Anglicans sell out and now claim they want to purchase land in the Huskisson vicinity for indigenous ministry purposes..
Treasures gained by wickedness do not profit.
Proverbs 10:2
Can you believe this! The Anglican Church is now saying it wants to purchase land in the vicinity of Huskisson for Indigenous ministry purposes.
First Session of 53rd Synod : Proceedings for 2023, p 222
Despite the evidence and pleading the Anglican Church proceeded to pocket what is said to be at least $5 million and sell the Church and Burial Ground in mid 2021. There can be no doubt that the church authorities knew the truth of the situation in Huskisson. They knew it was a burial ground. They refuse to make parish archival records public. The offering of the church and burial site for sale to the local publican was never made public. They were ruthlessly determined to saddle the Shoalhaven community with more licenced premises. In September 2022 the Synod Papers contained the statement above.
We think it time for the Anglican Church to set about righting the wrong at the Aboriginal Sacred Site in Huskisson.
The letter below was received on the 24th of June , 2021 –
a week later the land was sold!
The HHA had hoped that the newly installed Archbishop Kanishka Raffel would prevent the sale of the Church and burial ground to developers who want to build a large hotel etc. in its place. Raffel heads up the Anglican Church Property Trust, the owner of the land.
The Archbishop claims to be a strong advocate for reconciliation with the Indigenous community – and not afraid to put uncomfortable truths on the table..
Below is the Open Letter from the HHA to Archbishop Raffell. Sadly the legacy of the Anglican Church is an astonishing dismissal of Aboriginal concerns about ancestors graves and another hotel presumably with gambling facilities.
Open-letter-to-ArchbishopBelow is the infamous 2007 NO DOUBT document assuring the local parish that the site is not being sold and the future of the Church building is not in doubt. A campaign by some parishioners to have the site heritage listed was abandoned after this triple-signed statement was distributed.
We were much more naïve and trusting then said one of those campaigners recently.
NB. Jeff Park , Rectors Warden is to this day often seen with the hopeful Huskisson Hotel owner and has actively supported his efforts to buy the Church and burial site.
The documents below are from Shoalhaven Council files. They letters make clear the Council was acting on behalf the Anglican Church and ignoring the advice of expert Heritage professionals and the interests of the wider community.
SCC-dealings-with-Anglican-Church-mainly-Wollongong-Parishhayward-letter
We include the exchange of letters with Bishop Hayward to clarify both the HHA position and that of Bishop Hayward in 2019. At this stage he knew of claims of Aboriginal burials on the site. Two years on Bishop Hayward now claims (phone call to HHA member 31/5/21). he was ignorant of the Aboriginal graves and that the Church has done nothing illegal. We think their transgressions are moral, and not necessarily illegal.
We think we should ALL heed the message on Bishop Hayward’s parish FB site In our own lifetime, we have been guilty of silent acquiescence to the status quo, not wanting to see the pain and social trauma felt by those who suffered and still suffer from the violence and injustice of the colonial past. We are guilty of moral insensitivity— that is, of not valuing our neighbour as much as we value ourselves. We are guilty of moral blindness, of simply not noticing or caring enough.
Response-to-Dr-Fitzgerald-from-Bishop-Hayward
Below is the text of an email sent to the Anglican Property Trust in 2018. It makes clear the HHA position at that time, proving much of what is claimed about our position by church officials is false. No reply was ever received.
Dear-Scott-Lincoln-email-sent-31-Oct-1