GLAD TIDINGS No. 9 PART A

A very happy new year to all our readers. This edition of the newsletter does indeed bring glad tidings! As many of you might know, just prior to Christmas, the Australian parliament ratified the Maritime Labour Convention. We congratulate the Government, and in particular Minister Albanese on this historic piece of legislation and pray that the Convention will come into full force

internationally as soon as possible. Australia is the twenty-second nation to ratify the Convention and it is expected that the other eight nations needed to ratify to make up the required thirty necessary for the Convention to become international law, should occur in the first half of this year. This is wonderful news and cause for celebration for the globe’s 1.3 million seafarers and all those good souls who are part of the maritime family. The Reverend Canon Dennis Claughton, our Fremantle MTS chaplain had the great honour and pleasure to be at the International Labour Organisation in Geneva, the day the Australian Government announced ratification to the full assembly of the ILO. Dennis was very proud to accept the gracious invitation from Greg Vines

Editorial

Australia’s permanent minister to the UN to be present with him, and other dignitaries (including the MUA’s national secretary Paddy Crumlin) at the formal presentation of Australia’s instrument of ratification to the ILO. Back home, our biennial conference held at the Maritime Training College Beauty Point Tasmania in October, attended by all but one of our twenty six centres was an outstanding success. MTS’ popular secretary general Tom Heffer, travelled from London to join us for the five day event. It was a great thrill to have Tom with us, and it afforded him the opportunity to spend some quality time with those MTS chaplains, staff and volunteers participating in the conference- and to savour the Aussie style of conferencing and ministering to seafarers visiting the vast shores of this continent.

A special “thank you” to Arthur Hinsley for organising much of the conference and his willing helpers, providing an abundance of Tassie hospitality from our centres in Hobart and Burnie. And another “thank you” goes to Brisbane MTS’ Capt Dave Ellis and Newcastle’s Revd Garry Dodd for presenting a number of invaluable conference sessions of the highest quality on the increasing threat of piracy and

Col Brown, Greg Vines and Dennis Claughton at the ILO, Geneva

Featured in other parts of

this newsletter and

available for download

on the MTS website

www.mts.org.au : • New members elected to

the MTS Australian Council • Flying Angel Freemantle at

the ILO Geneva • MTS Sydney’s Lloyds list DCN

award in Melbourne • AMSA’s most generous

gesture • Commissioning at Port Giles • Bishop Garry moves to

Ballarat Diocese • Port Kembla’s mu-mu feast

for secretary-general • Jack Tomes – Hobart’s

volunteer extraordinaire • Changes at Gladstone MTS • Father Thomas goes

overboard at Christmas • Townsville’s new seafarers’

centre looking brilliant

• Eden’s whale festival

blessing

Page 2

spirited fellowship generated in Tasmania. Our chaplains at Fremantle and Newcastle centres have kindly indicated that the staff at these two venues would be more than happy to host gatherings of the MTS family later in the year. The Australian Council meets in Geelong over 9-10 February when this proposal will be discussed, a decision made and communicated to all our mission centres soon after.

Best wishes for a safe, happy and fulfilling 2012. Col Brown National Coordinator Australian Council of Mission to Seafarers www.mts.org.au/

Editorial cont.

Featured articles cont. • Geraldton MTS celebrates

Daphne’s great achievements

• Chaplain Jed with royalty on

Melbourne’s waters

• Newcastle’s ship visiting course • Bunbury blesses pilot’s boat • Stonehenge comes to Esperance • Tragedies at sea • Cyclone Heidi batters our Pilbara

centres • Wallaroo opens new centre

armed robbery at sea, and addressing ways in which we as pastoral practitioners can be of support to seafarers who live in fear of attack on the high seas or who have already experienced these type of traumas- not forgetting the impact such experiences have on the families and loved ones of seafarers as well.

It seems an eternity before we gather again for our next biennial conference in 2013 and the current feedback from conference participants is that- as the Beauty Point gathering was so valuable- it would be ideal if we could have a meeting of the west coast centres somewhere in the West later this year, and similarly one for the east coast centres in the East to build upon the enthusiasm, learning and

GLAD TIDINGS No. 9 part A 2012

Beauty Point MTS national conference group