Editorial

During this year around Australia women have been celebrating the centenary of womanhood suffrage at the national level and in NSW at the state level also. A central question posed has been: ‘What have women achieved through the vote?’

Certainly the woman suffrage activists hoped to achieve much from the vote, with one exclaiming: ‘As the keystone solidifies the arch, so will that mighty lever, the vote, solidify the privileges already gained, and right the wrongs that still exist … Then indeed will the day of the sweater, seducer and oppressor have forever passed.’

From 1904 many Catholic women in NSW became politically active helping to establish the Women’s Organising Committee of the NSW Labor Party. When celebrating their Silver Jubilee in 1929 these women declared: ‘What a reward we have reaped – and how hopeless the task looked when we set out!’ Among the Parliamentary Acts for which they had worked and which they declared had greatly benefited women and children in Australia were the Shops and Factories, Early Closing, Industrial Disputes, Minimum Wage, Infants Protection, Maternity Allowance, and the Old Age and Invalid Protection Acts .

Also hailed by the women among their achievements were the forty-four hour working week, the appointment of inspectors to guard awards, widow’s pensions and family endowment.

In the mainstream history books it is the men politicians who are credited with the reforms cited above. But the women on 1929 recalled: ‘Many, many were the days spent in walking from door to door – a task which often meant covering a whole electorate in order to place the policy of Labor in the homes of the women of the city. In the country our noble band went forth with little or no provision made for their comfort.’

While acknowledging the progress made the women regretted that they were ‘still on the outer rim of political life’ both at the State and Commonwealth level. The prominent Catholic NSW political activist, Kate Dwyer, exhorted the women: ‘Remember while progressing you must look to securing your rightful place among the councillors and legislators of your country. You have ability, capacity and grit.’ She was of the opinion that ‘women as the home-makers should be given every encouragement and scope to become nation builders, for the interests of home and nation are interwoven ...’

A message of congratulations was sent to the NSW women on the occasion of their Jubilee by the Catholic Victorian political activist Jean Daley. After acknowledging ‘Twenty-five years of high endeavour!’ she lamented the current state of child care, regretting deeply that ‘despite all our civilisation, luxury, education and alleged refinement, we can be guilty of the grossest cruelties to the weak, the helpless and the voiceless section of our community.’

It has to be admitted that, despite the fact that many women took their newly earned suffrage rights seriously, one hundred years later Australian women are still endeavouring to cope with many of the same injustices faced by their foremothers: the problem of sweated labour, which now concerns mainly the exploitation of migrant women working at home for factories and shops; women are still underpaid in many areas of the workforce especially where they are in the majority such as in nursing and childcare; domestic violence, sexual abuse, neglected children and the support of families are still pressing problems.

The women of 1902 lamented the greed of their time and hoped for legislation to help control it and we are currently lamenting the greed of our time with the collapse of so many big companies and looking for ways to legislate to control it and protect the community. Women are still lamenting the lack of their presence in decision making positions in public life, especially in Parliament.

But women have not given up! In the same spirit as the women of 1902 they established in 1992 ‘Women into Politics’, a coalition of women’s organisations with the objective of working towards increasing the numbers of women in our parliaments and in all areas of Australian public life. And not unrelated to this wider movement, within the Catholic Church there has been established the Commission for Australian Catholic Women designed to work with the men in the Church for a more fully Gospel oriented Church and consequently a more just and compassionate society.

Getting the vote empowered and challenged Australian women in 1902 and it is still empowering and challenging Australian women in 2002!

Creation and Complexity Workshop
Australian National University,
Canberra, 25-30 January, 2002

This conference was subsidised by the Templeton Foundation, which fosters the dialogue between Religion and Science, and was also a Workshop for award winners of the Centre for the Study of Theology and Natural Sciences Course Proposal Awards. It was a rich and exciting affair, with all the energy of multiple disciplines exploring the implications of contemporary science for religion and theology. These Workshops were educative in purpose and so most sessions were keynote presentations by scholars of international reputation.

Dr David Wilkinson, British astronomer and theologian, gave two superb presentations. The first was ‘A surer path to God or an absence to God: the origin of the universe in science and theology,’ and the second ‘ The end of it all: cosmology and Christian eschatology in dialogue’. In these he examined scientific theories of the universe’s origin and end, before exploring theological responses. The primary themes were the nature of God and divine relationship with the universe, and questions of eschatology posed by discoveries that the universe is accelerating and is likely to ‘fry or freeze’. Either scenario poses problems for revelation’s promise of a transformation of Creation.

Dr Neils Gregersen is a Danish theologian who has been engaging scientists in conversation for some time. He spoke first on ‘Theology and the sciences of complexity’. That is, how complex systems emerge from the less complex, and how one accounts for the emergence of the complexity which is not necessarily inherent or potential at the lower levels. His second paper engaged in a critical review of intelligent design theories.

New Zealand biologist and religious studies scholar Dr Carolyn King, gave several presentations that explored the questions raised for Christianity by theories of evolution: original sin, altruism, moral choice and cooperation versus self-preservation. While her presentations would have been enriched by a gender critique of science, her reverence for creation and her capacity for wonder were notable. Her new book, Habitat of Grace was also launched at the conference.

Australian theologian and Aboriginal Elder, Joan Hendriks, offered her paper on ‘Towards an Australian spirituality: a search for the margin in-between’, in which place, ecology and reverence for creation were central themes. Dr Bob Russell, Director of the Berkeley Centre , presented his paper on ‘Chaos and complexity: theological perspectives’. Dr Mark Worthing, from Tabor College in Adelaide, discussed ‘Time and eternity as a scientific and theological problem’, while Dr John Russell brought the conference very much back to contemporary ethical dilemmas with his paper on ‘Developments in human stem cell research: science and Christian ethics.’

(Editorial note: In November 2001 Dr Kim Power was awarded a grant from the Centre for the Study of Theology and Natural Sciences (CTNS) at Berkeley University (USA) for a unit she designed in Religion and Science called: ‘Are we hardwired for holiness? From neuroscience to neurotheology’. The course unit incorporates a gender critique of both science and theology. The funds are from the Templeton Foundation but chanelled through the CTNS. The course will be ACU Theo. 633, and held on two week-ends in 2003: 8-9 Feb. and March 15-16. If interested contact Kim for a Syllabus. )

White Women, Indigenous People and the Commonwealth Vote

University of Melbourne Seminar, 17 May 2002

This seminar was convened by the Department of History and the Department of Politics at the University of Melbourne in order to mark the Centenary of the debate on the Commonwealth Franchise Act which simultaneously enfranchised all white Australian women while effectively disenfranchising all Aboriginal people in the new Commonwealth.

Patricia Grimshaw (Professor of History, Melbourne Univeristy) opened the seminar with her paper on ‘White Women as “Nation Builders”: Gender, Colonialism and the

Commonwealth Vote’. The following presenters ranged widely over the conference theme, although as the day progressed a focus developed on the narratives of inclusion, exclusion, contagion and degeneration which were so dominant in the thinking of the time. In her insightful concluding remarks Marcia Langton, Professor of Indigenous Studies at the University of Melbourne, argued that the issues discussed at the seminar were of interest well beyond feminist, indigenous or even historical study. Rather, she said, they went to the core of citizenship which is important to us all.

The papers from the seminar are to be edited for publication by Dr John Chesterman and A/Professor David Philips and should be available in 2003.

Colloquia, ACU Strathfield, 1 June 2002

The first Colloquia organised by the ACU WHTS Research Project Team was held at the Mount Saint Mary Campus, Strathfield on I June 2002. About thirty of the Project’s friends and friends of friends attended a most informative and enjoyable day.

The first speaker was Dr Kerrie Hide of the School of Theology, ACU Canberra campus. Her paper, entitled ‘The Soteriology of Julian of Norwich’ was drawn from her published thesis on this medieval mystic. Dr Hide concentrated on that section of Julian’s writings which includes the famous vision of the hazelnut lying in the palm of her hand, and had thoughtfully provided a hazelnut for each participant in the colloquia, which focused us quite powerfully as she spoke. The following conversation was led very skillfully by Dr Carmel Bendon (Macquarie Univerity) who in 2001 received her doctorate in the same area of study.

In the second colloquium Dr Marilyn Kelleher cgs gave us a fascinating glimpse into the social work of the Good Samaritan Sisters in both Sydney and Parramatta in the early and mid nineteenth century. The former location was a home for ‘penitent’ girls and woman, and in Parramatta the Sisters ran a government orphanage with extraordinary dedication and a real understanding of the needs and problems of the children under their care. Dr Kelleher had extensive statistical material relating to the two institutions and some wonderful photographs of the Sisters who worked there. The lively conversation which followed this paper was led by Leslie Hughes (University of New South Wales) who is completing her doctoral thesis in the field of women and philanthropy in 19th century Australia

In the third colloquium Dr Janet Currie presented a paper entitled ‘Bringing Meaning to Life - the Spiritual and Health Dimension as part of Holistic Health’. Janet, from the ACU Faculty of Health Sciences, is interested in bringing together all three aspects of a person’s health, namely physical, psychological and spiritual. She had us smiling as she related the reaction of some of her young sport’s loving male students to this concept. Noelene Kelly from the ACU Staff Development Department, who has a strong interest in the area of holistic health, guided us in the final conversation.

The enthusiastic and wide ranging discussions which followed the three papers were evidence of the interest in the breadth of research into women’s issues, whether they be historical, spiritual or theological. We look forward to the next Colloquia arranged by the Research Project Team.

(Editor: The written evaluations of the day were uniformly appreciative e.g. ‘What was especially good was the enthusiasm, conversation and friendly supportive atmosphere’; ‘Friendly, relaxed, excellent presenters. Thank you’; ‘What was especially good was the format of the event, and the calibre of the presenters and the leaders of the conversations’. The 2003 Colloquia is currently being organised.)

Crossing Boundaries - National Conference of the Australian Historical Association, Brisbane, 3-7 July 2002

The theme of this conference was ‘crossing boundaries’ . The aim of the conference organisers was to show how disciplinary boundaries are traversed in the production of history, how histories intersect with each other, how narrative boundaries are constructed and transcended - how all kinds of real or imagined boundaries might be crossed.

This was a most successful conference being well organised and well attended, providing a forum for papers of high quality and with the provision of imaginative keynote panel sessions such as ‘Alternative Australias’ featuring Professor Donald Denoon (ANU) and Professor Henry Reynolds (University of Tasmania); and ‘Asian Futures’ featuring Dr Robert Cribb (University of Queensland) and Dr Louise Edwards (ACU).