Proddy-Dogs, Cattleticks and Ecumaniacs: Aspects of Sectarianism in New South Wales, 1945-1981
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i Proddy-Dogs, Cattleticks and Ecumaniacs: Aspects of Sectarianism in New South Wales, 1945-1981 Benjamin Edwards A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of History University of New South Wales 2007 i ABSTRACT This thesis studies sectarianism in New South Wales from 1947 through to 1981. This was a period of intense change in Australian socio-cultural history, as well as in the history of religious cultures, both within Australia and internationally. Sectarianism, traditionally a significant force in Australian socio-cultural life, was significantly affected by the many changes of this period: the religious revival of the 1950s, the rise of ecumenism and the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s, as well as postwar mass-immigration, the politics of education, increasing secularism in Australian society and the Goulburn schools closure of 1962, which was both a symptom of the diminishing significance of sectarianism as well as a force that accelerated its demise. While the main study of sectarianism in this thesis ends with the 1981 High Court judgment upholding the constitutionality of state aid to non-government schools, this thesis also traces the lingering significance of sectarianism in Australian society through to the early twenty-first century through oral history and memoir. This thesis offers a contribution to historical understanding of sectarianism, examining the significance of sectarianism as a discursive force in Australian society in the context of social, political and religious cultures of the period. It argues that while the significant social and religious changes of the period eroded the discursive power of sectarianism in Australian society, this does not mean sectarianism simply vanished from Australian society. While sectarianism became increasingly insignificant in mainstream Australian socio-political life in this period, sectarianism – both as a discourse and ideology – lingered in social memory and in some religious cultures. ii COPYRIGHT STATEMENT ‘I hereby grant the University of New South Wales or its agents the right to archive and to make available my thesis in whole or part in the University libraries in all forms of media, now or here after known, subject to the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968. I retain all proprietary rights, such as patent rights. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis or dissertation. I also authorise University Microfilms to use the 350 word abstract of my thesis in Dissertation Abstract International. I have either used no substantial portions of copyright material in my thesis or I have obtained permission to use copyright material; where permission has not been granted I will apply for a partial restriction of the digital copy of my thesis. Signed ............................................................................... Date .................................................................................. AUTHENTICITY STATEMENT ‘I certify that the library deposit digital copy is a direct equivalent of the final officially approved version of my thesis. No emendation of content has occurred and if there are any minor variations in formatting, they are the result of the conversion to digital format.’ Signed ............................................................................... Date................................................................................... iii ORIGINALITY STATEMENT ‘I hereby declare that this submission is my own work and to the best of my knowledge it contains no materials previously published or written by another person, or substantial portions of material which have been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma at UNSW or any other educational institution, except where due acknowledgement is made in the thesis. Any contribution made to the research by others, with whom I have worked at UNSW or elsewhere, is explicitly acknowledged in the thesis. I also declare that the intellectual content of this thesis is the product of my own work, except to the extent that assistance from others in the project’s design and conception in style, presentation and linguistic expression is acknowledged.’ Signed ............................................................................... Date................................................................................... iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS John Donne’s observation ‘no man is an island, entire of itself’ comes to mind as I contemplate all those upon whom I have incurred a debt of gratitude in the course of producing this thesis. My foremost thanks are offered to my supervisor, Dr Anne O’Brien, whose generosity of time, inspirational scholarship, patience and encouragement have inspired me throughout this project, and to my co-supervisor, Professor John Gascoigne, for his insightful comments and suggestions. I record here my thanks to the Rt. Rev’d Richard Hurford OAM, Bishop of Bathurst, for the luxury of study leave in 2006 to concentrate on writing this thesis. My sincere thanks are also offered to the Rev’d Canon Dr Ivan Head, Warden of St Paul’s College, University of Sydney, and to the Fellows of the College Council for the award of the 2006 Priddle Fellowship, enabling me to take up residence at St Paul’s College and devote myself to completion of this thesis. It was a wonderful experience to share in the life of the College, especially during its sesquicentenary year. I am also extremely grateful to the women and men who participated in the oral history project for this thesis; to Jeremy Southwood, for reading and commenting on drafts, and to all who have shown or feigned interest in the progress of my research over the last few years: none the least of whom being my wife Kate, who has read drafts, encouraged me and helped in countless other ways. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Number Abstract i Acknowledgements iv Table of Abbreviations vi Terminology vii Introduction 1 Part I: Foundations of Sectarianism Introduction 16 Chapter 1: Foundations of Sectarianism: Discursive and Historical Contexts 17 Chapter 2: A Survey of Sectarianism in Australia, 1788-1945 28 Part II: Sectarianism in the ‘Long 1950s’ Introduction 39 Chapter 3: The ‘Long 1950s’: Religious Context 41 Chapter 4: Protestant Co-operation 54 Chapter 5: Points of Sectarian Tension 73 Chapter 6: Sectarian Polemic in the 1950s 121 Chapter 7: Signs of Tolerance and Ecumenical Rapprochement 166 Part III: State Aid and the (Sectarian) Politics of (Religious) Education Introduction 184 Chapter 8: State Aid and the Goulburn Schools Closure: Historical and Political Contexts 187 Chapter 9: Sectarian Responses to the Schools Closure 204 Conclusion 229 Part IV: Sectarianism in the post-Vatican II Era Introduction 233 Chapter 10: Social and Religious Context of the post-Vatican II Era 235 Chapter 11: Ecumenical Gains 241 Chapter 12: Realignments 262 Part V: Sectarianism Remembered Introduction and Methodology 292 Chapter 13: Reminiscence, Tropes and Social Memory 298 Chapter 14: Biographical Case Studies 309 Conclusion 367 Conclusion 370 Bibliography 376 vi ABBREVIATIONS / ACRONYMS ACC - Australian Council of Churches ACW - Australian Church Women ACTS - Australian Catholic Truth Society ALP - Australian Labor Party DOGS - Council for the Defence of Government Schools LOI - Loyal Orange Institute NSW - New South Wales NSW CC - New South Wales Council of Churches UPDA - United Protestant Defence Association SCM - Australian Student Christian Movement UCPA - United Council of Protestant Action VPF - Victorian Protestant Federation WASP - White Anglo-Saxon Protestant WCC - World Council of Churches vii TERMINOLOGY Catholic / Roman Catholic The use of the designations ‘Catholic’ and ‘Roman Catholic’ are contentious in religious historiography.1 They are imbued with certain theological and sectarian nuances, which throughout the history of Christianity have had varying meanings and significances.2 While in some official forms the Catholic Church styles itself as the Roman Catholic Church, the term ‘Roman Catholic’ has also been employed by Protestants to disparagingly refer to the Western Church that recognises the primacy of the See of Rome. In line with common usage, this thesis uses the terms ‘Catholic’ and ‘Catholic Church’ without the adjective ‘Roman’ in reference to the church ‘which is governed by the successor of Peter and by the bishops in communion with him’.3 No theological or ecclesiological judgment is implied. Protestant The term Protestant is used in this thesis to refer to those Christian denominations, other than Orthodox, that do not recognise the supremacy of the Roman Pontiff and are not in communion with the See of Rome. The principal Protestant denominations of the period examined by this thesis were the Presbyterian Church, the Methodist Church, Congregational Union, the 1 MacCulloch, D., Reformation: Europe’s House Divided, 1490-1700, (Penguin Books, London: 2004) p.xix; see also Thurston, H., ‘Roman Catholic’, The Catholic Encyclopedia, XIII (1912), http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13121a.htm, 15/6/2004. 2 Cross, F.L. & Livingstone, E.A., (eds), entry for ‘Catholic’, The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, (Oxford University Press: 1997 3rd edition) p.305. 3 Pope Paul VI., ‘Dogmatic Constitution on the Church’, The Documents of Vatican II, (eds), Abbot, W.M. & Gallagher, J., (Geoffrey Chapman, London & Dublin: 1966) p.23. viii Churches of Christ, the Salvation Army and