A PASSION FOR POLITICS by annabel day In the cool quiet of Our Lady of Mercy Convent, Victoria Kearney is talking politics. ‘Don’t say we’re doing a marginal seat campaign,’ says Victoria, one of two national co-ordinators for the Australian Political Ministry Network (PolMin). ‘The Financial Review will be like "Oh! Why are nuns getting involved in politics?"’ So ... why are nuns getting involved in politics? PolMin, modelled on an American Catholic lobby called NETWORK, was started in 1999 by a group of Catholic pastoral workers. ‘They were frustrated by the system,’ says Victoria. ‘They’d been working in pastoral care for years and years and they could see that it was the policies that were blocking necessary changes. Often you can’t improve the plight of people because of systemic problems and structural things like legislation or policy. PolMin’s point is to influence public policy—legislation, regulation, the way government departments work—to try to overcome those things that create injustice.’ Using a three-pronged approach of lobbying, educating and organising, PolMin draws on a 200-strong membership base of religious orders, social justice committees and lay people to influence policy and achieve systemic change.

In early 2000, PolMin recruited Victoria and co-ordinator, James McGillicuddy, to address water reform and the federal government’s asylum-seeker and refugee policies. Eighteen months later, they have presented six submissions to parliamentary committees and met with Senators Andrew Bartlett and Bob Brown. PolMin has also met with parliamentary advisers to Robert Hill, John Andersen MP and Mark Vaile MP. PolMin has organised letter writing campaigns and community forums and co-ordinated the largest petition ever presented to the House of Representatives (4223 signatures).

In 2003, PolMin will continue to concentrate on water reform as well as tackling the equality of opportunity in higher education and Australia’s relationship with the United Nations.

Victoria believes that PolMin’s early success is partly due to the people it represents.

‘We represent Catholics on the ground and that’s quite a strong political influence. I went to see Robert Hill’s chief of staff last year [about water reform] and we got through the door whereas other environmental groups didn’t. He said, "We’re sick of talking to environment groups, but come in, what have you got to say?" It’s because we’re putting a point of view that’s different.’

PolMin’s point of view is that policy should encompass the needs of everyone in the community, especially the marginalised. On the issue of water reform, PolMin says that while environmental problems must be addressed, farmers shouldn’t be the only ones bearing the cost.

‘Historically, Australia has not looked at social justice and environmental justice at the same time,’ says Victoria. ‘We should have supported those farmers, who now have to leave their land, with economic incentives to change their practices. Now they’re carrying debt, and they can’t afford to change their practices because of things like the drought.

‘If you’re a Catholic and you believe in the principals of justice and the common good, then you need to understand the policies and how they undermine those principals and how they affect the most marginalised.’

To educate people about policy and its effects, PolMin holds community forums and workshops on water reform and asylum seekers as well as the political process more generally. PolMin want Catholics to be passionate advocates for social justice in their communities.

‘It’s not about getting into party politics. I don’t care who gets elected whether it’s green, black, blue or red. What I do care about are the policies. Will my children and grandchildren be happy with the kind of Australia that I have left them? You can separate religion from political parties, but you can’t separate it from what you want in society because your spiritual values guide you. It’s about participating in the policies that influence how we are and who we are and what we believe in. Politics is about participation, and if you don’t participate, you’re saying I’ll allow those who are more powerful to make decisions on my behalf.

‘That’s an abdication of responsibility for Catholic and Christian people.’

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