'funerals', for body parts, seem a bad and bitter joke. A funeral The report of the inquiry into Alder Hey's pathological should be a farew ell to the whole person- body, soul, practices was so savage that it was tabled in parliament and personality- and a commendation to an afterlife or eternal rest. read into Hansard before it was released. Dutch pathology pro You cannot have a 'funeral' twice. fessor Dick van Velzen had stockpiled thousands of body parts Once, we trusted the m edical profession's good intentions between 1988 and 1995, stripping the bodies of dead children and professional judgm ent. We didn't ask for the details of an without consent or regard for their parents' wishes. He is aid autopsy if our doctor wanted one: we played along with doctors' to have done it for 'research', research that was never attempted views that such details would add to the pain of our bereave and histology that was never completed. The little corpses were m ent. Now, we need and expect to know. This change has come, cavalierly treated: gutted, then catalogued: 'Inflated m onster: largely, with the growth of consumerism : we have rights, and Humpty Dumpty' for one fo etus; 'Neck deeply lacerated. Pull rem edies for botched service provision. It has also come because it to pieces sometime and reject' of another. some doctors have been arrogant and stupid. As the inquiry progressed, the hospital identified and Doctors must now justify what they do in different ways. returned more and more body parts. One mother go t first her Collecting pathological specimens has always been one of the baby's missing heart, then his kidneys and, finally, his testicles. foundations of modern m edicine. Doctors need stored tissue to Many held further funerals, sometimes years after the first. One track the history and incidence of diseases with long incuba mother held four 'funerals'. The hospital offended the rest by tion periods and to carry out research for 'cures'. Surgeons need volunteering advice on how to bury body parts in their gardens. stored organs to check their surgical procedures: the death rate In the wake of the inquiry report published in January, organ in cardiac surgery, fo r example, has dropped fro m 20 per cent, donation throughout the UK virtually ceased overnight. 30 years ago, to barely three per cent today because of it. At Obtaining info rmed consent to organ don ation fr om Alder Hey, 1600 children are alive today beca use of the improve relatives at the bedside is a very different process from the ments in surgical techniques and care pioneered there. Some of euphemistic scribbles that permitted the secret plundering of the bereaved parents said they would have donated organs, if they cadavers in the morgue. In Alder Hey, parents' 'consent' to post had been asked. Not now. As Stephen Parker, a m ember of the m ortem examination was manipulated. One couple explicitly Bristol Heart Children's Action Group told the inquiry, 'When refused permission for a post m ortem three times. They were a child dies that child is still the parents' child- not a specimen, lied to. Dr van Velzen routinely 'stripped the organs from every not a cause, not an unfortunate casualty of a failed dead child he touched', including theirs. But no-onc is making procedure.' The profession must act on this. distinctions any more. We instinctively respect our human dead. We arc appalled W HAVE LOST our fa ith in heroes, in scientists, som etimes by video clips of m obs tearing at the bodies of 'enemies' in in religion too. The focus beyond ourselves has been displaced Somalia, Northern Ireland and East Timor. Murderers who by a focus on looking for good- and god- within. Our sense of dism ember their victims' bodies are the greater 'monsters'. being human has shifted, too, to the purely physical: our bodies, Cutting up a body somehow severs the murderer from us, and our selves. What we have left is the feeling that when we die our normal sensibilities. An affront to the dignity of a person som ething of what we were is still attached to our rem ains. in dea th seem s, som ehow, such a taboo act that the defiler is This is one tragedy of the parents of Alder Hey, with their always cut off from us. grotesque 'funerals'. The other is the defilem ent of their It is one of our fundamental laws that no-one may even m em ories. One mother took final possession of 36 bottles, jars touch m e, while I am alive, without my consent. On death, the and slides of her 11 -m onth-old son, and now cannot remember only person entitled to deal with my body is my executor or her baby. Her rage is vast, not only, I think, against the next of kin, whose only right and duty is to dispose of it decently. disgraceful behaviour of the hospital staff she trusted, but Anyone who defi es that law outrages a fundamental community against dea th itself. • precept. We have accepted that modern m edicine justifies the Moira Rayner is Director of the London Children 's Ri ghts removal and transplanting of organ for good cause and with Commissioner's Office. VOL UME 11 N UMBER 2 • EU RE KA STREET 27 FOREI GN CO RRE SPONDENCE The Karen people have, for more than ha lf a century, been casualties of the post-colonial settlement in Burma. Yet they fight still for their independence. Jon Greenaway spent time march ing with a Karen army batta lion on the Thai-Burma border. L NtGHT HM not begun welL Du 28 EUREKA STREET • MARCH 2001 deep gouge on his right cheek, relic of a picked up arms in earnest when General Even though the KNU is not the force pitched battle with the Burmese army in N e Win overthrew U Nu's civilian gov it once was, now outnumbered by 1977, can't be plumbed by the light. ernment in 1962, only to put them down Burma's drug-smuggling kings, by the Scouts have spotted flashlights com again in the last decade, agreeing to cease United Wa State Army (with 20,000 in ing in the direction of the camp and the fires. The KNU made alliances with the its ranks) and the recently reformed Shan fear is that they belong to a column of former prime minister U Nu in the early State Army, there remains a palpable government troops, moving into position '70s, and with the students fleeing the sense of destiny among KNLA troops. for an early-morning assault. 1988 crackdown, and then watched these 'My grandfather was a major when our Three weeks before, a group of 30 alliances fizzle. Nearly half a dozen peace rebellion began but he was killed in the guerrillas had successfully raided a gov agreements have been attempted and all battle for Dai-ut and then my uncles ernment position on a mountain top two have failed. Still the Karen fight on. joined,' says Sergeant Ne Wah in crisp, and a half miles away, forcing their troops Emboldened by wartime promises correct English. 'I grew up in a refugee to flee after a heavy bombardment of from Britain, a forerunner of the KNU camp in Thailand and could make mortar and small weapons fire. made representations to Westminster and 10,000 baht a month (A$400) working In the last decade the dry season has the nascent United Nations in 1945, to with NGOs, but if I did there would be coincided with what Burma's State Peace have a Karen State recognised, watched nobody from my generation in and Development Council annually over by Britain until the Karen were ready the family fighting.' describes as the last push to overwhelm for self-rule. A 1947 agreement between the Karen rebellion. Whether successful Prime Minister Attlee and Burmese L E FEW THATCH huts scattered along or not, these small victories are a state independence leader Aung San-Aung the banks of a stream marking a small ment by the Karen that their fight for a San Suu Kyi's father-disregarded this stretch of the 2000km-long border homeland is not over yet. But the wait request. Attlee shared the view that an between Thailand and Burma form the for the Burmese army response is a independent Karen State nervous one. would be a troublesome anomaly in the decoloni The most noticeable result of the war in sation process. One year the East has been that all Asiatic peoples, after independence and 18 winners, losers and spectators alike, have months after Aung San's become more nationalistic, more politically assassination, the Karen conscious. The Karens have not escaped rebellion started with the the epidemic. defection of a regiment of Such was the brisk treatment given in Karen rifles. 1947 to the subject of self-determination The KNU's army once for the Karen people, the largest ethnic boasted 25,000 in its ranks group in Burma after the Burmans. These and at times during the two sentences (contained in the epilogue 1960s and '70s had the to an account of the heroic feats of a strength to threaten Ran British soldier behind Japanese lines) goon itself. It also con were more prophetic than their writer, trolled large tracts of their an officer in General William Slim's 14th disputed territory, a stretch army that retook Burma at war's end, of jungle hills and hidden could have known. Fifty-two years after valleys that runs from just their fight began, guerrillas in the KNLA, east of Rangoon, along the the armed wing of the Karen National isthmus separating the Union (KNU) formed in 1947, continue Andaman Sea from the to resist the military junta in Rangoon. Gulf of Thailand. From It is quite possibly the world's this position they could ""{ i{ T longest-running insurgency. fund themselves through taxation, a flat five per V VHEN THE KAREN joined Burma's civil cent charge on cross war in January 1949, the other military border trade with Thai threats to Rangoon came from the Com land. In 1978, this put a munist Party of Burma and pockets of staggering A$125 million Kuomintang exiled by Mao Zedong's Red into their coffers. Army. The fortunes of these two ideo Above left: young KNLA logically opposed entities peaked and so ldier preparing to shoot then fell during the Karen's long fight. Right: Veteran KNLA so ldier Most of Burma's other ethnic groups, Photographs pp28-3 1 by such as the Kachin, Mon and Sh an, justin Brierly VOLUME 11 NUMBER 2 • EUREKA STREET 29 hea dquarters of the 20 lst battalion of the of an upcoming split in the junta and you as 'God's Army'. Headed by a couple of KNLA's 6th Brigade. The place is called have to think that som ething will happen teenage twins, it has 250 armed follow 'Worlaykee', which means river's head. as there is so much pressure on Burma ers who believe the boys have mystical The bedraggled appearance of the few from outside and they owe so much powers. (Their leaders, Johnny and Luther soldiers who watch our arrival as they money,' says this charismatic son of Bo Htoo, were captured in January by Thai squat around fires inhaling long cigar-like Mya, the strongman in the Karen resist troops after members of the group shot Burmese cheroot suggests it is unlikely ance for most of the last 30 years. Before som e Thai villagers in a vendetta killing.) there arc as many as 200 battalions before patrolling jungle paths, he studied liberal In the early 18th century when mis it. The second-in-command, inside the arts at a Seventh Day Adventist College sionaries first encountered the Karen they command hut placed next to a parade in California and obtained a commercial discovered a belief in one God and a ground-the only piece of flat earth for pilot's licence. His strange double life is creation m yth similar to Genesis. Many miles-is too busy describing last week's such that two weeks before we m et, at excitedly scribbled accounts describing raid to look up as a group of six soldiers his base in the hills, he was in England the Karen as the lost tribe of Israel. emerge from the jungle carrying a variety as a guest of ympathiscrs, reminding Anthropologists now reckon that in their of weapons and ammunition. One or two those w ho would listen of the close migration from the areas between Tibet look to have barely reached their teens, connection forged between Britain and and Yunnan province in sou them China, but like the elder members of their patrol the Karen during World War II . the Karen came across Christian and they carry their rifles over the shoulder 'We are planning a big prote t in Hebrew traders who shared the stories with an air of practised nonchalance. London next sumn1er,' he says. that have since been incorporated into 'We attacked the post two or three The many who predicted the end of Karen traditional beliefs. Their theology, times before the Burmese fl ed,' Major the Karen struggle perhaps should have so amenable to Christian beliefs, fired the Saw Wee announces, consulting a note read Ian Morrison's post-war account of missionaries' zeal and many Karen were book for a list of the enemy soldiers Major Hugh Seagrim's campaign in the con verted. wounded and the calibre of weapons Karen hills. When Britain fou ght to subdue the seized. 'We torched the huts and laid some Inspired by the Karen's determination Burmese Kings in the 19th cen tury, the landmines around the area and seized a and often fighting in traditional Karen work of the missionaries helped ensure lot of weapons,' the veteran of this jungle dress, Seagrim ran a harassm ent campaign the loyalty of Karen fi ghters. Yet stories war says. He and Captain Kyaw Kyaw so successful that word was put out that of conflict between the Burmese Kings boast of capturing a Burmese soldier in villagers would bear the brunt of Japanese and the Karen go back before the days of the raid as well. We as k to see him. He wrath as long as he remained at large. empire and Karen suspicion of the had since died because he refused food, In 1985 Hugh Seagrim's home village Burman rem ains, even when he appears we are told. The subject is quickly changed. of Whissonsett in N orfolk unveiled a to be an ally. One of Major Saw Wee's particular statue to his m em ory and to that of his The KNU, along with 13 other ethnic talents is m aking landmines from brother D erek, a hero in the Greek and groups, agreed in 1997 to work with Aung scratch . He has designed the KNU land Western Desert campaigns. A delega tion San Suu Kyi and her National League for mine, a length of PVC piping packed with of Karen travelled from the Thai- Burma D em ocracy to establish a democratic gunpowder, wrapped in a plastic bag and border to dedicate a plaque that read: federal union. Yet when asked what they connected to a battery-operated trigger. 'We remembered, so we came to think of her, the KNLA fi ghters react Without these devices- a necessity in thank you.' with guarded support. guerrilla warfare-the 450,000-strong 'We like what Aung Sa n Suu Kyi is Burmese army would swamp them , they E CTJONALISM HAS plagued the Karen's saying, but som etimes the Burmese say argue. independence cause. Bo Mya's rise in the one thing and then do the other so we Major Nerdah My a, commander of the 1970s caused bitter internal disputes at will have to wait and see. ' N erdah Mya 20lst battalion, w ho also hands out a time when the Karen were in a position then adds a politically-minded qualifi business cards with 'KNU Secretary for to fo rce back the junta's troops. The fall cation that their problem is not with Foreign Affairs' printed under his name, of their jungle capital in 1995 came after the Burmese people but with believes these early dry-season raids are the the defection of 1000 troops to the gov their army. beginning of a rebound in their fortunes. ernment side in December of 1994, all 'I am very confident that before the Buddhists dissatisfied with the control L IEUTENANT CoLON EL Stevenson, the start of the next wet season we will bring of the Christian hierarchy and wooed by man who recruited Hugh Seagrim for his the Generals to the negotiating table.' Rangoon 's promises of wealth. The mission with the Karen, becam e Direc The Major's confidence is assisted by defectors fo rmed the Democratic Karen tor of the Frontier Areas Administration rumours that the leader of the Burmese Buddhist Army. They continue to side after World War II, responsible for the junta, General Than Shwe, is in poor with the government, burning refugee Burmese hill country and its peoples. health and has m oved to open di alogue camps in Thailand which they claim the Kn owin g that traditional enmities with Aung San Suu Kyi. KNU uses as bases, and playing scout for between the Karen and Burmans had 'We are better fed, better equipped, in Burmese troops. been roiled by massacres during the better health than the Burman soldier and Frustration with the KNU al so saw war, he urged that Karen demands be we are fighting for our homeland. We hear the rise of another arm ed group, known h eard. 30 EUREKA STREET • MARCH 2001 'I have come to the regrettable con and sent an exodus into Thailand. There silently and without raising a sweat, clusion that the present Karen quiescence are now 100,000 Karen refugees in Thai despite the heat, steep track and mud left means simply that they refuse to quarrel camps. over from the recently finished wet. with us. But when we go, if go we do, 'The Karen are tough people and they I struggle and slip in T -shirt, tracksuit the war for Karen State will start,' can put up with a hell of a lot but if there pants and boots. Of his 49 years, 31 have Stevenson wrote to his superiors in is no change in the current situation then been spent as a soldier with the KNLA 1946. Commenting on the British they are close to the point of being unable so long he says he can't remember what decision to leave the question of Karen to survive,' Heppner believes. As a he did before nor imagine what he might do if peace is won. His orders to the 15 fighters under his command are listened to carefully and carried out directly. We move towards a ridge, looking up to the position they sacked a few weeks before, to see if government troops have reoccupied the position. At various points along the trail we are warned not to turn on to dummy paths that have been planted with landmines. Our eyes are locked on our feet. The banter of the base camp has gone. After leaving at first light we arrive mid morning. Through binoculars, Burmese troops can be seen on the moun tain a few hundred metres away, moving around plastic fly tents set up in and around the charred remains of their huts. Despite being in full view of the enemy, Major Saw Wee's men sit down for a chat and a smoke. We are told that for the Burmese to fire on us would be a waste of precious ammunition-the Karen would melt back into the forest and out Major Saw Wee and a junior officer discuss attack positions whi le looking over a valley occupied by of sight in an instant. In what seems like Burmese soldiers three or four kilometres away. a show of bravado, the patrol gathers arm in-arm for a photo. State for an independent Burma to volunteer teacher at a school run by the I sit on my haunches and yawn, still resolve, Nerdah Mya drops his diplo KNU, he witnessed the razing of a village tired from the night before. I'd fallen matic guard: 'The British knew at the by Burmese troops in 1991. He adds that asleep again after we were roused. When time of the Mountbatten conference in the persecution of minority groups is so I finally woke, dawn was breaking up a 1947 [Mountbatten was the last Viceroy systemic in the Burmese military, light mist over the parade ground and of India and Burma] that the Karen and primarily through the officer class who everyone was moving around noiselessly the Burmans did not get along and they do it for profit and promotion rather than but with purpose, shifting rounds of should have given a state to each. Instead strategic reasons, that it would likely ammunition from one place to another, they sold us out.' continue if the KNLA were to give up loading weapons or cooking breakfast. The fighting in their hills has cost the their arms and surrender. There are no Captain Kyaw Kyaw was still where he Karen people dearly. The Karen Human signs that the KNLA soldiers are had been during the night, sitting at the Rights Group, the only organisation to ready to surrender the fight. table, his walkie-talkie in front of him but have visited the rugged and sealed-off now with a couple of blankets draped over stretches of Karen State regularly in the ATFIRST LIGHT and at dusk, the his head and shoulders to ward off the last decade, estimates that roughly raising and lowering of the flag of an early morning chill. He looked over, smiled, 100,000 Karen have been killed by independent Karen State is conducted and then barked something into the government troops during the rebellion. with prompt ceremony. Even though the walkie-talkie. In a few minutes three or Canadian Kevin Heppner, the group's fighters in this camp are resting they still four fighters returned and the leader, who founder, says the effect on villagers (most volunteer to go on patrol near Burmese had woken us, said everything was okay. Karen are farmers and villagers) has been army positions. 'The lights were just villagers no devastating. Their crops are destroyed or On one of these sorties I walk behind bang-bang today.' • surrounded with landmines. Torture and Major Saw Wee. I watch him negotiate rape are used to extract information. The the jungle path with an economy of Jon Greenaway is Eurel VOLUME 11 NUMBER 2 • EUREKA STREET 3 1 THE MEDIA News days John Coleman remembers the Beaverbrook press and the days when editors believed that you couldn't beat news in a newspaper. W N I MARRI ED my Australian When I joined The Sunday Express in Australian and New Zealand exports and sweetheart in London back in the 1960s, 1964, Lord Beaverbrook by then had died, criticising the Home Office's harsh treat- the entire editorial staff of Lord Beaver- but his son Sir Max Aitken was still beat- ment of young Australian holiday- brook's Sunday Express came to the ing the drum for the Empire. The Sunday makers who overstayed in Britain. Nuptial Mass in fashionable St Mary's Express was three floors above The Daily The dispatch of Australian conscripts Church, Chelsea. Express, and w bile the Beaverbrook to Vietnam in 1966 received scant mention Among them were some of Fleet policy was the same for the two papers, in Fleet Street, but The Sunday Express Street's famous names, including the they operated separately. ran in full an editorial I wrote on the eve editor John Junor, later knighted by The Sunday Express, with a circula- of Anzac Day about the first conscripts Margaret Thatcher, and Brendan Mulhol- tion of 4.25 million, was a broadsheet like who left the previous week. There was a land, who went to jail for refusing to its sister daily. If the Beaverbrook policies genuine regard for Australians, much of divulge his sources in the wake of the were all-pervasive on the two papers, so, it stemming from Sir Max Aitken's Profumo affair. too, was the benchmark of quality set by association with them as a fighter I had scored the fashionable church the legendary Arthur Christiansen, editor L pilot during the Battle of Britain. since, with a bachelor bedsitter around of The Daily Express in the 1950s. the corner, it was my parish. Few of the For me, having spent formative years IKE T HE DAILY, the Sunday paper had journalists had previously seen the inside on an Australian metropolitan daily and its foibles. Among them was the pursuit of any church and the parish priest, who earlier a regional daily, there were of eccentric vicars. I recall hurtling down spoke like an old Etonian, explained the refreshing changes. I quickly learnt that to Somerset on a false trail and feeling a Mass as we went along. Junor, impressed, The Sunday Express was a writer's sense of unreality over bone-china tea suggested we give him a run in Ephraim paper-where the merit of the story relied cups in the vicarage. Yet there were Hardcastle, The Sunday Express column almost entirely on the quality of the hard-hitting, controversial stories. We devoted to the doings of the royals and reporter's writing rather than any mas- pursued politicians after the Profumo the aristocracy. saging by the subeditor. If the unsubbed affair, relentlessly exposed their perks, The Mass also deeply impressed my story didn't get past the executive back- and worried that we were ge tting too colleagues and it became a kind of bench- bench, it was dead. close for comfort to the criminal Kray mark in Fleet Street:' ... it was the year Christiansen summed it up in his brothers. afterJohn'swedding.' stylebook, The Express Way: 'Good Thehumanclementandstoriesabout The Fleet Street memories- in the stories flow like honey. Bad stories stick people were important to both The Daily golden age before the advent of Rupert in the craw. What is a bad story? It is a Express and Sunday Express. As Chris- Murdoch and the Isle of Dogs-came story that cannot be absorbed on the first tiansen expressed it: '1. Never set the flooding back with the news that the time of reading. It is a story that leaves police on anybody. 2. Never cry down the former Beaverbrook newspapers, which questions unanswered. It is a story that pleasures of the people. 3. Remember our have changed hands a number of times, has to be read two or three times before own habits and frailties when disposed have been sold again-this time, ironi- it can be comprehended .. . ' to be critical of others. Always, always cally, to pornographer Richard Desmond. News stories, too, had to be exclusive tell the news through people.' Yet: 'News, Labour peer Lord Hollick disposed of to make page one and prime inside news, news-that is what we want. You The Daily Express, Sunday Express and pages-'Is it new, is it truel' was the test. can describe things with the pen of Daily Star to Mr Desmond for almost As Christiansen put it: 'Ban the word Shakespeare, but you cannot beat news A$331 million. Mr Desmond's publishing "exclusive" in the Expmss. Our aim is to in a newspaper.' firm, Northern & Shell, owns the British make everything exclusive ... ' While journalists laboured to meet the edition of Penthouse and publishes other As the push was on to join the Euro- Christiansen formula for 'flow like titles like Women on Top and Asian Babes. pean Economic Community, The Sunday honey' intros, subs laboured to m ake Other bidders for the three declining Express and The Daily Express were headings 'sing'. Christiansen spelt it out titles reportedly included Mohammed Al pretty much lone voices promoting the in the stylebook: 'Most of the papers had Fayed (owner of Harrods), Punch magazine, cause of the Commonwealth. good headlines on the enticem ent case, The Daily Mail, newspaper magnate Tony The drum-beating for the Empire was but top of the class goes to The Daily O'Reilly and the Barclay brothers, prop- as strident as ever, but there were Gmphic man who writes: THE MAN WHO rietors of London's Ritz and the Scotsman. informed stories seeking to protect C AME TO DINNER STOLE THE cooK.' 32 EUREKA STREET • MARCH 2001 Conditions for staff on The Sunday Express-pay an d holidays-in those halcyon days of great newspapers and crazy economics were excellent. When my annual holidays were due, Dah-dum there was the chance to return to Aus tralia on a Qantas inaugural flight. 'Take as many weeks as you like,' the news editor told me. My conscience allowed eight weeks on full pay. "'{ X T _...... ,. ' Hill. .)" Every journalist joined The Sunday V V HEN YOU SAY you're going to New Caledonia the first thing people ask is, Express board at the Savoy in 1969 for 'Are you going snorkellingZ' the paper's 50th birthday, sampling It's hard to visit a Pacific island, particularly one with the second-largest French champagne and haggis, piped in barrier reef in the world (after Australia's) and not remember that childhood by the Royal House Guards and escorted dream of becoming a marine biologist. I was determined to don a snorkel, mask by Canadian Indian Johnny Two Rivers and flippers. Except, well ... faws came along at just the wrong time for me. with the toast to the paper by Prime I was impressionable. And this scene was just too familiar: beautiful blue water, Minister Harold Wilson. but a creature lurking beneath with big fin and razor teeth ready to remove my It was certainly another era on The vital parts. Sunday Express-one I look back on with I've tried to convince myself the fear is irrational- ! mean, it's more warmth and affection. And I find most of dangerous to cross the street. But irrational fears are, well, irrational. My case the advice given by Christiansen still wasn't helped when, a few days after I arrived, the hostel owner read me a holds good in the pursuit of quality journalism. newspaper story about a shark attack on the north-west coast of the island. With exceptions, as in this 31 March 'They found nothing but his spear and a flipper.' He should have been in the 1953 staff memo: 'Whenever possible tabloid, not the tourist business. print a woman's age.' • A week later I'm lying on the idyllic Plage de Poe, about two hours north of Noumea. The equipment is free, the water crystal. My companions, Christine John Coleman is a freelance journalist. and Michel, are cocky. How do I tell them I'm scared rigid? We're in a lagoon, I tell myself. It's SOOm to the outer reef and no self-respecting shark would be seen dead here. There must be shark cool, must be stuff sharks wouldn't want other sharks to know they'd done, like gobbling an easy target like m e. We make our way to the edge of the first reef-a 300m walk in ankle-deep water. The reef then drops six feet, forming a lagoon stretching 200m to the outer reef. It's a perfect pool-creamy white sand on the bottom and hardly a ripple on the surface. But I know better. My companions are already darting and diving, beckoning me to hurry. I pause, check for fins, and dive in. Immediately a school of over a hundred brilliant blue fish the size of my Does the Christian need more hand dart from behind a reef. They move in perfect unison, like one large than Christ? Does the Zennist pulsating creature. As they disappear a larger school, of angelfish, swim casually need more than Emptiness? from behind another outcrop of coral. I'm so transfixed by the colour pulsing A M AROKIASAMY S.J. beneath the surface that I forget to breathe. I splutter to the surface, mask, snorkel, nose and mouth filled with brine. GEN UN KEN ROSHI For the hour it takes us to swim to the outer reef, I trail well behind Christine from the Jesuit Community of and Michel, pretending to take my time-the marine biologist. In fact I have to SHEMBAGANUR STH INDIA stop every five minutes to adjust my mask. The fish ignore me. The small ones RETURN VISIT TO SYDNEY dart away, the middle-sized ones keep their distance and the larger ones stare 23 MAY - 09 JUNE 2001 back as I clumsily take their photo. Suddenly, my flipper is wrenched. I roll and flounder, swallow more salt 4 DAY SESSHIN ; 2 DAY ZAZEN water. The last thing I see before I go under is a fin, grazing my foot. TALKS & INTERRELIGIOUS Panic! I swim as hard as I can, arms flailing wildly, my one flipper ineffec DIALOGUE tual. I figure I can't outswim a shark, but what else is there to do? I give it a go. Please ensure to book early! A dozen strokes in and the peals of laughter reach me. I turn to see my 'friends' Enquiries: barely able to float for mirth, Christine brandishing a single flipper. "THE WAY OF ZEN " I decline their invitation to go spear-fishing later that night. But I greedily GPO BOX 3399 SYDNEY NSW 2001 consume their catch nevertheless. And no, it's not flake. • Tel: (02) 9440 8408 Tim Stoney is a journalist, broadcaster and inveterate traveller. VOLUME 11 NUMBER 2 • EUREKA STREET 33 BOOKS:1 PAUL RULE Paradoxes of the papacy Witness to Hope: the Bi ography of Pope John Paul II, George Weigel, Cli ff Stree t Boo ks IHarp crCo ll ins), l 999. ISBN 0 06 0 I H79 .1 X, RRI' $S4. The Reform of the Papacy : the Costl y Call to Christian Unity, john R. Quinn, Crossroad !Herder and Herd er), 1999. JSI\1\ 0 8245 1826 H, RR I' $42.9S . Papal Sin: Structures of Deceit, Garry Wills, Darton, Longman & Todd, 2000 J<;HN 0 2:12S 2389 4, RRI' $45 0 NE HOT SUMMER afternoon 111 deceit' in the contemporary church. 1979 I was making my way around It is tempting to present these the colonnades of the Piazza of St books in politica l terms as right Peter's in Rome on m y daily trek to (Weigel ), centre (Q uinn) and left the archives where I was working. (Wills) viewpoints on the contcm- Owing to the popularity of the new porary Catholic Church. All three, Polish pope, his weekly allocutions however, reject the poli tical viewing had been shifted outdoors into the lens, and insist that, while power Piazza. Over the loudspea kers plays are inevitably important in boomed the fa miliar voice of John the conduct of such a large and Paul II in heavily accented Italian. complex institution as the Catholic I caught the words l 'essenza Church, they can only be under- metafisica di matrimonio. Ever stood in a wider histori cal and si nee, this experience has served to theological context. It is what that sum up for me the paradoxes of this context is that strikingly divides the papacy, in fact of the modern papacy academic theorist, the retired arch- John Paul II with Mikhail Gorbachev in Rome, December 1989. as a w hole. Photograp h from Lives of the Popes bishop and the religious J·ournalist. Here was a pope concerned with by Rich ard P. McBri en (HarperCollin s, 2000) Weigel was given unprecedented the realities of living. For som e access not only to Vatican records three years, to the dismay of many of his can land electronically on the desk of a but to Pope John Paul II himself. He insists advisers, he pursued the them e of marriage bishop, a parish priest, a Catholic lay man that fr om the beginning of the project his in hi s audience addresses (t hey have been or woman instantaneously, require that it editori al independence was guaranteed, but nicely analysed by Mary Durkin in Feast of should? Might not the opposite be true: one m ay suspect that there was a certain Love, Loyola University Press, 1983). It that globalisa tion of religion as of all aspects pre-established harmony of mind between was, however, the style that worried m e. of li fe all ows with safety a greater plural this Fellow of a Washington conservative My wife and I were struggling with the ism within the ch urch ? And how docs think-tank and the pope's mindcrs. It is dail y problems of living in a foreign country such a centralised and centralising agenda essential! y the curial insider's view of events wi th two children under five. It was nice to for the Catholic C hurch help it engage that is presented, which leads to some know that the pope ca red, but a n with its sister Christian churches and, curious gaps between the reader's memory authoritative philosophical analysis of 'the even more, the diverse religions of of events of the last 20 years and their metaphysical essen ce' of our relationship rr mankind? presentation in the biography. was not reall y what we needed. There was I c hecked two incidents that h ad an apparent lack of congruity between style .l.HESE ARE T HE issues raised by three recent embedded them selves deeply in m y memory and substance. important works on the current papacy. from their repetition in print and on the There has probably been no pope in George Weigel's massive, semi-authorised screen . One was the famous encounter history who has had such a wide-ranging bi ography cxhausti vcly covers the career of between Pope John Paul and Sister Teresa impact on the world, has so widely travelled, Karol Wojtyla uptothejust-concludedYcar Kane in Washington in 1979. Weigel gives has used the resources of m odern technol of Jubilee. John R. Quinn contrasts a model a fair account of what h appened, apart from ogy so effectively; 'the most visible pope in of church government evolved at Vatican II an unnecessary crack at Sr Teresa's dress history' as George Weigel nicely puts it. and in Pope John Paul II's writings w ith the ' a business suit', apparently to be contrasted Certainl y he is the most prolific writer as reality he experienced as Archbishop of San with the non-business suits of the clergy pope, at least the best published. But is his Francisco and president of the American and the pope himself-and a tendentious model of the church as a one- man show the National Conference of Bishops. Garry description of the Leadership Conference only, the appropriate model? Docs our one Wills' som ewhat ill-tempered Papal Sin of Women Reli gious as ' known for its world in which a Vatican decree or opinion uncovers what he calls the 'structures of assertive feminism'. However, Weigel tells 34 EUREKA STREET • MARCH 2001 us that the pope responded to her plea for subliminal, on the future pope, from dis top', a bishop's, and more specifically an the involvement of women 'in all the trust of American-style democracy to the American bishop's list. But he shows how ministries of the Church' by raising the identification of nation with religion, are reform in this area of church government, occasion ' to a wholly different level', with carefully traced back to Karol Wojtyla's in what a Communist burea ucrat would his plea for religious women's 'complete reading and experiences in inter-war, call 'workstyle', would open the availability to the Church'. The question of wartime and post-war Poland. way to general refonn in the church. what was the appropriate level of response Pope John Paul II is undoubtedly an is neatly fudged. intellectual, a man of ideas. But is George G ARRY WILLS' approach is explicitly The other incident, even better known Weigel correct in seeing his behaviour as from below. Wills is a journalist and political to Australians from its use in a famous dominated by ideas, by 'the conviction that commentator who has specialised in repor documentary on Nicaragua by an Australian the crisis of the modern world was first of ting on the Catholic Church in the United fi lm-maker, was John Paul's sh outed all a crisis of ideas' (emphasis in the original), States and on US politics. He is also no 'S ilencio'' to the women demanding some and that all the horrors of the 20th century mean theologian, as demonstrated by his comfort for the death of their sons at the 'are the products of defective concepts of brilliant recent biography of St Augustine. hands of the Contras. We are given several the human person' (my emphasis) ? Perhaps However, in Papal Sin the political analysis pages of elaborate explanation of the perfidy so, and perhaps that explains our reaction rather swamps the theology . of the Sandinistas and their control of the to much of his rhetoric. But perhaps, also, Wills writes with verve and the case he public address system and crowd manage there is a gap between concepts and the makes for systemic' dccci t', dishonesty and ment. Weigel i satisfied that this incident exercise of power. double talk at the centre of the church is a ended in a public relations triumph for the It is, I think, significant that several powerful one. His use of his theological pope through international reaction to 'the leading churchmen in the last few years reading, however, may strike the reader as vulgarity of the Sandinista misbehaviour'. have cautiously but firmly alleged that there excessively polemical, even casuistic. I think he must have seen different footage is a crisis in the contemporary Catholic This is especially the case in regard to from the rest of us. Church, but not one of concepts; rather one his central case study, the Catholic Church's It may seem to many readers of this of structures and practice. It is also interest reaction to the Holocaust. It is a sorry story nearly 1000-page tome perverse in the ing that all of them have used the pope's and the debate about motivation of the extrem e to complain of shortness of trea t own words as the basis of their critique. chief protagonists, Pope Pius XII in ment of some issues, but there are som e Cardinal Konig, the former Archbishop of particular, will continue until the full conspicuous and significant silences. Many Vienna and a pioneer in inter-religious documentation is released as promised. pages are devoted to John Paul's interven dialogue, has presented a 'vision for the Wills has put his finger on the sore spot in tions in the internal affairs of the Society of church of the future' (The Tablet, 27 March his rejection of the facile distinction Je u , always presented as benign and fully 1999) based on 'subsidiarity', decentralisa between 'anti-Judaism ' and 'real anti justified in view of 'the Jesuit temptation tion which allows for the dignity of people Semitism' that pervades the papal commis [to become] a self-a uthenticating elite'. On in the church and outside it. sion's We Remember document of 1998. the other hand, the Opus Dei gets just an Cardinal Martini of Milan, in a speech And that brings us back to Weigel's claim anodyne page and a half, with a comment at the 1999 European synod, proclaimed his that Karol Wojtyla was somehow immune on the pope's 'commitment to fostering the 'three drea m s', the last of which was clearly from the prevalent a nti-Semitism and universal vocation to holiness'; and on the a plea for a new council to deal with the proto-Fascism of his childhood. How else highly controversial bea tification of its structural and moral problem s that have do we explain the deci ion to receive the founder, a short and bland footnote. been left unresolved, or prematurely closed. Austrian Jorg Haider as representative of Undoubtedly, the m ost interesting part Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, on his the donor of the Vatican Christmas tree? of this biography is the first section on retirem ent from the Pontifical Council for The right questions are asked, then, but Wojtyla's Polish background. The hyper Ju stice and Peace, made a powerful plea in is the problem 'structural' or rather histori bole regarding the papal period, for example November 1999 for a rethinking of the cal? Wills ays that the root of structural that 'he is arguably the m ost well-informed exercise of the papacy. H e based his deceit in the church is a refusal to admit man in the world' (page 17), can hardly be arguments on Pope John Paul II's encyclical, past mistakes as threatening the integrity applied to the schoolboy, the poet and actor, Ut Unum Sint ('That they may be One') . of the institution itself (shades of the the seminarian. A very human and con This, too, is the starting point of Arch Australian 'stolen generation ' debate). vincing portrait is carefully built up. Here, bishop Qui1m's case for reform of the papacy. I would argue that he is right but that the though, it is the significance of Poland in He takes up John Paul's invitation to help Holocaust issue is a bad example to take. the world that is exaggerated. How many of him rethink the fu nction of the papacy so On this, a on other issues of relations with us have appreciated that if it was not for the that it may be a help, not an obstacle, to other religions, John Pa ul II has explicitly Battle of the Vistula in August 1920 the Red religious unity. He gives a formidable, if repudiated the past. Army would have been 'camped along the familiar, list of the problems: an ever more Curiously, Wills fai ls to apply political English Channel'? And Weigel's persistent powerful Vatican bureaucracy; cardinals and analysis to the complexities of Vatican denial of anti-Semitism in the pope's bishops who 'commit adultery' with their politics. He too readily accepts that all that immediate background rings hollow after a titular churches; the campaign against comes out of Rome emanates immediately time. Again, however, we arc undoubtedly national episcopal conferences; undermin from the top. It is part of the rhetoric of all given an insight into what it m ea ns to see ing of the traditional patriarchates; erosion bureaucracies, including that of the the world through Polish glasses. Many of local input in the appointment of bishops. church, to hide behind the mystique of themes relevant as influences, even if This is, of course, itself a 'view from the the institution. VOLUME 11 NUMBER 2 • EUREKA STREET 35 BOOK S:2 M I C H AE L McG IR R More interesting and convincing is Wills' discu ssion of the refusals, since Vatican II, to admit di scussion of a variety of issu es that vex the local churches. There are successive chapters on birth control, ordination of women , m arried clergy, marriage regulations, sexual abuse, the gay Interrupted by play priesthood, Marian politics and abortion. It is a very American and promiscuous list and suffers, to som e extent, from the very As the Story Goes, Brian Mattht:ws, Text Pub li shing, 2001 . refusal to di scriminate of which he accuses ISilN I 8764 8562 0, RR P $27.40. A Fine and Private Place, the Vatican. Bn an Matthews, Ptcador, 2000, ISBN 0 3303 6225 9, RRI' $27.40 Wills attempts to link all of these issues as symptom s of a common disease dishonesty. His discussion of ' the honesty Y o woN'T en "' mto tho pmon.J ooun"Jl ot m 'uoh' dote 36 EUREKA STREET MARCH 2001 The same mind is recognisably at work people close to him fail to cue emotionally, ments. The book is often funny, but it is its in A Fin e and Private Place. Matthews' of times when reality refuses to play out the sadness which lingers. Through many reminiscences of a childhood in the post script he has laboured over in his head. His seasons, almost like a comic chorus of its depression, war and baby-boom years in St father spent many years building a house in own, staggers the St Kilda Football Club. Of Kilda and East Brighton is, at times, wry, East Brighton so he and his family could course, it is common to use football as a laconic, gently mocking and observant. But have a little space of their own, away from kind of garnish, to talk about the loss of this writing shows more sweat. Many of the close communal living with extended traditional suburban footie as typifying the stories in this memoir have cost something family in St Kilda. No sooner is the project breakdown of local communities, as though to tell. Matthews' grandfather, Private completed than Ma Matthews, the grand that complex phenomenon required no Alexander Murray, a Scot, was killed in mother, decide to join them. This move further thought. But Matthews is not trading Europe in World War I. His widow, Annie, brings the family to the brink of destruc cliches or generalisations. He remembers emigrated to Australia. Over 70 years later, tion. specific matches, specific kicks. His local Matthews locates his grave: 'my m other, Many years later, Matthews' daughter, club has had a rich capacity to disappoint. curiously, showed only a spare and with Genevieve, died of septicaemia and m enin But once, only once, it made something out holding interest in the photographs of her gitis, aged 21 days. Matthews and his wife of nothing and won a premiership. Matthews father's grave and the story of our "find" . only learn of Genevieve's death when a remembers every detail of that as well. • Perhaps she did not want the distress of nurse thrusts the baby's shawl at its mother re-opening those imaginary doors ... ' and says, simply, 'Well, I'll leave it with Michael McGirr, the former publisher of This incident typifies a good deal of you.' It is a heart-rending story. Eureka Street, is the author of Things You Matthews' experience. He tells many pain A Fine and Private Place is certainly a Get For Free (Picador) and The Good Life ful stories of occasions on which he and lot more than a catalogue of disappoint- (Aurora ). BOO KS:3 M A TTH EW RI C KET SO N The art of the matter Sir Frank Packer: The Yo ung Master, Bridge t Griffcn-Foley, Harper ollins, 2000, ISBN 0 7322 6422 7, RRI' $45 B IOGRAPHY, Vi VOLUME 11 N UMBER 2 • EU RE KA STREET 37 EX HIBI T I ON M O RAG FR ASER legendary figure in Australian media history far too much detail about minor events. that, if anything, this shortcoming is For instance, Frank's father, Clyde, magnified. travelled overseas in 1926 to promote his The Packer dynasty has had an immense paper, the Daily Guardian, and also Beryl Federation on influence in shaping today's media. Frank's Mills, who had just been crowned Miss father, Clyde, was an energetic, ambitious Australia in a competition run by the paper. the road and gifted journalist. He came from humble Miss Mills' itinerary is given, along with a origins, fought his way into the ferociously rundown of her duties, including thea tre Alex Poignant's 1953- 54 photograph competitive Sydney newspaper world early parties, swimming exhibitions and wreath of an Australian swagm an (right) is in the 20th century, became an editor and laying ceremonies at war graves. A later as paradoxical as the Federation: eventually a m edia proprietor in the 1930s. minor business trip by Frank to central Australian Art and Society 1901- His son was never as talented a journal Australia is similarly bogged down in a 2001 exhibition of which it is part. ist; in fact he performed dismally at school listing of food supplies taken. Poignant, who emigrated from and even during the Second World War Conversely, som e events that cry out England in 1926, was much affected when he was a lieutenant, Packer failed for attention are baldly summarised. As a several engineering exams. For years he child Kerry Packer spent nine months in an by the people, by the nature and lived in hi s father's shadow, acutely con iron lung; as an 18-year-old he was behind scale of the Australian outback. He scious that he was seen by others in the the wheel in a head-on collision in which was also an urban photographer of newsroom as a playboy. three passengers in the other car were killed. extraordinary technical skill and Frank Packer often wistfully referred to What impact did these events have on him, interpretative elan. himself in official documents as a journal and his family? The swagman fa ces the open ist, but it was as a propri etor that he made It is a pity, because when Griffen-Faley road. His gear, while modest, is hi s marl<. H e had prodigious energy, steps in to summarise events or assess her organised and emphatic- from the business acumen, cunning and an ability to subject's actions, her writing is pithy and n eatly bound bedrolls to the perky galvanisc those around him. sharp. At one point she describes how Fra nk m ask guarding the back of the bike Frank's son, Kerry, has continued to Packer's business partner, E.G. Theodore, like a h ouseh old god. His bike has expand the Packer empire. Murdoch's News would invite him to stay at his holiday neither pedals nor chain, yet the Limited and Packer's Publi shing and Broad lodge on the edge of Kosciusko National casting Ltd (PBL) are the most powerful Park, but Packer rarely did: man himself seems unbent. There's media companies in Australia. And, of course, a twang to his braces as h e stands Fishing was too sedentary, too contemp PBL continues with Kerry's son, James. poised before the road ahead. lative, the contest too subtle and the The Packers own the nation's premier The date is intriguing-n ot rewards too modest to satisfy Packer. His commercial television network and a stable Depression era but 1953-54. Robert preferred sports were those that allowed of popular magazines, including Wom en 's Menzies' Australia. him to skylark, to compete with gusto and Weekly, which began in 1933 under the to order other people around. The Federation exhibition, on editorship of R.C. Packer's close coll eague, view initially at the National George Warnecke. Kerry is Australia's Perhaps also Packer has been a victim of Gallery in Canberra, is curated by richest citizen . journalists' love of a good yarn. One contem John McDonald. McDonald, who left If Kerry Packer's reputation is fearsome, porary observer at a polo match described the Gallery in 2000 after a contro it is put in the shade by that of his father, 'the vulgar lurking figure of the Packer versial year as curator of Australian whose actions rendered the term 'interven Animal' and that has certainly been the image art, has put his mark firmly on the tionist proprietor' a tautology. Stories of Frank Packer handed down from bar to abound of his volcanic temper, firing bar, but Griffen-Faley also shows glimpses selection of works. This is no employees at will, of bitter fe uds with of other aspects of Packer's character. Federation fanfare. T he Prime other proprietors-like Ezra N orton of It is common wisdom that Packer Minister might write a preface: Truth- and of his rabid anti-communism. blatantly used his newspapers to pummel 'Secure in the great achievem ents of He once notori ously threatened to pull the ALP and cheer on the Liberal govern the past and immen sely confident in the Daily Telegraph off the street if printers ment under Sir Robert Menzies, and that our prospects for the future .. . ' but did not put ou t a banner greeting the death one of Packer's rewards was a knighthood. the exhibition itself explores of Soviet lea der Joseph Stalin with the words: These events arc u sually recounted as complexity, not security. It is rich STALIN DEAD H OORAY. evidence of how media proprietors can abuse but disconcerting-no bad thing in a It is possible that all this m ythologising their positions of power. show that surveys 100 turbulent preyed on the biographer's mind and that This is true, but Griffen-Faley's dili years of a nation in the m ak ing. by st udiously sifting legend from verifiable gently unearthed correspondence between The exhibition itself goes on the fact she has lost sight of the pungency of the the two m en reveals m ore: Menzies played original stories. Packer like a violin for years, praising him road this m onth. D on ' t m iss it. It is possible, but th e book's narrative to keep him onsidc, yet resisting hi s ga uche -Morag Fraser weakness aggravates this issue. The bio attempts at m ateship. • Federation opens at Heide in Me lbo urne graphy is di vided into 15 ch apters that in March and in Townsvill e's Perc seem to start and end at random rather Matthew Ricketson is head of Journalism Tucker Regional Gall ery in june. Then th an build to any intern al climax. There is at RMIT University. Newcastle, WA, Darwin and Tasmania. 38 EUREKA STREET • M ARCH 2001 ... • Master of Arts (Theology) • Master of Reli gious Education • Master of Educational Leadership The Australian Catholic University* offers Masters courses that specialise in Theology and Religious Education on the internet through acuweb.com.au with 24 hrs x 7 days a week support. The tuition fees are $750 (Australian dollars) per unit or subject. Australian students living in Australia can study at the discounted cost of $635 (Australian dollars) per unit. The University welcomes students from all religious and cultural backgrounds. ACU cares about the well being of students and works with them to achieve high academic and professional standards. *The University is a member of the Association of Commonwealth Universities and is funded by the Australian Government. Powered by next \ed Men of hospitality Living and proclain'ling God's hospitable love As li ved out by St J o hn of advocacy an d reconciliation Will you dare to accept God's God over five centuries ago, for those marginalised by our invitation to a life dedicated our vocation is to give of society. to hospitality? o urselves compl etely and Our core of hospitality If so pl ease contact: fr eely; to be a brotherl y compe ls and urges us to Br. John C legg 0 1-1 . presence; a symbol of hope deepen o ur relati onship with Voca ti ons Director. 1'0 Box l3N I 055. for the world ; proclaiming God, o urse lves and with Burwood North. NSW 2 134 God's h ospitabl e love to those w hom w e share o ur Australi a. all . li ves, community and Telephone (02) 9747 1699 W e are ca ll ed to a ministry. Fa cs imile (02) 97H 3262 chari sm of hospitali ty and W e are the: 'Brothers of Emai l provin [email protected] love that pro motes hea lin g, Stjohn ofGod. ' W ebsite: www.stjohn.com.a u ~ EUREKA STREE I Bruce Sims (j) Q) Books B u ~ I THE FRONT -s ro 0 A TALE OF TWO SISTERS OF THE FAMILY - n-· ...:L By Renata Singer - 0 'A murderer. He was your father you know.' From this chance remark at a funeral, the characters in co 0 Renata Singer's intriguing new novel are propelled across two continents in their efforts to find out what really happened. 0 CQ The Front of the Family is a fresh approach to some serious and not so serious-issues of love, war, family, fidelity, 0 - intimacy and generational change. Singer's racy style carries the reader through Holocaust depths, migration and the 7\ ·-u remaking of lives. Thanks to Bruce Sims Books, Eureka Street has 15 copies of 0 Q) The Front of the Family to give away. Just put your name and address on the back of an envelope and send it to: Eureka Street I! 0.. 'Front of the Family' March Book Offer, PO Box 553, Richmond, ro {f) VIC,3121 \ "Our present reli gious institutions will go on shrink AUSTRALIAN ing and becoming more conservati ve as they do so. They will come to be seen as 'Heritage' and when BOOK REVIEW they have come to be regarded as Heritage the very thought of changing them in any way will seem absurd." FEBRUARY/MARCH 200 I British post-Christian philosopher Don Cupitt on the f uture of the church A major essay by John Hirst "God links hi s hands to ours and in them we hold the on destiny of the planet. We want our grandchildren to Multiculturalism, A boriginality leave this Earth better than they find it- but children born today risk doing more to damage the pl anet and the Treaty than nurture it." The Archbishop of Canterbury Nicholas Jose on John Shaw Neilson on Western greed and the environment Kerryn Goldsworthy on Brian Matthews The Melbourne Anglican Craig Sherborne on Johnny O'Keefe 1998 winner of the Gutenberg Award for Excell ence in Reli gious Communicati on Peter Craven on Murray Bail Mention this ad for a free sample copy of TMA Phone: (03) 9653 4221 New poetry and columns or email: tma @melbourne.anglican.com.au I'll f' New Subscnbers $60.50 for ten ossues (one GST) & a free book Ph (03) 9429 6700 or emaol: [email protected] ARBN A00371 02Z ABN 21 176 539 338 T H EATRE GEOFFREY M I LNE In the good ol' summa time L AT" ADD ,CTS in Melboomc and mainstream productions, but I have generally know when summer is upon seen nothing of him previously in Mel them. A more reliable harbinger than the bourne. Corpus Christi turns out to be a weather is the annual Botanic Gardens pretty good play about the power of faith productions of Glenn Elston's Shake (as well as that of charismatic leadership speare Under the Stars by night and the in faithless times) and the ways in which perennial Wind in the Willows by day. many minority groups have suffered at But over the past five years especially, ...... the hands of bigots and hypocrites for another event has quietly grown to be one their beliefs and practices. of the more eagerly awaited summer arts It begins with the simplest of thea tri attractions. This is the Midsumma Fes cal rituals in which 12 of the 13 male tival, which offers a wide range of visual actors are baptised, bles eel as human be and performing arts productions over a ings and given the names of Jesus' 12 dis concentrated three-week period in the ciples. Their leader is not called Jesus but second half of January. Joshua-even Josh at times-but to all in In the beginning, performing arts in tents and purposes what follows is a mod Midsumma were mainly seen in Soft ern-day, metaphoric re-enactment of ware-a short-running series of new short with revivals of older Australian works Christ's birth, but set in Corpus Christi, works of elrama, dance and comedy at the and the Australian premiere of a major Texas. Josh grows up as a literature old Universal Theatre-which tenuously American play. This was Terrence loving non-footballer in a red-necked, clung to a position on the fringes of McNally's Corpus Christi (presented by homophobic, sport-mad high school. Melbourne theatre generally and also of Polemic Productions at the upstairs There follows a mysterious spell in the Midsumma itself. Many of the perform Athenaeum Theatre 2 in the city) and the desert and then Josh 's triumphant develop ance pieces in those early years tended mainstream media feasted on it. There m ent of a new brotherhood of man to fall into a rather simplistic 'coming were letters to the editors of both papers, devoted to him and to mankind by virtue out' category. Not surprisingly, the main some condemning the portrayal of Christ of simple faith. This is all portrayed stream press largely ignored the event. as a homosexual as blasphemous and somewhat in th e style of medieval By the micl-l990s, Software was com some defending it. There was one morality plays. The actors take a multi plemented by full-length seasons of editorial decrying the idea but defending tude of roles-the disciples, schoolboys stand-alone plays and other works in the theatre company's right to produce and girls, teachers, roman legions, fringe and alternative venues (some new the play on the grounds of freedom of Pontius Pilate, Barabbas and even The and locally written, others local produc expression. There were nightly picket Word Of God itself, using basic props and tions of overseas plays). Later still, lines of protesters from various religious furniture and clever changes of body Software disappeared (along with the denominations (including a bus-load of language and vocal accent. Universal Theatre) and the Miclsumma Islamic fundamentalists) trying to stop I found the play, and Catherine Hill's theatre program has developed into a patrons from getting into the theatre. very effective and simple production, quite sophisticated, diverse and sizeable There was even a bomb-threat. All of this confronting: not because of its 'blasphemy' adjunct to the Melbourne summer was gleefully reported in the media in but because of the obvious strength of its season. This year's festival is easily the those seasonally slack new days-and powerful Christian conviction. I've seen biggest and most prominent in terms of lapped up by the producers whose box innumerable well-intentioned and reli theatre production, boasting upwards of office returns boomed in the wake of the gious! y correct Christian theatre-in 24 theatre and/or cabaret events sprea d free publicity. education productions and TV shows, but over ll different venues in and around McNally is moderately well-known in none ever got to the heart of what it is to the inner city. Sydney, where a number of his works have faith in the face of genuine adversity As in recent years, the theatre pro about gay life, AIDS and the broader the way this 'subversive' play does-or gram this year featured many new or human condition have met with a very with such a light, unsentimental touch. newish locally written pieces, together mixed critical reception in Mardi Gras My only complaint is the slightly too- 42 EUREKA STREET • MARCH 2001 Gtassified.s obvious way in which (in its final frenzied chapters and verses) PHILOSOPHY the play equates Joshua as 'king of the Jews' to Josh 'king of the SYDNEY CENTRE FOR Do philosophy with a small group queers'i McNally's analogy about persecuted minorities RELIGIOUS DEVELOPMENT o f othe rs in a ' Real Case Socratic is well-enough made by then. Mary Mac Killop Place, Dialogue' fa cilitated by Associate North Sydney Professor Stan van Hooft. A place where spiritual directi on is Tel (03) 9244 3973 E LSEWHERE, Midsumma offered a lot of sound Australian gay o ffe red throughout the year to COMMU NITY ONLINE writing. It was good, for example, to see a revival at Chapel off those who desire to all ow God to Australia's 500,000 community Chapel of Alex Harding's late-1980s 'musical love story', Only fo rm a unic1ue relatio nship with groups can now find practical the m and who think they would Heaven Knows, about life in King's Cross in the 1940s and '50s. advice and access to Australi a's benefit from talking about it. This portrays a sort of pilgrim's progress, in which naif Tim most e xtensive grants database at A place which o ffers guided moves from M elbourne to Sydney in 1944 in search of a W\\'W .ourcomn1unity .con1 .au theatrical career, becomes seduced by the gay scene and ends prayer ex periences fo r those who Ca ll 03 9320 6800 lo r more detail s. desire to be aware of God up testing his loving male relationship to the limit. I also liked befri ending them. ZEN much of Nik Willmott's evening of sketch comedy at La Mama, Details: The mutual challenge: 'Zen and My Life as a Dyl VOLUME 11 NUMBER 2 • EUREKA STREET 43 murderings for money because I can never kill as many as the war makers'), but had clear, if problema tic, connections with real m oral outrage about arms- dealing and war m ongering. Hannibal is so far from this kind of questioning that you end up light years from questioning anything except the price of Cucci pumps, because Lecter is so taste ful, and only kills rude people (he calls them 'free-rangerude'-what a card) or silly peopl e who try to catch him, and anyway he' got such a dry wit .. . How the audience Ia ughed when he sliced the top off m ean old Mr Krencller's head and served him with his own frontal lobes ... And this grisly stuff m erits an MA1 5+ rating instead of an R (now under review), perhaps because no-one swears much- it's too dishonest for that. Oh, and this time they used Glenn Gould playing the Goldberg Variations. Much more e picurean than re-using Jerry Zimmerman. But to have Hannibal finger syncing to Gould's magic was doing it way too brown. - Juli ette Hughes clothes, and this Jane finally puts them on. Just wild about- Hammibal But there's something being put on over all of us here, the urge to ingratiate oneself Harry: He is Here to Help, dir. Dominik Hannibal, dir. Ridley Scott. After seeing with a bully, perhaps. The seductive flat Moll. This French film (with subtitles), this long (130-minute) film and being tery of being a monster's favourite finally together with Cast A way, was the finest puzzled by one plot link, I got the book out reduces Starling's moral stature to that of a I saw over the holidays. Although it is at its of the library. It' about a four-hour read, romance heroine. Ah, we ca n all change best during the threa tening first half in and makes you wonder about the mysteri him if we're just worthy enough ... which the Hitchcock-like plot could go ous pull of sequels: the urge to turn closure, Given this, what the film does well is to anywhere, the film is polished and full of tragic or comic, into soap opera. Sequels tone down some of Hannibal the book's flair. Menace is always just beneath the can work-Alien , The Empire Strikes Back, mawkish (strange mot in such context but surface of apparently benign relationships Godfather II. But then think, briefly, of nevertheless iuste, I'm afraid) dealings or is it? Highlander ll, winner of the all-time Direful between Lecter (hammed aga in with relish Michel and C laire are taking their Dull Doltishness award. Think, too, of the by Anthony Hopkins) and Starling (played children on holidays to the country house nauseous written attempts by publishers' by Julianne Moore, as like Jodie Foster as they have been renovating for years. Taking hirelings to follow Gone With Th e Wind, possible, but paid a tenth of w ha t Foster a break at a service stati on after a long hot Pride and Preiudice, even Lady Chatterley's would have commanded had she lent her ca r trip, Michel is approached in the wash Lover. Hannibal's author, Thomas Harris, name to this). room by a stranger. Confused at first, he needed no hacks to desecrate the qualities But in order to rationalise the sick fasci rea lises that the stranger is Harry, a former of Silence of Lhe Lambs: h e has done a very nation with a heartless cannibal, book and schoolmate, who is clearly one of Michel's eli creditable job himself, removing the film fall into that solipsistic trap set by greatest admirers-dangerously so. subtle moral framework that characterised minds diseased: not I, but the world and its Disturbingly, Harry ca n recite from Silence. He has done this by turning Lecter systems, and God who created them, must m emory every word of a poem Michel wrote from a clever but grotty sociopath into be to blame for my violent compulsions, for his school magazine 20 years before. Mr Rochester; Clarice Starling's strength which can be used as a visitation of karmic Harry's generosity is endl ess. Soon he of character and moral percipience clwi nclles ven gea n ce upon those whom I judge has inveigled himself and his girlfriend into into an erotic challenge to a newly macho deserving of punishment. I am therefore the lives of the couple and the relationship epicurean anti-hero. No inelegant lip quasi-eli vine, or interestingly demonic, and threatens to get out of hand. Sergi Lopez smackingabout humanliver served up 'with demand your worship. My vi ctim are never (i mpressive in Un e Liaison Porno fava beans and a nice Chianti' for the sequel's as fascinating as me. The fau lty reasoning graphique) gives a bravura performance as a Lecter. No childishl y obscene teasing of a used in M on sieur Verdoux, Charles man out of con trol for the best possible berea vecl mother-he is all style: his killings Chaplin's Blue beard fable, bore similarities m otives and with the worst possible result. are poetic injustices. Hannibal Lecter the to this ('arms dealers prosper while virtuous While the film hints at The Vanishing alpha-male buys his Jane Eyre expensive men die paupers, so I am justified in my and Hitchcock's Strangers On a Train, 44 EUREKA STREET • M ARCH 2001 comparisons are unnecessary; ultimately our eyes-but unless you ' ve seen the that no ordinary actor could achieve that Harry is a splendid film in its own right. It original, you lose half the fun. The same result. deserves its European Film Awards nomi goes for Willem Dafoe's performance as Hanks plays the express courier admin nations, particularly Lopez' nomination for Schreck- he's unnervingly close to the istrator to whom saving time is everything. best actor. -Gordon Lewis image we see in the original Nosferatu, but His plane crashes and he is the sole survivor, you 'd never know unless ... washed up on the beach of a tiny volcanic In a lot of ways, however, the film is as island in the Pacific. Suddenly the efficiency Sword play much about the film-m aking process in expert has all the time in the world. general as it is about Nosferatu in particular. Direc tor Robe rt Z e m eckis s h ows Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, dir. Ang It's full of jokes about writers, actors, extraordinary courage with this release fo r Lee. Chow Yun Fat and Michelle Yeoh are producers, much as was the case in Shake the commercial market. He is untroubled so fantastically beautiful to watch in this speare in Love. For instance, Schreck's odd either by silence or lack of action, as the highly decorative kung-fu fable that you behaviour (from ea ting live bats to eating civilised, inept, effi ciency expert tries to m iss them when they are not on the screen. the crew ) is explained away as part of a new cope with the exigencies of primitive m an . The story, of the theft of a sword with great approach to performance called 'm ethod' Under the spell of Zemeckis' direction and powers, has the kind of themes that will be acting. Most of all, however, the film is Hanks' superb performance, awareness fades familiar to anyone who has loved Monkey, about the director, F.W. Murnau. (John of a film crew standing by, crowding a Th e Sammai, or any of the Bruce Lee stuff . Malkovich, as Murnau, puts in pretty much lonely beach, and the sense of isolation There is a satisfying, if non-chronological the same performance as he has in every dominates. feminism in the story-no bound feet in other film he's been in over the last ten Written to avoid a cute ending, the fi lm this world, and a healthy respect for equality years. In fact, the only film I've seen recently consistently resists traps which h ave in male-fem ale encounters, martial and where he hasn't just 'done a Malkovich' is brought many a Hollywood epic to its knees. other. Fem ale warriors (thank you, Xena) Being fohn Malkovich. ) His performance in Cast A way may not rule OK, but the blokes are allowed to be Murnau is depicted as an obsessional bring Tom Hanks an Academy Award for strong and very blokey too. This is a China m egalomaniac, willing to risk and to expend best actor if Ralph Fiennes is nominated for of the imagination (as Logres is to Britain) the lives of his crew to fulfil his artistic his performance in Sunshine, but director where the clothing is comfortable and gor vision, happy to accede to the dem onic Z em eckis has really created som ething geous and the scenery uncomfortable and demands of hi lead actor to get that perfec tly special. -Gordon Lewis gorgeous. 'authentic' performance. If this seem s a The plot balances, very sweetly, two little harsh on directors in general, have a love stories with a fight against evil, and of look at Werner Herzog's documentary My Dry cleaned course the evil is as much within as without. Best Fiend (about his personal and profes The maturity of the older couple, and their sionalrelationship with actor Klaus Kinski). Almost Famous, dir. Cameron Crowe. Films greater altruism, is contrasted with that of As the documentary shows, both Herzog can be like houses: some are too tidy to be the younger ones, with the wilfulness and and Kinski are willing to go to extraordinary believed. Strange, though, that this should egotism of the young girl, Jen (Zhang Ziyi), (to som e, extraordinarily repreh ensible) be the case with Cam eron Crowe's (of Jerry providing the tension and the tragedy. The extremes for their craft. Shadow of the Maguire fame) new film, Almost Famous, last 30 seconds worried m e because a lot of Vampire presents m onomania, violence and given that it's a young- man -coming-of-age youngs ters will be watching this, but it's insanity to u s as a set of m etaphors fo r the rock-'n '-roll-road m ovie. If Crowe can 't get well worth a visit. film-m aking process; in My Best Fiend his picture a bit dirty with that kind of -Juliette Hughes Herzog and Kinski play these pathologies material, I'm afraid he m ay be fo rever stuck out for us a document. And I'm telling you in the 'I love you guys' rut. right now- I'd much rather m eet Schreck Boy genius, William (Pa trick Fugit ) is Fangs a lot the vampire in a dark alley one night than picked up by Rolling Stone and sent on tour I would Kinski the actor. w ith the up-and-co ming rock ou tfi t Sh adow of the Vampire, dir. E. Elias -Allan James Thomas Stillwater. On the road he finds beautiful Merhige. It's slightly unusual fo r a contem sad girls, misunderstood balladeers, over porary American film to demand that its sexed rock ers and- you gu essed it audience be familiar with anything as outre Volley bawl him self. While h is films are in turns as film history (o r history full stop), but humorous and charming, Crowe m akes that's exactly what Shadow of the Vampire Cast A way, dir. Robert Zem eckis. Film the m istake of wanting us to like all his does. The film itself is a fantasy on the reviewers can becom e blase. Before I saw characters. m a king of F.W. Murnan's classic 1922 this film, T om Hanks had won the Golden Two performances m ake thi fi lm va mpire film Nosferatu, working fr om the Globe Award fo r Best Actor. Pre-publicity worth a look. Philip Seym our Hoffm an conceit that Max Schreck, the actor who suggested a cross between Gilligan's Island plays rock journo Lester Bangs with the played Murnau's eponym ous lead, actually and Robinson Crusoe. During the film m y perfect dose of swea ty cynicism , and was a real vampire. Som e of the best reaction was that this was Tom Hanks Frances M cDormand docs over-protective moments in the filmcom e whcn it recreates playing Tom Hanks, both fat and thin. m othering with wonderful insanity. Her the shooting of scenes from the original, When, however, I found myself weeping mad catch-cry, 'Don't take Drugs', would fading from lush, warm colour, to cold, because of his relationship with a volley have m ade a much better title. fli ckering, grainy black-and-white before ball called 'Wilson', I had to acknowledge -Siobhan Jackson VOLUME 11 N UMB ER 2 • EU REKA STREET 45 Play stationary H ow MA" m us w 46 EUREKA STREET • M ARCH 2001 Eureka Street Cryptic Crossword no. 91, March 2001 D evised by Joan Nowotny IBVM ACROSS l. Victories gained through unlawful ticket sales? (6) 4. Publicity for a skating performance, possibly; it requires application. (8) 10. Country in Europe contains nearly all one could expect in the southern hemisphere. (9) 11. Greek space below the rafters. (5) 12. Sales pitch on new model. (7) 13. Could be rash to follow with German thought on Persian god. (7) 14. Give up gambling-put cube in gold box and say farewell. (5) 16. Does he give meaning to a form of market enterprise? (8) 19. Holy man called queen, but was treated as an alien. (8) 21. Infuse the teabag? The price is over the top! (5) 23. Kind of canons, established in the past? (7) 25. Lament the fact that you and Lou, it is reported, are departed. (7) 27. Very small property, rented by the auditor. (5) 28. What 10-across did on a certain date-freed from alien control- last century? (9) 29. How Ted's bear somehow swam through the waves. (8) 30. Loved to make a fuss over colour. (6) DOWN Solution to Crossword no. 90, January-February 2001 1. Means of recording date, for example, as well as postage and writing paper. (5,3) 2. It's a boon when fixed. (5) 3. Recently arrived, perhaps, but normal location cut short for one not socially acceptable. (7) 5. Many a tragic king rises to claim the kingdom. (5) 6. Tea leaves teach more suitable group of monks. (7) 7. I, more decent, but confused, plead on your behalf, perhaps. (9) 8. Box the French bag between bearings- the other way round. (6) 9. Tribal leader, rattling the chains? (8) 15 . Incorporate the heartless within the ungrateful in society! (9) 17. Super idea, rephrased, I regretfully omitted in order to convince the doubters? (8) 18 . Dips back to accommodate loan? Excellent! (8) 20. Takes away, unfortunately, a stable environment. (7) 21. Settled the accounts-which had increased exponentially. (7) 22. In favour of feminist political party, perhaps? (3,3) 24. What a relief 'e left the loot-in a mess. (5) 26. Perfume present to salt-or roses? 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