Calvary takeover is only the latest public attack on religion, writes Canberra Archbishop Christopher Prowse
For over two centuries religions have been central to public life in Australia. Even now, with declining religious adherence, religions have an ongoing commitment to human flourishing and the common good that is vital to Australia and Australians.
The ACT government has announced its plan to compulsorily acquire the Catholic Calvary Public Hospital in Bruce, Canberra – the site and its clinical services. The government stated this was not an attack on “religion”, and that it was not due to Catholic opposition to anti-life processes and procedures.
If opposition to religion in the public sphere is not the reason, then I have to question the reasons offered by the government. Does it seek greater integration of public health facilities in the ACT? Does it want to commit substantial money to a new hospital it can own, build and operate? At the same time, ACT Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith has frequently stated that Calvary has provided excellent healthcare; that there are no clinical concerns with the current model, and; that Calvary has been greatly valued by the Canberra community for 44 years. These statements give rise to two questions: What is the problem? And why is this the solution?
To meet its self-imposed timeline – the government announced the decision on May 10 and the assembly was informed on May 11 – it will debate and pass the bill on May 31, with an effective takeover date of July 3.
The purported reason for the haste: to provide certainty to staff. Why might staff be uncertain, you may ask? Because the government has chosen to tear up a 99-year lease and a 99-year operating contract.
These are not agreements signed by some long past government. It is the same ACT government that signed the deal that now wants to tear up the contract it signed. A contract, in fact, signed by federal Finance Minister Katy Gallagher when she was ACT chief minister.
The approach of the ACT government does not meet any sense of transparency or accountability. Rather, it raises wider fears about the intent of government toward religious services in Australia.
Last week I met with staff of Calvary, from senior doctors and nurses to administrative and facilities personnel. I went to listen. In return I heard of their commitment to the values of Calvary as a Catholic public hospital: hospitality, healing, stewardship and respect. They are people of all faiths and none expressed anxiety at the takeover and its pace; they openly wondered how ACT Health could continue these values. One member of staff, a Muslim, spoke of the welcome and respect he had received.
We are seeing an experiment playing out in real time with real impact for the lives of real people. It will have a substantial impact on the lives of clinicians and other staff. I believe the haste means patients will be at risk in the Bruce Public Hospital. It has wider and deeper implications.
As an Australian citizen, I ask if this can be done in a matter of weeks in the ACT, what prevents other governments acting to improve integration and efficiency in other jurisdictions? What prevents the Andrews government procuring St Vincent’s Public Hospital Melbourne? The Minns government doing the same to St Vincent’s Public in Sydney or the Palaszczuk government taking over the Mater Public Hospital in Brisbane? What prevents any government making a similar grab for education or welfare services to meet their own agendas? Of course, these facilities are public; they act for the common good, but they are unashamedly religious.
Never before has a government – commonwealth, state or territory – sought to acquire the assets, operations, staff and clients of a church agency with the effect of ceasing its ministry. This raises the actions of the ACT government to national significance and creates a dangerous and unpredictable precedent. Some have suggested that my response to this unparalleled action is an unwillingness to give up control. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Religions generally, and the Catholic Church in particular, have worked throughout the centuries for the common good in order to bring about human flourishing. It is the reason the church initiated hospitals over a millennia ago; it is why we seek to continue to work in public health care, so that protection of life and healing can be offered to all in the community from conception to natural death.
The last two federal governments have pledged, as a priority, the protection of religious freedoms. Nothing has been done to give effect to these pledges, but governments around the country increasingly marginalise those of religious faith. Now we have direct legislative action to disenfranchise a religious entity the very same government says has provided excellent services.
I find myself wondering if I understand the purpose of government in Australia any longer. If the Catholic Church, despite long years of service, is a target for government takeover, who is safe from similar predations?
Christopher Prowse is the Catholic Archbishop of Canberra and Goulburn.
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