Frank Brennan
Frank Brennan AO is a Jesuit priest and Rector of Newman College at the University of Melbourne. He is a Distinguished Fellow of the PM Glynn Institute at Australian Catholic University and an Adjunct Professor at the Thomas More Law School at ACU.
Frank's recent articles
10 December 2024
Offshore people dumping by a spooked government
The Albanese Labor Government has been spooked by recent High Court decisions which protect the human rights of non-citizens who cannot be returned to their home country because they are owed protection obligations.
5 February 2024
A tribute to Lowitja ODonoghue
In 2017, I was privileged to deliver the Lowitja Oration at her invitation marking the 50th anniversary of the 1967 referendum. I thanked Lowitja for her national leadership, for her trust, for her hopeful example, and for her friendship.
16 October 2023
Rejected by the people who dispossessed and colonised them
This morning, I call to mind the Aboriginal woman who spoke at the end of a forum we held in Darwin on the Voice. She told us: A lot of my people dont understand all the law and politics about this Voice. All I know is that when they wake up on Sunday 15 October and if the answer is NO, they will think that they have been rejected once again by the people who dispossessed and colonised them without their consent. She wept.
9 April 2023
An Easter reflection: dreaming dreams, hoping against hope
Easter is a time for dreaming dreams and for hoping against hope. Pragmatists, even if they be religious believers, are unlikely to expend too much energy doing so. But with the state of our troubled world in Ukraine, Syria, Palestine, Yemen, Somalia, and Myanmar, it behoves us to take a breather and contemplate what peace might look like, or how we might get there.
14 February 2023
Asylum Seeker policy: compromise has finally led to decency
Six years ago, John Menadue, Robert Manne, Tim Costello and I agreed that Australias refugee and asylum seeker policy was in a complete mess. The trouble started with the 2013 election campaign when Kevin Rudd and Tony Abbott tried to outdo each other, pledging that the boats would be stopped and that anyone headed for Australia without a visa would never be permitted to settle here.
23 December 2022
A 2022 Christmas reflection
Ive just spent a week in Assisi the home of Christmas cribs. At every turn there was a nativity scene large and small, tasteful and kitsch, prayerful and gauche. By night, church facades were lit with truly spectacular scenes of Mary and the angel at the Annunciation and of the manger with Joseph, Mary and the infant Jesus.
5 November 2022
The Albanese reset: Stopping boats while treating onshore asylum seekers decently
In his message for this years World Day of Migrants and Refugees which is entitled Building the future with migrants and refugees, Pope Francis says: No one must be excluded. Gods plan is essentially inclusive and gives priority to those living on the existential peripheries. Among them are many migrants and refugees, displaced persons, and victims of trafficking. The Kingdom of God is to be built with them, for without them it would not be the Kingdom that God wants. The inclusion of those most vulnerable is the necessary condition for full citizenship in Gods Kingdom.
15 April 2022
Keeping them honest: A book review
This book Keeping Them Honest: the case for a genuine national integrity commission and other vital democratic reforms puts solidly the case for a Commonwealth Integrity Commission known in the trade I'm told as a CIC.
10 April 2022
The cry of refugees
The Coalition remains committed to detaining asylum seekers in Australia if they have arrived by boat without a visa. The Labor Party has not made any commitment to cease such detention.
19 September 2021
Three unjustified problems with the Queensland euthanasia bill
The Queensland Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill goes too far in trampling on the rights of those who want nothing to do with it in the last stages of their own life or in their long term relationships with their patients and residents.
13 September 2021
Clive Palmer, border closures and the High Court
Clive Palmer has already lost one High Court case challenging the WA border closure. He is threatening another. That too will fail.
19 August 2021
Unsought, unnecessary and unexplained red tape aimed at silencing charities
The Morrison Government is committed to reducing red tape. Charities have more work than ever to do during this time of pandemic. The Senate is being asked to disallow a new regulation which would impact unduly on all charities, making them liable to deregistration should any of their members or volunteers commit a simple offence. Gary Johns the ACNC Commissioner has not sought the regulation; Michael Sukkar, the Assistant Treasurer cannot explain the need for it; and SenatorConcetta Fierravanti-Wells cannot understand its scope.
14 July 2021
The fraying of judicial nerves in migration cases
George Brandis as Attorney-General started a round of appointments to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) and to the Federal Circuit Court which has continued to adversely impact the fair and efficient resolution of refugee and migration cases. The under-resourcing of these bodies is also impacting decisions.
27 June 2021
The High Courts surrender to the Morrison-Dutton immigration detention regime
For almost thirty years, there has been a tussle between the courts and government in Australia over immigration detention. Alas, the High Court called a truce on Wednesday with a 4-3 decision which is as unprincipled as it is harsh.
3 April 2021
Easter Homily: women have witnessed to the truth.
Women have been commissioned to lead the way as our society makes its way out of the present commotion of disrespect, discrimination and violence.
16 November 2020
Will President-elect Biden restore US leadership on refugees?
Biden told the audience of JRS supporters: The United States has long stood as a beacon of hope for the downtrodden and the oppressed, a leader in resettling refugees and our humanitarian response. I promise, as president, Ill reclaim that proud legacy for our country.
9 November 2020
Many of Trump's supporters feel disempowered by the elites
Weve all been doing quite a deal of waiting of late whether it be for the lifting of lockdown restrictions at a time of pandemic, or for the outcome of this weeks US presidential election. And all the time, we believers are waiting for the coming of the Kingdom with signs of its breaking in here and now. What does it mean to be a sensible person in waiting? What are the signs of a foolish community in waiting?
24 October 2020
Homily to Susan Ryan
As we gather here in the Lady Chapel at Newman College, people are gathered in socially distant numbers at St Marys Cathedral in Sydney for the state funeral of Susan Maree Ryan.
7 June 2020
FRANK BRENNAN SJ. 'I can't breathe.'
Martin Luther King said in the final analysis, a riot is the language of the unheard.
14 July 2019
FRANK BRENNAN Constitutional Recognition of the Indigenous Voice
Addressing the National Press Club during NAIDOC Week, Ken Wyatt, Minister for Indigenous Australians said: I will develop and forward a consensus option for constitutional recognition to put to a referendum during the current parliamentary term. That means working through until we reach a point in which there is consensus across all the relevant groups who have a stake in it.
8 July 2019
FRANK BRENNAN. Australia and the refugees who come by boat
We have now all endured our third election in a row when boat turnbacks and the punitive treatment of refugees and asylum seekers featured. The overwhelming majority of our politicians and the overwhelming majority of voters are agreed that the boats from Indonesia carrying asylum seekers transiting Indonesia should be stopped, and the refugees and asylum seekers who have been languishing on Nauru and Manus Island should be treated decently and humanely.
27 June 2019
FRANK BRENNAN. Our Church or Our Museum? Contributing to a confident, humble, listening, and questioning Church.
Even with changes to governance and participation, the Catholic Church remains at a cross roads between life and death, between relevance and irrelevance, between a Church and a museum in our post-modern world.
17 February 2019
FRANK BRENNAN. Safe Turnbacks and Appropriate Medical Care for Asylum Seekers (Eureka Street, 18 February 2019)
We are all gearing up for the third election in a row when boat turnbacks and the punitive treatment of refugees and asylum seekers feature. It need not be so. Its time voters sent a message that it should not be so. The overwhelming majority of our politicians and the overwhelming majority of voters are agreed that the boats from Indonesia carrying asylum seekers transiting Indonesia should be stopped, and the refugees and asylum seekers who have been languishing on Nauru and Manus Island should be treated decently and humanely. The disagreement is over whether after five and more years...
14 February 2019
FRANK BRENNAN, TIM COSTELLO, ROBERT MANNE, JOHN MENADUE. Boat Turnbacks and Medical Transfers.
Its time to stop the shrillness. The boats have stopped. Both sides of politics are now committed to turnbacks. Both Scott Morrison and Bill Shorten will do whatever it takes to stop asylum seekers setting sail from Indonesia. If asylum seekers do set sail, they will be returned.
23 October 2018
FRANK BRENNAN. Compassion and justice after abuse apology.
Tomorrow in our national parliament, the Prime Minister will offer an apology to the victims of child sexual abuse. Many survivors will be here in Canberra. Some will be here at taxpayer expense having been successful in a ballot to attend. Others will come under their own steam hoping to get into the parliamentary gallery or the great hall. We know that many of these victims were the subject of abuse in our own church. This article was published by Eureka Street on the 21st of October 2018.
2 October 2018
Walking together for a better future (Eureka Street, 01.10.18)
Frank Brennan's keynote address to the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Catholic Council Assembly entitled: 'Strong Faith. Strong Youth. Strong Future Walking Together in a movement of the Australian people for a better future'. 1 October 2018, Technology Park Bentley, Perth
26 August 2018
FRANK BRENNAN. Consolations from the Liberal Party mess.
What a mess! Poor Fellow My Country. Today is not a day for reckoning about any big policy issues, because none of them was in play when members of the Liberal Party cast their votes in the party room.
6 August 2018
FRANK BRENNAN. A planet to heal (Hiroshima Remembrance Ecumenical Service, Adamstown Uniting Church, Newcastle, 5 August 2018).
I join with you in acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which we meet. This weekend at the 20th Garma Festival held on Yolgnu lands in Arnhem Land, the acclaimed Tasmanian author Richard Flanagan spoke. Having disclosed his own potential Indigenous heritage for the first time, he told the audience:
23 July 2018
FRANK BRENNAN SJ. Woe to the shepherds (Homily, 22.07.18 at St Michaels Church, Kaleen)
Sometimes the lectionary throws up a reading from scripture which just hits you in the face given whats been going on in your world the previous week.
3 July 2018
FRANK BRENNAN. The sentencing of Archbishop Wilson. (Eureka Street 3/7/2018)
Philip Wilson has been sentenced to 12 months imprisonment to be served by way of home detention. It's very likely that he will appeal his conviction and sentence. An appeal may well succeed, but that's not the end of the matter. This has been a six-year saga relating to events which occurred more than 40 years ago. The law is complex; and emotions are running high.
27 May 2018
FRANK BRENNAN. Close the camps now and stop the posturing.
Both the Turnbull government and the Shorten opposition are committed to 'stopping the boats'. Tony Abbott's mantra is now the political orthodoxy on both sides of the political aisle in Canberra. Labor knows it has no chance of winning an election unless its commitment to keeping the boats stopped is as firm as the government's. The political difference is no longer over stopping the boats. Both sides are committed to takebacks and turnbacks, usually to Indonesia, provided the practices of the Australian Border Force and defence forces are safe, legal and transparent. The political brawl is about keeping refugees...
2 May 2018
FRANK BRENNAN. Newstart needs a new start,
Over the next couple of weeks, we'll be hearing a lot about company and personal income tax cuts. The Turnbull government holds the view that tax relief for companies and middle-income earners is necessary to improve the economic prosperity of Australia, offering a financial hand up to households struggling to pay their bills.
30 April 2018
Public servant to the First Australians.
Funeral Homily for Barrie Dexter CBE. Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture, 26 April 2018. Listen on SoundCloud [commencing at 2:00] In Australia, there have been many children of the manse who have gone on to be great contributors to Australian society, regardless of their own religious faith or practice. Barrie Dexter was one of them.
4 April 2018
FRANK BRENNAN. Lets be less shrill about Church-State relations
I had the good pleasure of celebrating Easter masses out in the country Adaminaby and Nimmitabel in the Snowy country. At Adaminaby we had a full church and a very happy baptism. At Nimmitabel, the numbers were very modest but we delighted in the peace and tranquility of the Easter full moon. Upon returning to the city I was greeted by the Murdoch headline: 'Christianity under attack: Archbishop Anthony Fisher'.
5 March 2018
FRANK BRENNAN. Edging closer to a just regime in the Timor Sea.
On Tuesday the governments of Timor Leste and Australia will sign a maritime boundary treaty in New York in the presence of Antonio Guterres, the Secretary General of the United Nations. This day has been a long time coming.
13 February 2018
The apology ten years on
Today we mark the tenth anniversary of the National Apology. All of us remember where we were that day when Prime Minister Kevin Rudd read the words of the parliamentary motion moved by him and seconded by Brendan Nelson, the Leader of the Opposition: 'The time has now come for the nation to turn a new page in Australia's history by righting the wrongs of the past and so moving forward with confidence to the future. We apologise for the laws and policies of successive parliaments and governments that have inflicted profound grief, suffering and loss on these our fellow...
13 December 2017
FRANK BRENNAN. A Catholic reflection on the Royal Commission as the curtain closes on Act One.
On Friday, the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, which has been part of the Australian political and ecclesial landscape for the last five years, will cease to exist. The commission will present its report to the Governor-General, and the commissioners will return to private life or to their previous public offices. The task of implementation will fall to governments and institutions such as the Catholic Church. The task of public scrutiny will fall to parliaments and the media but without the ongoing forensic activity of a royal commission. The commission has unearthed a continent of human...
13 November 2017
FRANK BRENNAN. Same sex marriage and freedom of religion
On Wednesday, the ABS will announce the results of the survey on same sex marriage. The return rate on the survey is a very credible 78.5 per cent. In Ireland only 60.5 per cent of eligible voters turned out.
3 November 2017
FRANK BRENNAN. Questions Ardern can ask Turnbull about Manus.
When Prime Minister Turnbull meets with New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardernon Sunday, he will receive a renewed offer of help from New Zealand in relation to Manus Island. For the last four years, New Zealand has offered to take 150 refugees from Manus Island. Messrs Turnbull and Dutton have seen fit, unilaterally and contrary to the signed agreement with PNG, to step in (on behalf of PNG presumably) and refuse New Zealands offer of help. At the same time, they continue to say that these refugees are the responsibility of PNG. Its hard to see how they continue to...
1 November 2017
FRANK BRENNAN. A mate's take on Rudd's call to arms.
Kevin Rudd is back. Last week he was blitzing the country with a whirlwind book tour, having flown in from New York where he continues his post-prime-ministerial life as President of the Asia Society. He is promoting volume one of his autobiography entitled Not for the Faint-hearted. I caught up with him at Australian National University where he met in conversation with Stan Grant in front of a large crowd.
19 October 2017
FRANK BRENNAN. SJ Towards an economy that works for all.
The promise of riches from the trickle-down effect is at best patchy for many Australians, and non-existent for others. Continuing with the same economic and social policy settings will exacerbate the already growing divide between the rich and the poor and eventually damage the economy to such an extent that it has a detrimental effect on everyone.
20 September 2017
FRANK BRENNAN. Same sex marriage and freedom of religion.
NZ Prime Minister Bill English was being interviewed by Fran Kelly on ABC RN Breakfast on Monday morning. Fran asked him about same sex marriage which is now law in New Zealand. He stressed that freedom of religion is important.She observed: You voted No in 2013 but youve said if the vote was held now, you would vote yes. Does that mean that the New Zealand experience of marriage equality has been a positive one for your country? Prime Minister English replied: Its been implemented. There are a number of people taking advantage of it. We havent had quite the...
14 September 2017
FRANK BRENNAN. We need a Bill of Rights
As Attorney General Lionel Bowen dedicated a lot of time and energy to a Bill of Rights. He introduced legislation which was doomed. But he outlined the principles for an Australian Human Rights Bill espousing the preconditions for the common good in contemporary Australia. He told Parliament:
12 September 2017
FRANK BRENNAN. Developing an inclusive and sustainable economy (Speech launching the 2017 Social Justice Statement, 7 September 2017)
We're here to launch Everyone's Business: Developing an Inclusive and Sustainable Economy. 25 years ago, the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference published Common Wealth for the Common Good: A Statement on the Distribution of Wealth in Australia. Michael Costigan and Sandie Cornish who are with us this morning laboured long and hard over four years to produce that document 25 years ago.
3 September 2017
FRANK BRENNAN. The Copenhagen breakthrough in the Timor Sea.
There has been an agreed breakthrough in the long running dispute between Australia and Timor Leste in relation to maritime boundary demarcation and control of the resources in the disputed area in the Timor Sea. The breakthrough came on 30 August, the 18th anniversary of the bloody referendum at which the Timorese voted for their independence from Indonesia. The terms of the deal remain confidential. But the Permanent Court of Arbitration which is overseeing the Conciliation Commission convening the two parties meeting in Copenhagen has issued a press release noting that they have have reached agreement on the central elements...
31 August 2017
FRANK BRENNAN. Compulsory drug testing is no silver bullet.
Christian Porter, the Minister for Social Services, has been trying to make his mark as an upcoming minister in the Turnbull Government. Porter thinks he might have found the perfect silver bullet: mandatory drug tests for unemployed welfare recipients.
2 August 2017
FRANK BRENNAN. The bi-partisanship shame of refugee policy
What possessed Filippo Grandi, the relatively new United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, to go public last week, having a go at Australia for our governments treatment of unvisaed asylum seekers who arrived in Australia by boat? He repeated UNHCRs demand that Australia terminate offshore processing of asylum seekers on Nauru and Manus Island and that we not outsource our responsibilities to others.
25 July 2017
FRANK BRENNAN, TIM COSTELLO, ROBERT MANNE and JOHN MENADUE. Stopping Boats and Saving Lives Four Years On ...
How much longer will we continue to punish proven refugees who are our responsibility while they await interminable, uncertain futures in Nauru and Manus Island? Everyone knows that not all the proven refugees will be resettled in the USA even once the USA resumes taking refugees in October 2017. Kevin Rudd first announced the most recent plan for removing unvisaed asylum seekers offshore on 19 July 2013, seven weeks out from the 2013 election. Richard Marles helped with the negotiation of the deal.
21 June 2017
FRANK BRENNAN. Seeking Clarity on Boat Turnbacks and the Utility of Offshore Refugee Warehousing
Erika Feller (former Assistant High Commissioner UNHCR) and Michael Pezzullo (Secretary, Dept of Immigration and Border Protection) spoke at this years ANU Crawford Australian Leadership Forum on borders and the movement of people. The convenor of the forum is ANU Chancellor Gareth Evans.