Bloody hard

Australia is a rugged country, most people who live elsewhere get this. Perhaps we who live here find it a bit curious, and find that we are not so much rugged or tough, but laid back.
We often say that we are the land of the ‘fair go’. But like so many such statements, the ones who get ‘the fair go’ are those who are doing pretty well already, thank you very much.

One of the things that has saddened me in the more than half a century I have lived here, is that our hearts seem to have become increasingly hardened.
Not rugged but HARD.
We are no longer saying,”If you want to live here then you have to work hard, and pull your weight.”
We are saying stupid stuff like
“We are full!”
“Go back to where you came from.”
“If you come by boat you will never settle here!”
Now, I came here by boat in 1967.But then I am white, I was born in the UK…and though I may have some non-Aryan ancestry…yet of course I speak English ( and a smattering of other languages…looking forward to retiring to brush up on Bahasa Indonesia !)
Curiously we moved into a South Australian industrial town, Whyalla, as did hundreds of other UK citizens in the late 60s. There was a real sense of ‘ghetto’.

I went to the central High School ….I had never experienced ethnic discrimination before …but I did there. I was a Pom!
People laughed at my accent (NW England) as if they some how had the key as to how English should be spoken.
Let me tell you that Maroon …is pronounced MAH ROO N
Not MA RAWN!!!
That it’s perfectly OK to say DANCE with a hard ‘a’ and you can say DARNCE if you want to…but who cares?
To provincial South Australians these seemed like linguistic baseball bats.
We tended to retreat to our ethnic homelands…so my four close friends were from Liverpool, Tyneside, Luton and North Wales.
By the time I graduated with education degrees and became a teacher in the third High School the tables had reversed.
In that school 85% of the students were not born in Australia. Most came from the UK with about 10% a mix of Greeks, Italians, French and others.
While I realise I was subjected to the pejorative “Pom”…in the Eastern school, the Aussies were “Skips” in the Western school …and thought to be as thick as two planks.
This is how prejudice works, not with logic but with the prejudice of the majority mocking the minority.
All of this is of course nonsense.
I was fortunate to have teachers who realised that when I was a minority “Pom”, I had actually probably had better schooling in Maths, Physics and Chemistry before I came to school in Australia than they had been able to deliver. John Lyon my Chemistry teacher was one of the first to spot this.
He gave me an A in my first series of reports even though I had been taught under an ‘old fashioned’ way. He took time help me translate this, and I accelerated with his help.
Five years later, inspired by him I guess, I went to be a teacher in school of which he was Head (Stuart High School). I understand now that he had not only an educational vision, but also a spiritual, philosophical and theological vision of what a school might be. I liked that.
Deeply influenced by liberal Protestant theology. He promoted such epithets as “Freedom to choose!” and “Acceptance of consequence” deeply seated in the theology of Tillich, Bonhoeffer and others.
Made sense to me.

The language of marriage

Let's make no mistake that the nuance of language does matter
I have been trying to encourage people to use correct ...perghaps the expression is more accurate ...language in regard to the present discussions about who is and who is not allowed to get married.
For me there is a universal human right that all adult human beings should be allowed to enetre into lifelong marital relationship.
More than this, I would maintain that traditional Christian doctrine has a high view of marriage as an agent for social stability and for the secure nurrture of future generations of children

In marriage a new family is established in accordance with God’s purpose, so that children may be born and nurtured in secure and loving care, for their well-being and instruction, and for the good order of society, to the glory of God.

N and N have now come here to be joined in this holy union to which God has led them. They seek his blessing on their life together, that they may fulfil his purpose for them; and they ask us to support them in this prayer. If anyone can show why they may not lawfully be joined in marriage, speak now, or hereafter remain in silence.

(The Australian  Anglican Church's current prayerbook)

If you dig back into this statement we well know that the social supposition has for most of recorded history  assumed, and indeed asserted, that  "N and N"  have actually been  Mary and Mark, rather than Mary and Margie, or Mark and Mike.

But I want to dig around that in the next few articles.

At the heart of my thinking is equality, social stability and, primarily, the secure and loving care of children.
This does not seem to me to be intrisnically linked to: the age difference of the parents, the racial or credal difference, the intellectual compatibility (or otherwise) and finally (the cause of the current dicussion in Australia) the requirement for N & N  to be  of different gender



Here's a couple of links to other interesting articles on this issue
http://splash.abc.net.au/home#!/media/1163914/presenting-a-point-of-view-about-marriage-equality

https://www.theguardian.com/media/mind-your-language/2015/sep/25/gay-or-straight-lets-embrace-the-language-of-marriage-equality

The plebiscite

In democracies, by definition, plebiscites must be almost always:  deceitful, deceptive, manipulative & unhelpful

 In a democracy we delegate responsibility to our elected representatives...occasionally we have a Referendum...when matters are so great that it is good to get whole-community consensus
Plebiscites, it seems to me, are when our elected representatives are so weak-kneed that they lack the courage and conviction to do what they were elected to do.
To not be too cynical, it is the sort of thing our Lords and Masters ( for they are largely male) do when they are too lily livered to actually make a decision...God forbid that they might actually declare their hands!

Sooooo....the dilemma we now face in the Parliament which looks increasingly hung is this:

• Turnbull has declared that there will be a Plebiscite  before the end of the year
• Shorten, whilst not committed  to a Plebiscite, suggests that there should be resolution of this issue within 100 days

What it seems to me.....neither of these luminaries rate this issue as primary within their present HUNG PARLIAMENT scenario

Even more importantly, neither Shorten nor Turnbull, can actually effect their agenda...

So my, SAD,  suggestion is that the expectation about Marriage Equality is not going to be addressed by either Turnbull or Shorten...they will both have their reasons.

None of them will resonate with people on either side.

I suspect it will make Australians seem like Luddites. The people of a generation  a hundred years or more ago!

Have you got round to reading this great novel

This is sometimes said to be both a Chinese curse or a blessing.. may you live in Interesting Times.. personally I am inclined to think it is better to live in interesting times.
It was an interesting week earlier in the year.
A funeral of a friend who died quite quickly. 
I was called to bless a dog that was going to be put down.
Australia is besotted by the centenary of ANZAC at Gallipoli.
The Dr told me my "blood" was OK but I have a B12 deficiency (reading the Wiki entry it seems to describe me to a T)
I read The Narrow Road to the Deep North  an amazing read for Australians intent  on misunderstanding the involvement we had in WW1 & WW2 :Thom Keneally's review here)
I attended one of the many Parish Nomination Committee meetings [I have become  a "professional Diocesan nominator"...and the level of vacancy makes it rather taxing... I take this role very seriously, and I am glad that His Grace seem to do so also] The church is changing, morphing, declining, growing....those things may seem contradictory...but church is rather like that

Interesting times!
In the meantime...I live with an interesting person (my daughter!....lest you forget!) , I married my niece. I visited a jail. And greatest of joys...I went to fix my daughter's shower....and was able to hold the most precious member of our family in my arms. I like that better than anything else (even better than the sound of my own voice!)

Interesting times! Interesting times?
A curse, but most likely,
a blessing

Journeys of life- part the second

In 1967 we set sail for Australia. I was 14. I think none of us, parents included, had any idea of what was really ahead of us.
Nevertheless we had an exotic trip aboard the SS Orsova of the P&O line. Visiting Gibraltar, then Port Said......just before the Suez Canal was closed we passed through, , bypassing Aden (where an 'incident' had occurred...a soldier I think having been shot.... ) we went to Djibouti on the horn of Africa.  I remember being quite frightened as night fell and we were far away, and quite aware, for the first time ever, that we were white people on a black continent.
We went on to the exciting city of Bombay/Mumbai....we had never seen anything like it. Encapsulating as it does both the tensions of India and the still present tensions of the Raj with its great gateway to India.
The tension that India is both British and Indian.
In the midst of all this is poverty and porn....women in cages.....I had no conception of what this meant.
From there to Penang and the Temple of a thousand Buddhas   and the Snake Temple (here). The stupid taxi driver gave my brother R a baby snake. At least we had the sense to realise that there was no way we would be bringing live reptiles into Australia.
A couple of day later we sailed into the more benign Singapore. A pleasant drive around and my father had clever photos taken of my mother sitting in his hand....I will try to find these and post them later.
Then we landed in Fremantle, sailed on to Adelaide (the Bight was rough!) and then we drove to Whyalla ......what a shock!

Interesting times

This is sometimes said to be both a Chinese curse or a blessing.. may you live in Interesting Times.. personally I am inclined to think it is better to live in interesting times.
It has been an interesting week.
A funeral of a friend who died quite quickly.
I was called to bless a dog that was going to be put down.
Australia is besotted by the centenary of ANZAC at Gallipoli.
The Dr told me my "blood" was OK but I have a B12 deficiency (reading the Wiki entry it seems to describe me to a T)
I have been reading The Narrow Road to the Deep North  a very good book to read in this ANZAC week  (read Thom Keneally's review here)
I attended one of the many Parish Nomination Committee meetings [I have become  a "professional Diocesan nominator"...and the level of vacancy makes it rather taxing... I take this role very seriously, and I am glad that His Grace seem to do so also] The church is changing, morphing, declining, growing....those things may seem contradictory...but church is rather like that

Interesting times!
In the meantime...I live with an interesting person (my daughter!....lest you forget!) , I married my niece. I visited a jail. And greatest of joys...I went to fix my daughter's shower....and was able to hold the most precious member of our family in my arms. I like that better than anything else (even better than the sound of my own voice!)

Interesting times! Interesting times?
A curse, but most likely,
a blessing

Faith in ourselves (i)

I haven't normally and/or ever felt the need to defend the ABC;  its policies, its reporting and any  particular strengths, weaknesses, biases or general inadequacies.

Last night (Monday 6/10.14)  it was instructive to watch about 2+ hours of broadcast.

The 7.30 Report noted that the current Federal government  didn't really like the ABC. There was the suggestion that no matter what was reported the ABC would be opposed to the right wing government ...commonly called the 'Coalition'. 

But it moved on; the wonderful Australian Story, once again delivered a high quality story about Jack Rogerson, an autistic child who has been so loved by his parents; and so supported by friends, family and community (including the wonderful Jesuit school at Riverview....I think the Society of Jesus would be cautious about claiming particular credit for Jack....but they seem to have got their act together.)
The real people who got their "act together" were: Jack himself; Ian Rogerson, a former media person;  and the extremely impressive Nicole Rogerson. [This all begs the question about what happens to those kids whose parents don't have what the Rogersons had ..financial resources, intellect, insight and capacity...] .  But it was a profound insight about what might happen when faith is bigger than fear!
Well done ABC     more to come!

Culture v. cringe

In today's Advertiser Natasha Stott-Despoja is right to draw our attention to the curiosity of Michael Parkinson being the first non-Australian to give the Australia Day address, I think she is wrong to attribute this to the return of cultural cringe.
I would suggest that we are now at a point in our history where having freed ourselves from our colonial past we do not have to be frightened that every British commentator can drag us back there. That indeed would be cultural cringe. Parkinson, as a world-citizen, would be more aware than most of the complex issues of our history and can offer perceptive commentary on our place in the modern world. It is not a sign of regression but a sign of our increasing maturity that we can receive this..

It's a concern!

Commentators are today suggesting that the world needs to commit to Haiti for at least 10 years. Having had 65% of whatever small economy generating package it has destroyed, this would seem inevitable.

What exactly such a world commitment might mean is unclear. Usually it means that the recipient will have to tow the line if they are to share in the largesse. We are not free from the practice of fettering our aid to our particular requirements (money directed to roads in PNG for example which will facilitate Australia's trading interests...coincidentally improving infrastructure, but what is the driving interest). The US has habitually used its economic might to ensure it has strategic military bases. Russia does the same.

China is following suit. Though it is interesting to note that some analysis of their present frenzy in Africa is much more directly promoting their commercial interests than former colonial powers used to like to attest to.

The attraction of Africa for many Europeans was cheap labour, China has steady supply of such and so often sends its own "guest workers" to staff factories,build roads and so on.

It's all complex stuff.

There is little or no doubt that Haiti will not make it on its own. There is also plenty of evidence that nations are by and large self-serving. It is not ideal, but maybe the most that can be offered.

God help Haiti which has little to bargain with.

Flagging a concern

Let's be respectful of our present flag. And also recognise that it does not necessarily do what flags are supposed to do.

What most of us don't get about flags is that you are meant to take one look at them and instantly recognise the country they signify.

They are not cartoon depictions of our history. As soon as we want them to do that they fail, because they cause conflict about what they don't say as much as about what they do say.

The key issue about our present flag, which some seem to want to be this sort of historical statement, is what it does not and cannot say about our indigenous heritage.

The strength of the Canadian flag, which we so admire, is that they understood the basic need for a flag to be a strong unified symbol not a complex historical depiction of a partisan interpretation of the past.

Young and free...maybe a little indebted

Most people seem to be getting that to sing (as you do) our national anthem and rejoice that we are 'young and free' is yet another example of simply ignoring any idea that we have an indigenous culture. A culture which, depending on your reckoning, is 40 probably 60 and maybe even 100 thousand years old.
I am not entirely happy with the description that it is the longest continuing culture in the world, (though the case can be made and I am open to being convinced). That, I think, begs the question about whether Australian aboriginal culture has the consistency for such a period that would mean there is anything more than the tenuous link that we live on an island and so it must be 'continuing' in that sense.
But that there has been art, music, story, familial structure, aetiological mythology,is abundantly clear.
Mabo and Wik articulated from a legal point of view that as far as this country is concerned it was not an uninhabited wasteland just wasting for the young and free to some and rape it.

On this Australia Day remember we are both young and free, and also old and deep

Interesting nonsense

There is an interesting toing-and-froing about my previous entry concerning the visit of the latest monarchist heartthrob (here).

I make the point in comments that having seen "Invictus" last night that some countries do manage to get good leaders (eventually) and cite Mandela as case in point.

My issue (from the previous post) about the monarchy is that it is essentially unjust, and unfair to give people authority and power on the basis of "accident of birth".

It seems to be nonsense to entrench injustice at the highest level of government.

There are of course many injustices and corruptions that flow into leadership struggles, not the least of which is the influence of big money and political parties.

My combatant suggests that Mandela is good because he is actually 'royalty' of the African kind.

The truth is, whether royalty or not, he was still elected.

It seems ludicrous to me that a country like ours should even consider having as head of state someone who is not a citizen of our land. (Whether 'royal' or not, Mandela was a South African...the Windsors are not Australians).

A person, even with dual citizenship, is excluded from being a Senator in the Federal Parliament unless they renounce their citizenship of the alien land. And rightly so.

I do not see monarchists even faintly suggesting that anyone of Aboriginal royal descent should be promoted as potential King or Queen of Australia! The idea has certain appeal!

Putting all that aside, it is easy to get distracted by seductive niggling arguments which divert us.

But, fundamentally, I cannot see that any nation should have as its leader someone who is the citizen of another country.

Whilst allowing for the fact that most systems have deep flaws I also cannot see that the leader should just become so because of accident of birth. At the very least the particular candidate, whether monarch or president or governor, should have some sort of popular approval...probably by a majority of votes in favour (whether of the populace or the Parliament)

Young prince does not a monarchy make

As attractive as the young Prince William is, [and he's a good looking guy (though I suspect he will have as much hair as Edward by the time he is 30)], good looks do not a monarchy make.
Inherent in the monarchical system is a basic injustice: you shall have power not by virtue of your ability, but by virtue of your birth.
So let's get over this.
If we are to be seriously regarded as nation in Century 21 then let's get real about the fact that monarch is not for us.
This is not about "if it ain't broke don't fix it", this is about let's do what is appropriate for today not 200 years ago

the eagles have landed

having left snow capped UK and passed through -8 in Incheon, the weary travellers did make it back...to be back here for a 41 degree today and 43 tomorrow!

Both churches are stinking!

Many years ago

I have blogged before about the journey our family made in 1967 from up there to down here.
Today is the anniversary of our arriving in Australia. I was 14 and couldn't even imagine being 42, let alone 42 years passing since our arrival.
Life goes on, much has changed. There are of course many cliches that could be hurled around.
My previous blog asserts how profoundly Australian I feel, and how I can see myself living nowhere else. I don't even want to emigrate to Melbourne!
But, lest we forget, emigration is not without significant cost. The loss of a large extended family nearby (hundreds of them within 30 kms) I didn't realise until years later how much a loss this was.
My sister L has moved from the swamp (way on the northern side) to Goodwood (about 10mins away...on a good day) and I have seen her more in the last week than I have in the last three months, and it's nice. Our family here is not quite as large as it was in England, but it has now got very big too. As we get older we realise that this is all a bit more precious than we might have realised.
Incidentally eldest child is in the process of getting a British passport, and will be making the journey the other way in a few months. She will return, we hope. But many don't.

On being young and free

At least most people seem to be getting this year that to sing (as you do) our national anthem and rejoice that we are 'young and free' is yet another example of simply ignoring any idea that we have an indigenous culture. A culture which, depending on your reckoning, is 40 probably 60 and maybe even 100 thousand years old.
I am not entirely happy with the description that it is the longest continuing culture in the world, (though the case can be made and I am open to being convinced). That, I think, begs the question about whether Australian aboriginal culture has the consistency for such a period that would mean there is anything more than the tenuous link that we live on an island and so it must be 'continuing' in that sense.
But that there has been art, music, story, familial structure, aetiological mythology,is abundantly clear.
Mabo and Wik articulated from a legal point of view that as far as this country is concerned it was not an uninhabited wasteland just wasting for the young and free to some and rape it.

On this Australia Day remember we are both young and free and also old and deep

Medals

A friend told me yesterday that travelling through Australian customs with his military medals (quite a valuable collection both sentimentally and emotionally) his bags were rudely prodded and poked because the X Ray machine had picked something up.
"What's this?" said the rude little man; and when T went to get the medals out to show himhe was ordered to not touch the bag as that was his (the officious little inspector's) job.
This rather contrasts with some other experiences. We ourselves on a couple of occasions in our recent travels had to explain the contents of our bags, on all occasions only we and not the the official, were allowed to touch our belongings.
This is as it should be (at least in the first instance) since we are the ones responsible for them.
This did not stop proper investigation and actually allowed an higher level of accountability. What ever else you might say about the two Asian countries we recently visited, their regimens were always thorough and always polite. Australian official should take a leaf from their book.
And T followed up the story by remarking how different his experience when the same thing happened enetering the US, admittedly a little wiser he had the medals out his bag and ready to explain. The woman customs officer asked him to explain what they were and on finding out expressed the heartiest welcome to their land, and her sense of privilege at being shown the medals.
Like many Australian travellers we remark when we return that we could and indeed should do this stuff better if we are to be taken seriously

Caring Little, Caring Less

Few Australians know or care much about Tibet. What we do know seems to be largely romanticised twaddle about a Shangri-La like culture which existed before the Chinese occupation just after the war, which sent the Dalai Lama into exile in Northern India.
The Dalai Lama is an exemplary person who appears to live out in reality what he proclaims in practice, non-violence. Whilst being articulate and outspoken, he nevertheless has refused to be drawn into a slanging match with the Chinese.
If China decided to end the Tibet crisis it could do it now. The truth is that China can essentially do what it likes. It comes from being the biggest kid in the classroom. It doesn't do it (presumably) because it cannot afford to isolate itself from world opinion when it has just spent the best part of the last two decades getting back into the mainstream.
Australia has discovered an interesting thing, we can be frightened or we can be strong. Frightened that we alienate the world's largest market. Strong as we realise that we are not without bargaining chips...coal. But also a sense of place in the world.
We cannot get too cocky, China could sit on us as easily as it sits on Tibet.
But we should try and be strong and do what is right. That's what seems to be hapenning.
Cooperating does not mean agreeing to every whim. Nor does it mean being painfully priggish.
But one imagines no one will pretend any more that the Olympicxs are or can be politics free

Apology is as apology does

Two interesting questions about apologies hover around us. One is the apparently bizarres suggestion that David Hicks, having now served his sentence, should apologise for what he has done.
This might be nice, but it is hardly a legal requisite. Given the fact that there are also big questions about the nature of his internment any way, and no apology forthcoming from either American or Australian governments to him, then perhaps it should all be left well alone.
We also wonder about if and when the Rudd government will apologise to the stolen generations. I guess they will, and I suppose they will also pick their time.
Australia Day would seem opportune. We shall have to wait and see!

Loyal Citizenry

I was interested to catch a story on the ABC's Landline yesterday (coming here soon)about helping Zimbabwean farmers to come to Australia. It was a good story about positive immigration, and did not pretend to be easy.
At the conclusion of the story one of the English, (I think) commentators made the observation about receiving Australian citizenship that "An Australian born here will never understand how wonderful it is to have a piece of paper that says "Australian Citizenship". I know this feeling well, and have sometimes voiced similar sentiments to all the members of my family who (unlike me) happen to have had the good fortune to have been born here. Mrs C being a fourth generation Australian, and the little Cs therefore being fifth.
We take so much for granted. Our recent jaunt overseas, as enjoyable and wonderful as it was , did not diminish our delight at coming back to Australia. And I have no doubt that I am an Australian, and I am pleased to be able to say it is not just an accident of my birth.
It was interesting to read a piece in the Sydney Morning Herald by Richard Ackland (here) about the Haniff affair. Interesting because, in a way, everything has quieted down.
But he notes (amongst other things) how protagonists of tighter immigration laws, indeed the present Minister, wear the paraphernalia of citizenship...lapel badges and the like, almost in inverse proportion to their proclivity to breach values like the rule of law, freedom, and the right to a fair go. He has a point. Even if it is a little far-fetched to blame the lowly lapel badge for so much.
But at a time when we are talking about what sort of statements new citizens will have to sign up to...we should perhaps be prepared to seriously address the issues of what words and expressions like "the rule of law", "fair go", and "mateship" mean.
Personally if I was a Digger of the First War I would laugh every time the PM declares mateship to be one key value. While one can see how the filth of the trenches and the camraderie of war may indeed breed something so powerful called "mateship" that it can almost not be defined, but what suffering have Howard and Andrews endured that is anything like that supreme bonding experience.
From the comfort of the Parliament, and the bastion of power it is easy to call everyone your mate; and bear none of the consequences.
My piece of paper is worth more to me than that!