Month: January 1993

The retiring Bishop of Canberra and Goulburn, Owen Dowling, was married yesterday to Gloria Goodwin at St Paul’s, Manuka.

It was, and it was not, St Paul’s day.

It is St Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians that is cited by those opposing the ordination of women.

The Reverend Vicky Cullen, ordained by Bishop Dowling last month, celebrated the Eurcharist at the service. She was the first woman to do so in St Paul’s. She said it was a privilege and joyous occasion.

The marriage was celebrated by the Reverend Keith McCollim who took St Paul’s letter to the Colossians as the starting point for his address.

And the same letter by St Paul was chosen as the reading.

St Paul’s was packed with nearly 300 people who listened to the celebrants and the couple’s children, Natalie and Gavin Oliver and Matthew and Mary Dowling, lead prayers and the readings.

The couple would not say where they will spend their honeymoon, though “”it will be somewhere quiet,” according to the bride.

Bishop Dowling has had a difficult year in his struggle for the ordination of women. An ordination service planned at the beginning of the year was blocked by the courts. Later the General Synod cleared the way for their ordination and the first women to be ordained in Canberra-Goulburn were admitted to the priesthood by him last month.

Yesterday was the first full day of Bishop Dowling’s retirement. He said after the service, “”We can spend a whole new life together; it’s wonderful.”

The Dowlings will not live in Canberra, though he has been bishop nine years and 27 years in the ministry in the diocese.

Bishop Dowling went on extensive sick leave earlier in the year after charges laid by Victorian police over an alleged incident in Bendigo. These were dropped by the Victorian Director of Public Prosecutions who said they were trivial and victimless and not in the public interest given the probable effect on the bishop’s health.

In his address at the service, the Reverend McCollim quoted St Paul: “”Love does not gloss over the past.”

He said there were three dimensions of love to be considered: the past, the present and the future.

“”Any love that cannot face all three does not merit our consideration today, or for that matter any day,” he said. “”In any marriage, let alone a remarriage, love encounters those darker times of bygone events where failure, selfishness or weakness may well have been experienced. St Paul reminds us that “love keeps no score of wrongs. does not gloat over others’ sins.”

On present love he said the “”now generation” had resulted in too high expectations of marraige that could almost ensure disappointment and disillusionment. But “”true love will neither founder on the rocks of past failure, nor invest all it’s capital in the present experience. There is always more to come”.

He said “”Gloria and Owen now find themselves at a new beginning.”

After the service, Owen Dowling stepped out into the blinding sunshine with his bride for photographs and greet well-wishers on the lawns outside St Paul’s.

There is an enormous commotion with television cameras whirring and a tussle between the thugs, the security guards and the musician. Finally, two burly New York cops arrive. The KGB men immediately say the musician is Russian, he must go with them to the airport back to Moscow.

At which, one of the cops says: “”This is New York. The man can go where he likes.”

It was an earthy expression of the presumption of freedom _ a presumption that is being sadly eroded in Australia.
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Inconsistency and genteel hypocrisy surround the new racial vilification law now before the Federal Parliament.

The Bill amends the Crimes Act and the Racial Discrimination Act. The first makes it an offence (penalty one year’s jail) to commit a public act that is racially offensive. Racially offensive means an act “”likely, in all the circumstances, to stir up hatred against a person or group of persons on the ground of race, colour or national or ethnic origin”. Public act is defined as communicating words, sounds or images to the public, and includes gestures. There is a further requirement that the accused knows the act is public and is racially offensive.

The change to the Racial Discrimination Act has wider definition of racial vilification, however, the remedy is different. Vilification is not an offence, but the aggrieved person can seek conciliation before the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission. In this Act, racial vilification is knowingly or recklessly doing a public act that is likely to stir up hatred, serious contempt or severe ridicule. No actual intention is necessary.
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Is Australia’s best month, certainly on the eastern seaboard. Daylight saving. The beach. Cricket. And the cocooning of politicians. Wrangles over One Nation and Fightback II are deflected gently to the boundary. No elections are held in January. No unionist leaders agitate for strikes. Big bosses go on leave and enterprises run less frenetically. January is the lucky month in the lucky country.

How fortuitous (it’s original meaning) it is that we mark in January two of the most significant days in this land’s history: January 26, 1788, and January 1, 1901. We can consider these national days in a time of leisure and at a time when it very difficult time for journalists to think of anything to write about at all.

I have a proposal. When the pollies come back, talk of the republic will resume. Opinion polls are showing increasing support for a republic, but people seem worried about how exactly it will work. They are worried that the American system will be introduced or that a President could assume unto himself or herself great powers repugnant to our love of liberty etc.
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Recalling Parliament just so the Government can chuck mud at the Leader of the Opposition under parliamentary privilege seems a very expensive way of going about things.

It is an admission by the Government of one of two things. Either the Government wants to say things which are untrue or unfair about Dr Hewson’s tax and business affairs or it has to admit that the defamation laws prevent legitimate discussion of matters of fundamental importance to the Australian people as they come to make a decision at a Federal election.

I think the latter is the case. The Government wants to comment about Dr Hewson but cannot because Australia’s idiotic defamation laws are too restrictive. Those laws define fair comment too restrictively, let lawyers extract all sorts of defamatory imputations out of words which say no such thing, and are burdened with staggering amounts of costly legal farnarkling that shackle free speech.
Continue reading “1993_01_january_column4”

Have nothing to be proud of when surveying, yet again, record low rod-toll figures for 1992.

ACT figures are no measure because of its small population, but in NSW the toll of 650 was the lowest in 42 years, 13 down on last year and way down on the 1067 in 1985. Other states have shown similar falls.

However, we cannot pat ourselves on the back and say what wonderful, sensible, careful, caring drivers we have been through the year.
Continue reading “1993_01_january_column1”

On census night, August 6, 1991, 280,095 people were counted in the ACT and Jervis bay, according to figures issued yesterday by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

It was up 12.3 per cent on the previous census in 1986.

Tuggeranong was up 44.7 per cent, Woden 6.3, Central 6.0, Belconnen 5.2, and Weston -4.7.

On census night, 60.0 of those counted in the ACT a Jervis Bay were under 35 and 6.1 were 65 or over.

In cash has been stolen from the University Co-op Bookshop over the past 10 years, mainly by staff, according to co-op sources.

The revelation comes at a time of major upheaval for the 570,000-member co-op. Earlier this month the board of directors sacked the three top executives of the co-op, and despite calls from staff and members have not given detailed reasons for doing so.

The past two annual elections of the board, a third of which is elected on rotation every year, have seen young people with an accounting background replace older academics and publishing figures.

The thefts include one of $3000 from the University of NSW store this month, $35,000 from the same University last year, $35,000 from Sydney Technical College in 1989 and $30,000 from ANU in 1991.

Police have confirmed at least $155,000 worth of thefts at eight co-op locations, according to the sources.

Other co-op sources suggest the revelation about the thefts might be part of a campaign to show all has not been well with co-op security and administration.

Managers and some directors of the co-op say the three sacked executives are of the highest managerial calibre and integrity. Questions put to the chairman of the board, James Emerson, and other board members have been met with answers that the dismissals occurred because the board had differences of business approach with the long-serving executives.

Some of the newer directors have made calls at directors’ meetings and at the annual general meeting for increased directors’ fees, but have not been successful. At the last annual meeting proxy votes carried by one of the dismissed executives were decisive in defeating the increase in directors’ fees, according to another co-op source.

Mr Emerson has said the co-op is in good financial shape. He said advertisements had gone out to fill the executive positions and that staff and members had nothing to fear about their positions and the direction of the co-op.

The co-op was set up 34 years ago to ensure supply at a reasonable price of academic books to students and staff. It has a presence at nearly all Australian tertiary institutions.

About 20 branch managers met the new acting general manager, Malcolm Thomas, on Thursday. They asked the reasons for the dismissal but were not satisfied with the answers. They have framed 14 questions for the board which they want answered before the board’s next meeting on February 14.

Mr Thomas, who has worked for the co-op for 13 years was appointed acting managing director to replace Jack McLoone last week.

The vice-chancellors of the ANU and the University of Canberra have expressed their concern about the changes, saying this time of year is a sensitive time for the supply of books on academic reading lists.

The board of the University Co-Operative Bookshop decided yesterday not to take any action over an allegation of a conflict of interest by one of its directors.

A statement issued by the chairman of the board of directors, James Emerson, said that the board had also appointed Malcolm Thomas as acting managing director following the dismissal a week ago of the three most senior executives of the co-op.

A special meeting of directors had been called for yesterday by director Ted Seng, a Sydney accountant. Mr Seng is one of a number of young directors with mainly accounting backgrounds who have been elected at the past two elections replacing directors with long academic, publishing and business backgrounds.

It is understood he had proposed seek the removal of Maurice Dunlevy from the board because Mr Dunlevy had written in his weekly column in üThe Canberra Times that certain books were available from Dymocks, a competitor of the co-op.

Mr Dunlevy, of the University of Canberra, has been on the board for nine years. He is the only remaining academic on it and is its longest-serving member. He was not at the special meeting that sacked the executives because the agenda item spoke of healing past differences that had built up to start the new year on an amicable footing and he had a family commitment at the time. He said he had been taken by surprise. He has praised the sacked executives, including the general manager Jack McLoone, as people of integrity and managerial talent.

Mr Emerson said yesterday that advertisements had appeared in national newspapers for the three jobs: general manager, financial controller and head of the schools division. He expected appointments within three weeks. He had been given legal advice to decline comment on why the three former executives had been sacked.

He said Mr Thomas had been with the co-op for 13 years, the last six as supply manager. Mr Thomas would be arranging meetings with branch managers in the near future to allay concerns relating to recent events. The co-op was in a sound financial position.

Staff at several co-op stores have expressed their anxiety about the sackings. Staff and members are concerned that at board and executive level the co-op is losing its academic and publishing skills. The board has nine directors with a third up for election every year. Staff sources say that very few of the 570,000 members vote at board elections.

The co-op has 570,000 members and stores in nearly all tertiary institutions and serves some schools. It was founded 34 years ago to ensure adequate supplies of academic books at a reasonable price.

Mr Emerson said members of the co-op had a democratic right to seek a special general meeting over the events if they wanted. However, the board was charged with running the co-op in between members’ meetings.

Moves are being made to remove the last academic director of the University Co-operative Bookshop after the sacking last week of the three most senior executives.

A special meeting of directors was called for today by director Ted Seng, a Sydney accountant. Mr Seng is one of a number of young directors with mainly accounting backgrounds who have been elected at the past two elections replacing directors with long academic, publishing and business backgrounds.

The co-op has 570,000 members and stores in nearly all tertiary institutions and serves some schools. It was founded 34 years ago to ensure adequate supplies of academic books at a reasonable price.

Mr Dunlevy, of the University of Canberra, has been on the board for nine years and is its longest-serving member. He was not at the special meeting that sacked the executives because the agenda item spoke of healing past differences that had built up to start the new year on an amicable footing and he had a family commitment at the time. He said he had been taken by surprise. He has praised the sacked executives, including the general manager Jack McLoone, as people of integrity and managerial talent.

It is understood a move will be made at today’s meeting to remove him citing conflict of interest because he had mentioned in his weekly column in üThe Canberra Times that certain books were obtainable at Dymocks. Dymocks is nominally in opposition to the co-op.

It is understood that copies of Mr Dunlevy’s column, üWriters’ World, which have appeared every Saturday in üThe Canberra Times for 25 years, have been kept at several co-op bookstores and that these have been looked through for instances of conflict of interest.

Staff at several co-op stores have expressed their anxiety about the sackings. Staff and members are concerned that at board and executive level the co-op is losing its academic and publishing skills. The board has nine directors with a third up for election every year. Staff sources say that very few of the 570,000 members vote at board elections. Defeated directors in the past two years include Professor David Fraser, former stock exchange executive Telford Conlan and newspaper publishing expert Fred Brenchley.

Moves are afoot to seek a special meeting of members to overturn the sackings. However, that would require agreement by 200 members and three directors. Mr Dunlevy, presumably, would be one of those directors.

All directors are under a board requirement to remain silent and to let public comment be made by the chairman, James Emerson. Mr Emerson says because legal action was possible by the sacked executives his legal advice had been to say nothing about it. However, he said it was business as normal and staff and members should have no fears about staff cuts.

The vice-chancellors of the Australian National University, Professor Laurie Nichol, and the University of Canberra, Professor Don Aitkin, have expressed their concern at the changes. They say they will be watching the co-op stores on their campuses to ensure the co-op fulfils its lease conditions to supply books on the academic reading lists.