Shame on Australia, the unfair country

I have copied this from the Sydney Morning Herald
The bold is mine

Australians and New Zealanders have fought alongside one another in world wars, can move without restriction under our trans-Tasman travel arrangement and share a mutually beneficial free-trade agreement. Yet when it comes to our expatriates, Australia has been accused of treating Kiwis like second-class citizens.
And while incoming prime minister, Tony Abbott, was only elected a week ago, New Zealanders hope the fact his wife, Margie, is a Kiwi will help influence change.
Under travel arrangements reached in the 1970s, expats can live and work in either country indefinitely. But legislative changes introduced by the Howard government 12 years ago - as well as amendments to several other laws thereafter - mean that although Kiwis can permanently reside and seek employment in Australia on special category visas, they are not entitled to permanent residency. Nor do they get automatic rights to citizenship.
In contrast, Australians are granted residency on arrival in New Zealand, can vote after living there for a year and become eligible for citizenship after five years. They are also entitled to welfare benefits after two years.

''Basically, any [New Zealander] who arrived here after February 26, 2001, or who had been living here and, for whatever reason, was living overseas the year the law was changed, is affected,'' said Tim Gassin, the spokesman for Oz Kiwi, a group campaigning for equality for the estimated 300,000 unprotected Kiwis affected.
Academy Award-winning actor Russell Crowe is among them. Despite moving here in 1968, Crowe was working overseas filming Gladiator and A Beautiful Mind when the Family and Community Services Legislation Amendment (New Zealand citizens) Act 2001 was brought in.
He planned to get naturalised in 2006 only discover he was ineligible - despite living here for 37 of his 49 years.
Crowe has described the immigration loophole as ''arbitrary and ridiculous'', noting that, while he could not become a citizen, he had featured on an Australian Legends stamp and was awarded a Centenary of Federation medallion.
''There's a whole bunch of New Zealanders who have committed to a life here, who have had children here, who bought their first houses here, who have been productive, taxpaying members of society … Until recently, I had an Australian wife. I have two Australian children. But I still fall between the cracks,'' Crowe said.
Mr Gassin's Kiwi fiancee Grace Edwards has even taught Australian history at Melbourne University where they met in 2007 and are both doing their PhDs.
''Essentially, the way the system now operates in Australia, despite all the history between our two countries, New Zealanders are treated the same as anyone sitting in the desert in Namibia who wants to come here and get citizenship,'' he said.
''They have to go through the same skills tests, security checks and health checks for things like contagious diseases, which is a bit stupid when they've already been living and working here - some of them - for 10 years.''
He said Kiwis had the highest workforce participation rate in Australia and it was ironic that many residency and citizenship applications had been rejected by the Australian government on the basis their skills were not in demand.
''But a lot of occupations are not in demand here because there are so many Kiwis filling the gaps,'' he said.
Without citizenship, Kiwis cannot vote or access any form of social or disability welfare - even though they contribute an estimated $5 billion in income tax annually. Furthermore, children born here to New Zealand citizens are no longer considered Australian. Such children only qualify for citizenship after they have lived here for 10 years, meaning those born with disabilities are not eligible for any government assistance.
The productivity commissions of Australia and New Zealand completed a joint report last year on the trans-Tasman relationship and found Australia's treatment of Kiwis was unreasonable, unjustified and required change.

Actually I think there are some inaccuracies. I received the NZ aged pension backdated to the day I arrived.  My Australian Aged pension is paid to the NZ Government but as it is means tested it is less than what I receive from NZ.

I was able to vote in the first elections after I arrived, the local elections were held about 9 months after my arrival and I received voting papers.

Unlike an American citizen, as an expatriate, I have lost the right to vote in Australia, so my views are of no interest to politicians. 

 

In fact, if I did not have relatives and friends in Australia, I would have no interest in ever returning to that country again.

A Cartoon

Taken from the blog Liturgy by Rev Bosco Peters whom I thank for his efforts on behalf of homosexuals.

New Zealand continues to show the way

Great news today as New Zealand elects the third woman Diocesan bishop.

The Rev Dr Helen-Ann Hartley has been elected the next Anglican Bishop of Waikato.
Helen-Ann, who is 40, succeeds Archbishop David Moxon, who is now the Anglican Communion’s ambassador to Rome.
Bishop-elect Helen-Ann is at present Dean of Tikanga Pakeha students at St John's College in Auckland.
She was born in Edinburgh and grew up in north-east England. She is the fourth generation of her family to be ordained, and was priested in 2005 in the Diocese of Oxford.

So apparently she is the first woman ordained in the Church of England to become a bishop.

In New Zealand she follows Penny Jamieson, who was the Bishop of Dunedin from 1990 till 2004, and Victoria Matthews, who was elected the Bishop of Edmonton, in Canada, in 1997, and who was chosen as the Bishop of Christchurch in 2008.

Of course England is yet to vote to allow women to be bishops and while Australia now has 4 assistant bishops they are still not allowed to be in charge of a diocese.

Travels 2013-14

1. I am driving to the North Island leaving Thursday and crossing Cook Strait on Friday.
Hope those earthquakes settle down in Wellington where I have booked accommodation for Friday night.
Have booked Saturday night in Napier then plan to enter new territory to Gisborne, East Cape, Tauranga (was there 1 night in 2004) Coromandel (also 1 night in 2004) then have booked into Auckland from Aug 29 to Sun Sep 1.  May stay longer and have plans for Wanganui and probably cross back over to the South Island on 7 or 8 Sep.

2. I am flying to Sydney on October 29 for a reunion of my class of 1973 the following weekend. They meet every 10 years and I would hate to miss, though I doubt I will be there in 2023.  Will fly home November 11 so will stay in Dunedin for Christmas.

3. Will probably fly to Sydney for Easter (April 18 to 21) and Anzac Day (April 25) The last time for many years they will be within a week of each other.

4. Have begun making reservations for USA next June/July.

Have booked train (the Cardinal) from Washington to Chicago on June 25/26 and a package involving train (Empire Builder) from Chicago to East Glacier on 27/28 then 4 nights in Glacier National Park followed by overnight train to Seattle July2/3.
Will leave remaining bookings for now but am considering flight from NZ to Salt Lake City, Coach tour of Yellowstone, Flight to New York for a week then train to Washington.

After Seattle I may go by train to San Francisco and Los Angeles before flying home.

Christchurch Cathedral

The new cardboard cathedral in Christchurch was opened to the public for the first time this week.

 

I saw it under construction when I visited Christchurch in March.  I will be passing through Christchurch next Thursday but probably will not have time. However I will be returning  3 weeks later and hopefully will be able to visit. 

Why I campaign for homosexual acceptance

In reply to discussion on my previous post where I was led to relate some of my experiences in Evangelical churches in Sydney.

As a young man I was a youth leader at church, a leader in the Evangelical Union at University, a worker at Beach Mission, involved as a student and later a teacher in the Inter School Christian Fellowship, taught Scripture (in my 'preparation periods') at school, a parish councillor and a counsellor at the final Sydney Billy Graham crusade.

Many of my friends of that time went on to become priests or academics in religious studies. Actually some did reject their faith and others went to other dioceses  but that is too long to relate here, except to say they have been far more accepting of my sexuality when I have met them in later years than those still involved with the Diocese of Sydney.

I expected to teach for a few years then enter Moore College.  I gradually began to realise that would not be possible as I wrestled with my sexuality.

Sometimes I regret that but at other times I think I would probably have not made a good priest and I have had a generally fulfilling career as a high school teacher.

However I soon learnt to keep my head down when attending church.  I went to church to partake of Holy Communion and left immediately after.   Even staying for coffee might lead to too many questions.  There were periods when I stayed away and a long period when I flirted with the Catholic church.  Catholic priests do not (in my experience) shake hands at the door and ask questions then want to visit you at home.  For a number of years I found fulfillment in Acceptance a Catholic gay group which had weekly mass provided by inclusive priests.  While the official Catholic position is bad, many religious and lay people are far more accepting.

Eventually I found my way to the inclusive St James, King Street in the Diocese of Sydney and now to the Diocese of Dunedin.  I still find it hard to be open about my sexuality in church circles and do not volunteer to take any role but I do stay for coffee.

When I was a young man, not only was the church condeming of homosexuality but it was illegal in society.

Today there has been a tremendous transformation in my lifetime. Here in New Zealand there is no longer any official bar to a homosexual.  The first same-sex marriages will soon be celebrated. GLBTI people are able to be open as members of parliament, the legal profession, business, film and stage. There are anti-discrimination laws (from which churches are exempt).

The only place they are not equal is the church.  We are still waiting to see what will happen at the 2014 synod of the Anglican church of Aotearoa/New Zealand.  The Evangelicals are working hard to see there will be no change and the inclusive members (like the Bishop of Dunedin) are not willing to upset them.

Obviously young people today, especially those with a homosexual orientation, do not want to join the church. They see it, rightly so, as the last bastion of discrimination in our society.

That is why I continue to campaign for full homosexual acceptance, same sex marriage and ordination of partnered gay men and women, in the church.

Finally with regard to those who quote the "Word of God" against my position. As the Bishop of Dunedin has pointed out there are 6 passages that condemn homosexual activity.  There are over 30 that condemn usury.  In the past the "Word of God" was used to justify slavery and apartheid.
"the Word of God" condemns the eating of shellfish.  We can go on.

Even in my most evangelical days while at University, I remember arguing against capital punishment and others quoting scripture to justify it.

I refer to past posts

Worshipping in Dunedin

 The Gay Debate and the Bible

or

More on the Gay Debate

The best of a bad choice

I think.

But who knows in Sydney Diocese?

It has been announced that Bishop Glenn Davies of North Sydney is to be the next Archbishop of Sydney.  He is 62, so will have to retire in 8 years whereas the other candidate was only 49 and the diocese could have been stuck with him for 21 years although he apparently said he would only stay for 15.
it seems Dean Philip Jensen was campaigning for the alternative and wrote some on the surface polite criticisms of Bishop Davies. That would be the obvious reason for me to prefer Davies. I have written elsewhere that I knew Philip at University and even in those days did not like him and actually told him once he was not a real Anglican.  I think he was pleased.  It would be great if he was soon sacked but, of course, that will not happen but he is only a year younger than me so will soon be 70.
I also read there is an emergent generation of bright young, evangelicals, now in their early 40s, who are still conservative but seem to think for themselves.  Philip must be losing his touch.

Both candidates oppose any teaching role for women in the church. they also agreed they would continue to license women to preach if a parish asked them to, but they would not encourage the practice. Women can only lead Bible studies if a man leads too. If the man was sick, Glenn added, then you would not necessarily need to cancel.

I just find this unbelievable. 

In my youth when I was still an evangelical and the idea of women being ordained was just surfacing.  I am pleased to remember that I was in favour.  I remember arguing with my then rector. He was an old school evangelical. He once reprimanded me that, although I spent most of Sunday at the church with sunday school teaching, Christian Endeavour, afternoon meetings, Youth fellowship and Evening Prayer, I rarely attended 8am Holy Communion so only took Communion once a month in the evening.  In other words, I had imbibed the Evangelical view that preaching was more important than the sacraments.

He was not theologically opposed to women teaching/preaching but believed that if women became priests, men would leave the running of the church to them.

I felt he would be turning in his grave last Sunday.  

In my church in Roslyn, Dunedin, the vicar is on leave.  

At our service last Sunday, our woman associate priest presided and preached. As Jo was ordained while I was in Rome,  it was the first time I have been present when she has presided at the Eucharist so was a time of joy for me.  Barbara, our deacon and a good friend, read the Gospel and carried out the other deacon's duties. Both lessons were read by laywomen  and the prayers of the faithful were led by Verna, the parish licensed lay minister.

A young boy was the crucifer and altar assistant and I think our male church warden assisted with the distribution so some males were involved. :-)

I can find nothing Christlike in those who deny women roles in the church. The current situation in England with flying bishops and no women bishops is ridiculous and, of course, I do not see why any young person, especially women, would be attracted to belong to churches in the Diocese of Sydney except the handful of Anglo-catholic parishes such as St James, King Street.

Social media?

I have been thinking about this post since an incident on the hike to Mt Cargill ( so it has taken 3 weeks).  At morning tea, half way up the mountain, one lady took a mobile (cell phone) call.  I was not the only one who declared that, although we had our mobiles with us, they were not turned on.
We only carry them for emergency.  Except when I am travelling I just turn mine on once per day in case there is a message.  Most months go by and there are no calls out or in.  Ocasionally I realise I have left it at home but am only concerned in case my car breaks down.  I can think of no other reason to use it.
I never talk long on my home phone.  I have always been uncomfortable making phone calls and put them off if possible.  I only use it to ring tradesmen and to make arrangements to meet a friend. I do use Skype to chat with my sister in Sydney every morning but she does most of the talking.

The same people were amazed that I have my computer on from the time I get up to the time I go to bed.  I turn it off when I go out but will check for emails at least  once per hour when I am at home.  They told me, and I know from having sent them emails,  that they only turn their computers on a few times per week. They only email close friends and family and use google for occasional research. Some have Skype because they have children living overseas but have no intention of joining any online group.

I have my blog but blogs seem to have lost favour.  There are almost no comments now, although I see there are still quite few views each day.  I laugh that the most commonly viewed post is the one I made back in November 2008 about the flags of Australia and New Zealand (45 in the past week).  I am glad I am still fulfilling my role as a teacher.

I use email to keep in contact with friends.  I like to read their messages and enjoy replying.  I usually take time to create an email.  I have never tried Twitter.

I did join Facebook but could not accept receiving messages about inane topics.  I do not want to know the weather in New York everyday nor that people are going to bed.  It took ages to remove myself yet nearly every day I receive a message asking if I am on Facebook.  Also nearly every day there are news items about the dangers of Facebook.

Even our church is now on Facebook and the webpage is so out of date it is a disgrace so of little use.

I belong to one or two online groups where I can read friends' messages but in my own time and when I am in the mood.  Even there I am concerned at the information some put up.  One lady is now giving us great detail about her problems with her sons and drugs.  All her readers are on different continents so can do very little to help.  As the police are now involved, I think the less information online the better.

I enjoy meeting and chatting with friends while hiking or over coffee.  While I am glad I have overseas friends and have enjoyed meeting with them, it is unrealistic to think they can ever replace  friends whom I can meet regularly in the flesh.  I prefer to talk with people face to face.

I guess I am showing my age.

Mount Cargill

Yesterday I finally climbed Mt Cargill.  It is the highest mountain in the Dunedin area. I can see it from my front gate and last week it  was covered in snow.  You can drive to the top, the TV mast is there,  and I did so with my sister back in March but it was covered in cloud. Yesterday we went up the hard way on foot, shorter but steeper. It is is 676 metres high and the carpark, where we started, is approximately 100 metres.

This photo is not mine and shows the Mountain in mid-winter, much like 2 weeks ago..

We sat on the sunny north side for lunch and I took this photo looking north to Blueskin Bay and beyond.

Then we went to the top where there was still some ice on the road.

A view of Otago Harbour

A view of the city of Dunedin

A closeup of the suburb of Brockville.  My house is about the centre of the photo.

It is not just about Marriage

While I was away, there was a Diocesan Hui (meeting or conference) to discuss marriage, in particular same-sex marriage.  It was held in our parish hall.  Possibly it was just as well that I could not be there as it is a very emotional topic for me.

Bishop Kelvin has covered it well in his blog.

He concludes:

"At the end of the day no-ones opinions were much changed. But the great triumph was that we stayed together, we talked and we began to feel our way towards that sense of God's presence which enables us to be the body of Christ. We have a long way to go, but I am very optimistic."

In another post he has published his submission to the Ma Whea Commission on Same - Gender Relationship, Ordination and Blessing. 
This commission was set up by the National Synod and is to report to the General Synod by 2014.

Some parts of Kelvin's submission.

"The Diocese of Dunedin has been, for some time regarded as a “liberal” diocese with regard to the ministry of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) people. We have a number of persons that identify as GLBT serving in our clergy, on vestries, and as Synod Representatives. In the last decade several ordained people in same gender relationships have been ordained in our diocese and/or have held licenses for ministry. This has not been without dissent."

"We recognize that for a large number of our people marriage is defined in our Canons and our Prayer Book and means a lifelong union is between one man and one woman, to the exclusion of all others. Further, as our disciplinary canons require ordained people to be either married or celibate, there is currently no possibility of people living in same gender relationships being ordained. "
  
"For others of us there is the recognition that the current situation in the Anglican Church denies a significant group of faithful Christians the experience of living authentically and openly, of celebrating their partnerships and of fulfilling a call to ordained ministry, a situation that many find is difficult to reconcile with a gospel of love and inclusiveness."

"As a diocese we are committed to further discussion of these matters, recognizing that the more we meet with and fellowship with people with diverse opinions and the more we are able to place these potentially divisive matters into the context of the real people whose lives are so impacted by the decisions we make, the more likely we are to find a way in which we can work together for the good of the Gospel which has so captivated all of us."

My own vicar who is now Vicar-General of the Diocese commented on the hui.

"That is the only foundation for 'progress' - the acknowledgement of the foundational significance of our Baptisms, that those who think differently to us are still doing their darnedest to follow Jesus."

In a sermon   the week after the hui the vicar stated

"Jesus sees marriage as relatively unimportant – and I choose my words carefully. Relatively Unimportant. Relative to what you might well ask? Relative to the Kingdom of God, and thus Relative to the life of a Disciple of Jesus."

"At the end of the Hui, Bishop Kelvin speaking of his episcopal ministry used the metaphor of a lumberjack, trying to keep a great raft of logs together on a river. The image that came to mind was that the raft of logs has got stuck up a creek. Perhaps our lack of progress on this issue is precisely its insignificance in terms of the Kingdom of God. "

"I wonder if that was going on last weekend, certainly it yielded little if anything. Our thinking about marriage is so skewed – we see it of such distorted importance, that when we hear Jesus say ‘whoever has left his . . . wife . . . for my sake and the kingdom . . .’ we assume he must have got it wrong . . . but that is quite plainly what he says. To be a disciple is to be devoted to Jesus, to recognise his authority, like the soldiers and the slaves of the Centurion, to Act immediately in accordance with his command. Put another way, to have faith"

 I would reply that to me it is not about marriage it is about equality. 

That was reinforced by Elizabeth Kaeton in her moving post We are Equal.

I was excited when the same-sex marriage bill passed the NZ parliament not because there is any likelihood that I will ever take advantage of its provisons but because it removes the last remnant of  discrimination in the laws of the land.  I have full equality in New Zealand but not yet in my birth country, Australia.

Looking at newspapers of the 1950's when I was a teenager in Sydney, it would seem the politicians, police and certainly churchmen regarded homosexuals as on a par with murderers.  Thankfully I was not very aware of my sexuality at the time.  However even in the 60's,  I was told by psychiatrists that I  should not become a teacher as it would be too dangerous. I seethe with anger at the implications of those remarks.  I taught adolescents for 45 years and never once did anything improper with a student.

I think it is wonderful that today there are openly gay and partnered  politicians, police, judges in both Australia and New Zealand.  Young gay men and women should not feel they are 2nd class citizens anymore.  Except in the church.

While there were many reasons for my migrating to New Zealand and  Dunedin in particular, the existence of one openly partnered gay priest in the diocese was an important factor.

As a young man in Sydney I was keen to train for the priesthood.    I was a youth leader, a lay reader and even preached at Sunday evening services.  But it became obvious that this would not be possible as a gay man.  In fact, when I first told my rector that I was gay,  I was removed from reading the lesson and it was made plain that I was not really welcome to even attend anymore. 

However, until I began worshipping at St James, I never saw a woman read the lesson during a service.

Looking back on my years as a youth leader, we took it for granted that males would be leaders. Girls were assistants but never in charge and although we had youth services, only the boys took any role. 

Now I live and worship in a diocese which has a woman archdeacon, who was in charge of our parish for a year.  Our parish has  a recently ordained woman priest who is assistant and will be in charge during the vicar's absence over the next few weeks and of course there is the  historical fact that we had the first woman diocesan in the Anglican world.

Girls in our churches in Dunedin can see that they can aspire to any role in the church.

Similarly as a gay man it is inspiring to see a gay man preside at the Eucharist and it was one of the highlights of my life to meet and receive a hug from Bishop Gene Robinson. 

However at the moment there is a hold on recognition of gay people in the Anglican church of Aotearoa/ New Zealand.  I wait to see what happens at Synod in 2014.  But I am becoming impatient, there is a strong likelihood that I will not want to remain in a church where I am not seen as equal.

My vicar asks me to see that those opposed to me are also attempting to follow Christ. 

I have received more love and acceptance from atheists than the "Christian" leaders of the Anglican diocese of Sydney.  A straight man who advocated for gay acceptance in Sydney synod told me he had never seen such hatred on  faces as was displayed to him in synod that night. 

There is a local evangelical Anglican church in Dunedin. I have yet to meet any of them and will not be going out of my way to do so. My experience in Sydney makes me very wary of such people. I am told, although a neighbouring parish, they did not send any representatives to the the ordinations of the women of our parish. I see nothing Christlike in them.