Editorial: A small crusade

Sydney
24 August 2003

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Editorial: A small crusade

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Editorial: A small crusade

The age of rational protest is not dead. As ndividuals, or collectively, we can move to prevent or change things which, to all intents and purposes, would seem to threaten our way of life, our security and our safety.

There was evidence of this last year when the Catholic community of Lewisham - including several schools, a retirement village, a nursing home, a hostel, Vinnies outreach centres and the headquarters of the Society of St Vincent De Paul and the Institute of the Sisters of Mercy of Australia on the old Lewisham Hospital site (now the Ozanam Village) - took a stand against a proposal to license a brothel in premises only a few metres away.

They were aided in their cause by other local residents, who included The Catholic Weekly. An archdiocesan newspaper might not rate too highly on a ‘Richter scale’ of influence in the general community, but our campaign, our mini crusade, did add weight to the cause.

It is testimony, to some degree, to Napoleon’s observation that “four hostile newspapers are more to be feared than a thousand bayonets”.

Our argument was not one of hostility, though, but one of concern for the integrity of the area and the wellbeing of those who live and work there.

Given that the proposed brothel would have been close to Lewisham railway station, bus stops and a public park, there was concern, too, for those who have to walk past or near it every day and those who use the park for recreation.

This was an exercise in public action for the public good. But the outcome was more than that. It was proof positive that with a rational approach people can successfully resist change if it is perceived as being detrimental to the common good.

The people, with The Catholic Weekly, chanced their arm and hit the proposal over the boundary. And the umpires - the sage councillors of Marrickville - took their side.

The Australian Catholic Press Association has acknowledged the Weekly’s efforts with first prize for best news story. That is a bonus.

The real prize for us, as for all those who joined in the campaign, is the realisation that we can achieve so much if we work together, not just within the Catholic community, but within the community at large.

We are limited only by lack of vision.