10 July 2008

Is Marist College Legal?

| Zilog
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I have my doubts, as I’ve expressed to pollies and Jason Parker (see below). Could be sensational, not to mention slightly disruptive….

Dear Madam or Sir,

You may be aware of speculation in the media in recent days, and comments by Jason Parker of Porters lawyers on behalf of victims, on ABC’s Lateline last evening, in relation to the apparent difficulty encountered identifying the legal operator of the college.

Are you able to advise me who operates this institution? And more pertinently, in which entity does legally responsibility for a duty-of-care ultimately reside?

If not, I would respectfully suggest that this college may be operating illegally. This should be brought to the attention of the Federal minister.

Further, if it is unclear where liability lies, I would suggest that no parent could, in good conscience, allow their child to return to said college following the current break. Indeed, should they be on the premises in the mean-time?

Can this be resolved expeditiously? Otherwise one might be inclined to petition the ACT Supreme Court seeking to injunct the college and cease its operation, with great attendant disruption, until such time as these issues are resolved.

Yours faithfully,

An alert and alarmed parent

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Latest development & Random Thoughts

Tough-shit detractors; Local and federal ministers have responded…

Joint probably was legally constituted by the dismal (c ‘wealth) standards of the day.

However, “character” and “criminal” don’t appear in the ACT Education Act 2004 or accompanying “guidelines”. A character test is applied to personnel. It should be applied to operators.

I await an explanation of the “character” requirement of operators from both local and federal ministers.

Plainly, certain operators have criminal histories that ought to preclude them from operating a school.

Thought 1: I hear lawyers acting for St. Stanislaus’ victims plan widespread media coverage seeking other victims. Have Porters done as much? For us? Not to my knowledge. My correspondence has not been responded to. My conclusion is that they are self-serving fuckwits, and best avoided.

Thought 2: That money I raised for Lent for the Pacific missions. Anyone else remeber the slide-shows of the native kids? the cynic in me suspects it was/is a Marist Sex (with powerless native boys in a lawless jurisdiction) Tourist Resort. Am I too cynical?

tylersmayhem4:39 pm 15 Jul 08

Sorry JB, my screen hasn’t been refreshed for ages. Now you’ve got more more work to do deleting my last 2 posts. Apologies!

tylersmayhem4:37 pm 15 Jul 08

Johnboy, when are you going to rely to my email from today?!

Mick1965 said :

MODS – what’s the rule on this?

Firstly, address questions to moderators via the contact page or email, not through the discussion.

Secondly, you’re the one who’s going to be the primary target of any defamation actions. With this sort of material I would advise against naming anyone prior to police laying charges.

Mick1965 said :

what’s the rule on this?

Don’t say anything you can’t afford.

tylersmayhem: Hi Mick: I’d love to, but I don’t know how defamation cases etc works, so I’d hate to be brought up on charges or legal stuff to be honest.

MODS – what’s the rule on this?

Stop telling me what to do Skid! 🙂

tylersmayhem11:23 am 15 Jul 08

Hi Mick: I’d love to, but I don’t know how defamation cases etc works, so I’d hate to be brought up on charges or legal stuff to be honest.

Put a <i> at the beginning of the text you want in italics, and then a </i> at the end.
If you forget to close of the i with a </i> then everything after the original <i> will be in italics.

(this is html in its most basic of forms)

Skid: I would use ITALLICS but I don’t know how to get that effect posting here! SORRY!

tylersmayhem: Can you put a name to the teacher?

tylersmayhem10:07 am 15 Jul 08

Mick: I have been thinking more about your earlier post (#36) and what happened to your daughter is very reminiscent of what happened to me by the Principal of Farrer Primary when I was in year 3. I was a kid who had learning and concentration difficulties and I was so severely bullied by him one day that my parents took me out that very afternoon. I still can’t believe what went on that day!

In response to ‘imhotep’ – It’s a fact that students at Marist and Dara were abused by teachers. The schools and Marist Order have at least conceded this. It is up to the legal team to present the facts in court on the ‘alleged’ cover ups that took place over the years, (as highlighted very ably, and consistently, by the lawyers that read RA). These will be discussed in this, and other forums, no doubt as they are presented in court ande made public. Like all threads this is a forum for discussion/debate of the issues and, whether you like it or not, there are bound to be those in this, and other Threads, that simply know more than others.

Personally, I wouldn’t like to believe there are any pedophiles now at Marist or any other school, or anywhere on earth for that matter. However, it is now a fact that both schools (in the case of Dara – Lyons) did employ a very small number of people that did engage in sexual abuse of students in the past. Furthermore, I have yet to read any post in RA, or elsewhere, that contradicts your statement that “All schools, including Marist, are overwhelmingly staffed by people who do a difficult and underpaid job because they believe it is a worthwhile thing to do”. What happened/is happening at Marist and Dara must be very disconcerting for staff who either worked at, or are now working, at both schools, I certainly feel sorry for them. A couple of the staff at Marist when I went there were, and still are, close family friends and I know they certainly aren’t happy with what’s happening. Nobody is asking for all teachers that ever taught at Marist to be hung, drawn and quartered but there are a small no. of Brothers who were in positions of authority who ‘allegedly’ ignored several complaints and comments of concern from various parent, students and other staff about the behavior of Kostka, Lyons et al. I know you hold other views so we’ll just have ‘agree to disagree’.

As has been stated previously, Marist has done a great deal of good in the past and has educated around 8000 students to date. Overwhelmingly the majority of teachers have done a great job – in fact, I can tell you that Paul Lyons was, in my experience, a very good science teacher. Bro’s Jo, Heindrich etc.. were also very good at the majority of aspects surrounding their position as Headmaster of the school, and I have reason to be personally thankful to Heindrich for favors he did my family. However, that doesn’t excuse his ‘allegedly’ not taking claims of abuse by Kostka direct to the police for investigation.

From what I can see, I think the majority of people would like to see the reputations of the school and Order restored – but these reputation will need to be built on openness and honesty with all lessons of past being learned and systems put in place to make sure such abuses never happen again in Marist, Dara or any other school. Unfortunately, with what’s happening in court I doubt this will happen for a long time yet.

Mick1965 has this wierd habit of capitalising random words to GIVE THEM ADDED EMPHASIS.

Apparently SHOUTING is the new way of pointing out that something is meant to be a joke or funny.

I see your attempt at humour, and raise you a comedy goldmine.
My dog has got NO LEGS, so he won’t come when I call him, but I have named him CIGARETTE because I can always take him out for a DRAG!

No – I was jokingly implying that HOLDER is filled with the desperate, hopeless, and lost causes…….BOOM BOOM!

tylersmayhem3:41 pm 14 Jul 08

Mick – what’s with the “HOLDER” comment. Have I missed something?

Skid,

Well, it is in HOLDER! 🙂

Just kidding – I love Holder as a suburb…..

Mick1965 said :

that’s the line I was fed by a Principal (at St Jude’s) when one of his teachers was bullying my daughter (she was 9 at the time).

St Jude is the patron saint of desperate, hopeless, and lost causes, so it always confuses me why they keep naming schools after him.

vg: “No one anywhere in any circumstance has the power to ‘offer’ this. People always have the alternative of going to the Police. This is common knowledge.”

Yup…you wanna guess what the police would have done to a kid who reported that a Marist Brother touched his cock? They would have humiliated the kid further and told him he was full of shit.

This is another reason why emotion is literally FLOWING now because back then nobody WANTED to know and frankly it seemed a larger sin to tell on a Brother than it was for a Brother to get it on with you.

imhotep: “All schools, including Marist, are overwhelmingly staffed by people who do a difficult and underpaid job because they believe it is a worthwhile thing to do. Yet unsupported allegations are flung around these Marist threads like confetti.”

Sorry mate but that’s the line I was fed by a Principal (at St Jude’s) when one of his teachers was bullying my daughter (she was 9 at the time). The bullying, ridicule and victimisation continued and my wife and I removed her (and our 7 year old, who was very happy there) from the school. A year later the same principal confessed the teacher in question had a problem and he apologised for talking us out of damaging that teacher’s career.

You CANNOT generalise about anyone. Teachers are teachers for MANY reasons and I know quite a few who are bludgers.

imhotep

Are you PRO-MARIST?

Because I am not ANTI-Marist and I don’t think any of the others in the support group are – I certainly can’t see it.

You seem to be a teacher there – would this be correct?

If so, may I say I trained at Signadou (and did my Honours at ACU) and I know a few teachers there. Some of them are brilliant, some of them are pathetic. I won’t name them but I will say as a school the teachers there now are about the same as they are now anywhere else in Canberra…the Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

And I’ll add that my perception of who is Good, who is Bad and who is Ugly is my personal opinion.

My problem is that I went to Marist when it was an absolute nightmare to go there. The things that I went through there were appalling. I have spent much of my life denying that the events made dramatic changes to my life, but now that Kostka has been exposed it has changed things. Only recently I would run into old friends from Marist who would say “I can’t believe people are telling bullshit stories about Kostka. I didn’t like the guy but he certainly never touched anyone”. This made it REALLY awkward for me and of course I didn’t volunteer a “well actually…”.

It’s time now for Marist to do something about what they allowed to happen. And whether you choose to believe me or not, it was covered up. And again, whether you choose to believe it or not, I was involved in an incident where the brothers covered up something and the police, when questioned about the accuracy of what the Marist Brothers claimed, said “Priests don’t lie”. And yes, I know they are not priests (but the cop didn’t).

I don’t think it would be appropriate to march on Marist like the KKK and that’s not what we are trying to do. And while it may not have been set up as a haven for kiddy fiddlers, it sure turned out as one and many people believe the kiddy fiddling in Canberra was concentrated at Marist. This can be explained by the fact that everything that could “taint the reputation of the school” was covered up. So of course kiddy fiddlers were attracted to getting a job there where their illegal acts were covered.

The purpose of my posting here is:

(1) to share experiences with other victims (it really has been a very lonely 30 odd years that I have been denying this);

(2) to attempt to come up with an original idea on how (other than with financial compensation) the school/s can do something to help heal and to help stop this occuring again.

Sometimes I just post here to let off steam too (often after reading a ridiculous post), but that’s not the objective. I’m sure most of you will understand that there is so much anger, sometimes the objective can shift.

It really is a shame that some of you here really feel you have to throw rocks – I really don’t believe we are doing any harm.

In closing, I would like to believe that Marist can stop with the arrogance and just accept what has happened because of their arrogance and anxoiusness to cover things up to save face. It is this arrogance, and belief that they are/need to be “better” than other schools, that forced many teachers and students to “sell their souls” by looking the other way and allowing things like this to happen. This is something that really needs to change.

Canberra Gardener7:22 am 14 Jul 08

Just so we have no misunderstanding.
Daramalan College is in precisely the same predicament.

They too face the same legality issues caused by the Catholic Church’s desire to shun responsibility and deny victims access to the civil court’s.

BerraBoy68 said :

(BerraBoy)”imhotep – You may feel that way because you are uninformed. Others … know a lot more of the facts than you do.”
“At the end of the day, if you have facts proving no-one at Marist abused children or covered it up, please post them or tell someone in authority,…”

Hang on, I thought it was the accusers who had to provide evidence. The mob doesn’t rule, just yet.

I am as interested to see justice done as you are, BerraBoy. But is it ‘justice’ to accept anonymous third-hand rumour as ‘fact’ just because you want to believe it?

Look at the unsupported claim above that pedophiles still work at Marist (minime2) or Zilog’s bizaare assertion that Marist was deliberately set up to be a safe house for pedophiles. Do you believe that? On what evidence?

All schools, including Marist, are overwhelmingly staffed by people who do a difficult and underpaid job because they believe it is a worthwhile thing to do. Yet unsupported allegations are flung around these Marist threads like confetti.

Don’t give me any of your “I know more than you do crap”. If you do actually KNOW, then post it. If true, you have nothing to worry about. Otherwise, I will continue to ‘snipe from the sidelines’.

@BerraBoy68 – I have been deliberately not posting due to the nature of the case you and your cohorts are working on. In a way, you are correct, the world is about to spin off its axis, but you are waaaayyyy off the mark if you think it concerns little boys.

My highlight to you is get in quick. I’ll fathom $2.50 by December, and $8/litre by 2012 – and since I’m a lot closer to the pulse than you, watch it happen.

Kiddyfiddlers will again be the province of self-control and the odd-occasional supercase. On that, you can set your timers.

vg said :

If you really want to nail these people to the wall (and I hope you do) do it properly. 1 loose cannon can completely screw it for you

While fearing the world is about to fall off its axis, I agree with vg (well, to a point at least). I also note his tone has ‘softened’ somewhat from previous posts! The support/lobby group that has been formed has a structure including an official spokesman and having anybody go ‘off script’ while speaking ‘on-behalf of’ the group would indeed be awful. However, individuals that posts in this thread about what they went through and know occurred at Marist have the right to connect with others on RA who have similar experiences, at least until the website and its own forum are available (the RA mods have, I believe, made that clear). It’s not very sporting for those not involved or bored with the topic to snipe from the sidelines at those that may have suffered abuse. Also, nothing has been, or will be exposed, on RA that will hurt the case for the abused.

I’d also like to point out that Mick1965 is also right, RA has actually been very good in exposing a number of issues relating to this case. While the Marist/Dara issue continue to be news in the ACT (and it will be for a long time to come yet), various threads on the topic in RA have actually encouraged a number of victims to come forward for assistance. Knowing they aren’t alone through reading these threads has really helped them immensely. It would be a shame if people felt they had to keep hiding their abuse due to adverse comments posted by those bored with the topic.

If it would help, would a single thread that can be used by those interested in the topic be more acceptable ? If the general view is yes, I’ll talk to Jazz etc.. and see what can be done until the dedicated Support Group website is available. That said, it will likely still appear frequently in the Recent Comments section just because it is ongoing news in the ACT.

I have to make a comment here

“What religious order offers a choice of going to police or ‘letting the order handle it internally’”

No one anywhere in any circumstance has the power to ‘offer’ this. People always have the alternative of going to the Police. This is common knowledge.

Adopting a scattergun approach about ‘all the perverts’ that work there is playing right into the hands of the defence. You should be keeping some aces up your sleeve, not showing your hand every time someone folds.

At this stage it seems you have a civil case with 5 ‘alleged’ child molesters. If and when the court rules in your favour you will have some substance, but at this stage all they are is allegations. Very serious and concerning ones but allegations nonetheless. Giving all and sundry the opportunity to vent in an unsubstantiated fashion will come back to bite you on the backside, as not only can all your supporters read this, but sadly all those who will oppose you.

Your best bet is to start up your own site with password access where you can discuss it without impediment. It is human nature that at some point people will stop thinking of you as being genuinely aggrieved and just as whingers. Not saying thats what I think in the least, but thats what will end up happening. If you really want to nail these people to the wall (and I hope you do) do it properly. 1 loose cannon can completely screw it for you

Mick1965 said :

I confess that I haven’t read all 481 posts on this topic so far, but what I have read is I have read a lot of slur, innuendo and unsustantiated allegation building on unsubstantiated allegation.

imhotep – You may feel that way because you are uninformed. Others who actually care about this topic, know those involved on both sides and keep up to date maybe, just maybe, know a lot more of the facts than you do. For example, the civil case being launched lists 5 child abusers at Marist. Kostka and Lyons make two – so contrary to your earlier comments, not all of “the people responsible for the abuse have been identified and punished”. The names of the other three are yet to be made public. One implication of this is if I was a teacher at Marist I’d want this cleared up truthfully ASAP to protect my own good name. It is also to be decided who in the Order covered for Kostka et al’s’ behavior.

Comments like hating Jews the same we hate those who have abused children at these schools is purile and stupid, and possibly racist. I’d be surprised if you didn’t hate known pedophiles too.

Captainwhorebags – parents did complain and it was hushed up. What religious order offers a choice of going to police or ‘letting the order handle it internally’. Again, perhaps those that want to set up a support/lobby group actually know a lot more about what happened at the school than you do.

At the end of the day, if you have facts proving no-one at Marist abused children or covered it up, please post them or tell someone in authority, because just sniping on this thread at those that actually know better is a bit silly. Perhaps also those that were abused, or those that support them don’t put information here because we don;t want tot harm the civil case. Thats doesn’t mean information that is already in the public forum can’t be discussed.

If you don’t like the thread, again don’t read it.

captainwhorebags8:51 am 12 Jul 08

minime2, what’s the legal standard for knowing who the pedophiles are? is “I heard it from johnny who heard it from matty who saw it written on the toilets…” good enough for parents to withdraw students or, you know, set up a few nooses on the lightposts?

if you’ve got legally defensible facts that someone is a kiddy fiddler, or someone covered it up, or someone encouraged it, go to the police. no doubt you’ll have overwhelming community support, too. if, however, you’ve heard a rumour or have a suspicion or a “gut instinct” or “everyone thought it” then perhaps think twice before throwing the molotovs.

What perverts work there miime2?

.

#23 … or parentsd could STOP sending their children into the hands of these perverts whom they KNOW work there….

Well Zilog, you obviously have a razor sharp legal mind. I think you’ll fit right in to the support group.

.

No, it’s about the victims, a much larger group than just those sexually abused. The law only cares about the sex, but we care about much more.

I’ve a hunch the college probably has been properly constituted for some little time now; the issue may now be whether the Territory or Commonwealth owed a duty of care to us, to ensure that the college was properly constituted at the time (depressingly, there may well have been no such obligation at the time). However, if it can be established that their was, and the college was not, liability would rest on the territory or commonwealth.

Seeking an opinion may be a job for the support group.

Can’t help suspecting the joint was set up as some sort of legally sanctioned dumping ground for known offenders. It rather looks like all our dax were dropped and we were all made to bend over, metaphorically.

Seeking an opinion may be a job for the support group.

My apologies to those offended by grammatical, intelligent language. FYI, the pollies are squawking, suggesting they respond to intelligent correspondence. Probably why the losers above have never achieved anything.

Mick1965 said :

(Mick 1965) ‘imhotep You don’t get it do you? Kostka and Lyons were the tip of the iceberg.
RA is actually responsible for getting two more child molesters (from Marist) identified SO FAR.There are more.’

I confess that I haven’t read all 481 posts on this topic so far, but what I have read is I have read a lot of slur, innuendo and unsustantiated allegation building on unsubstantiated allegation.

Here’s an idea. You and your mates can get together one night in a park somewhere. After a few beers, light some flaming torches and march on Marist.

Along the way you might see some other people you hate. Some Jews maybe. String them up from the lamp posts! They’re prolly guilty of something.

WHEN YOU GET TO MARIST, FORM A CIRCLE SO THAT NONE OF THOSE FILTHY LYING PEDOPHILES CAN ESCAPE! START CHANTING ‘DIE! DIE! DIE’ THEN BURN IT DOWN!!!!

(after all, your only interest in this is protecting the children. . Isn’t it?)

Canberra Gardener7:25 pm 11 Jul 08

On the subject of multiple posts….. for this sex abuse issue within Canberra Schools.

This matter cannot get enough airtime.

If your child, or brother, or sister was raped by a dirty filthy peadophile teacher/priest, and then the school denied any responsibility or wrong doing despite knowing about it happening all along……..you would be pissed off too.

So have a thought for those effected by this.

And yes, if it takes the closure of a school or two to get people to realise that the raping of children is the most f%@ked up thing humanity can summon, then so be it.

To the Marist Old Boys reading this…..count yourselves lucky……the campaining and constant reminders in the press may stop someone raping your child. BE THANKFUL

…..and stop whinging about the good name of the school being tarnished.
The name was tarnished by multiple child rapists being employed and protected by the school……not by a few VICTIMS needing the truth to be told.

Grow up.

peterh said :

sorry, i am missing something here, doesn’t Marist College fall under the jurisdiction of the Catholic Education Office?

shouldn’t this be something that they can answer about, as long as it does not impede any legal proceedings currently in effect?

Apparently not, the school’s lawyers have apparently said they are unsure who govern’s marist. I”m sure the relevant teachers union, the Independent Schools Staff Union would probably like to know who runs Marist too, for teh pretiection of it’s memebrs who work there.

Skidbladnir said :

By the way, if any of you Marist people are doing media things, remember to bear in mind you’ve been borrowing Jazz’ bandwidth.
Yes, there is no shame in a shamless plug, and any opportunity to build RiotACT’s profile should be exploited.

Oh we will skid, don’t worry! Always happy to give shameless, and public thanks for the continuing support of the RA mods.

sorry, i am missing something here, doesn’t Marist College fall under the jurisdiction of the Catholic Education Office?

shouldn’t this be something that they can answer about, as long as it does not impede any legal proceedings currently in effect?

By the way, if any of you Marist people are doing media things, remember to bear in mind you’ve been borrowing Jazz’ bandwidth.
Yes, there is no shame in a shamless plug, and any opportunity to build RiotACT’s profile should be exploited.

imhotep

You don’t get it do you? Kostka and Lyons were the tip of the iceberg.

RA is actually responsible for getting two more child molesters (from Marist) identified SO FAR.

There are more.

There is good work being done here.

And I don’t think any of it is particularly funny but I do have a sense of humour and would be insane without it.

Barking Toad – the mods here have said we are welcome to continue posting on RA.

So may I politely invite you to set up YOUR own dedicated site? You can ban any further talk about the topic.

It would be nice, but then we’d have to encourage other people to post their own stories to RiotACT again.

So get out there and make\break some news, people!

barking toad10:10 am 11 Jul 08

Those who may have suffered through the actions of some former staff at Marist risk losing sympathy and support from the incessant posting on RA.

I’m sure most of RA readers/posters understand the issues without being constantly reminded by threads on here.

Set up your own dedicated site.

Didn’t I previously have a post in this thread somewhere near the top? 🙁

That was some nice editing Mods. Well done.

From the Marist College Ashgrove privacy statement.

http://www.marash.qld.edu.au/privacy.shtml
It seems that the trustees of the marist brothers can be found at:-

Trustees of The Marist Brothers, PO Box 138, Drummoyne, NSW 1470.

these People can also be found there:-

Sydney Province Office Directory & Services
Br Jeff Crowe – Provincial
P.O. Box 138
Drummoyne NSW 1470
Tel: 02 9819 6622
Fax: 02 9819 6184
Email: provincial@fms-sydney.org.au

Br William Selden – Vice Provincial
P.O. Box 138
Drummoyne NSW 1470
Tel: 02 9819 6622
Fax: 02 9819 6184
Email: bselden@fms-sydney.org.au

Peter McNamara – Executive Director
The Executive Director’s role involves the animation and co-ordination of the team of people who work in the Ministries Office, ensuring that the most appropriate services are available to ministries when required. As well as working with the office team, the Executive Director liaises with the Education Advisory Council (EAC), Religious Institute Schools (RIS), Marist Youth Care (MYC), Catholic Offices & Agencies, Principals and Ministry Leaders, and the Association of Marist Schools of Australia (AMSA). The Executive Director also works closely with the Province Secretary.

P.O. Box 138
Drummoyne NSW 1470
Tel: 02 9819 6622
Fax: 02 9819 6184
Email: pmcnamara@fms-sydney.org.au

Br Anthony Robinson – Province Secretary
The Province Secretary’s role is concerned with the administration and management of the Province and includes: the running of the Province office, property, finance and legal matters. The Province Secretary is also the link between the Ministries Office and those who animate the life of the Brothers.

P.O. Box 138
Drummoyne NSW 1470
Tel: 02 9819 6622
Fax: 02 9819 6184
Email: arobinson@fms-sydney.org.au

Mr Bernard Kenna – Business Manager
P.O. Box 138
Drummoyne NSW 1470
Tel: 02 9819 6622
Fax: 02 9819 6184
Email: bkenna@fms-sydney.org.au

Br John Maguire – Provincial Bursar
P.O. Box 138
Drummoyne NSW 1470
Tel: 02 9819 6622
Fax: 02 9819 6184
Email: jmaguire@fms-sydney.org.au

You may be interested in the below. Look at piont (i)
Surely the marist brothers know who there trustees are. if in fact the marist brothers are not the trustees of the marist brothers. In every document i have seen over the years it has said” Marist College Canberra is a catholic school for boys ran by the Marist Brothers”

http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/nsw/consol_act/rcccla1942370/s4.html

ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH COMMUNITIES’ LANDS ACT 1942 – SECT 4
Trustees to be bodies corporate
4 Trustees to be bodies corporate

(1) The trustees of community land for each community shall, by virtue of this Act, be a body corporate, having perpetual succession and a common seal, and being capable of acquiring, holding and disposing of any property, real or personal, and of suing and being sued in its corporate name and of doing and suffering all such acts and things as bodies corporate may by law do or suffer.
(2) The corporate names of the trustees of community land for the several communities shall be:
(a) for the Sisters of the Brigidine Congregation, the “Trustees of the Sisters of the Brigidine Congregation”, and
(b) for the Brothers of the Christian Schools of Ireland, the “Trustees of the Christian Brothers”, and
(c) for the Brothers of the Christian Schools, the “Trustees of the De La Salle Brothers”, and
(d) for the Sisters of Saint Dominic of New South Wales, the “Trustees of the Sisters of Saint Dominic”, and
(e) for the Sisters of the Good Samaritan of the Order of Saint Benedict, the “Trustees of the Sisters of the Good Samaritan”, and
(f) for the Sisters of Mercy (Parramatta), the “Trustees of the Sisters of Mercy (Parramatta)”, and
(g) for the Society of Mary for the Province of Australia, the “Trustees of the Marist Fathers for the Province of Australia”, and
(h) for the Society of Mary for the Province of Oceania, the “Trustees of the Marist Missions of the Pacific”, and
(i) for the Marist Brothers of the Schools, the “Trustees of the Marist Brothers”, and
(j) for the Sisters of Mercy (North Sydney), the “Trustees of the Sisters of Mercy (North Sydney)”, and
(k) for the Fathers of the Passion, the “Trustees of the Passionist Fathers”, and
(l) for the Sisters of Saint Joseph of the Sacred Heart, the “Trustees of the Sisters of Saint Joseph”, and
(m) for the Congregation of the Mission, the “Trustees of the Vincentian Fathers”, and
(n) for Our Lady’s Nurses of the Poor, the “Trustees of Our Lady’s Nurses of the Poor”, and
(o) for the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, the “Trustees of the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart”, and
(p) for the Order of Preachers, the “Trustees of the Dominican Fathers”, and
(q) for the Sisters of Mercy, Diocese of Bathurst, the “Trustees of the Sisters of Mercy, Diocese of Bathurst”, and
(r) for the Sisters of St. Joseph, Diocese of Bathurst, the “Trustees of the Sisters of St. Joseph, Diocese of Bathurst”, and
(s) for the Sisters of Charity of Australia, the “Trustees of the Sisters of Charity of Australia”, and
(t) for the Sisters of Mercy, Diocese of Lismore, the “Trustees of the Sisters of Mercy, Diocese of Lismore”,
and for each community named in the first column of Schedule 2 shall be the corporate name set out opposite thereto in the second column of such Schedule.
(3) The objects of a body corporate created by this Act include:
(a) the operation and conduct of educational, welfare and health institutions, organisations or other bodies, and
(b) the performance of all such acts, matters and things of any nature (which may include, without limiting the scope of this paragraph, borrowing money) as, in its opinion, are or may be for its benefit or for the benefit of the community to which it relates.

Mick1965 said :

(Mick 1965) I know you Marist Brothers have a better place for his tongue but please note that can now get you into all sorts of strife (well, that’s if your buddies don’t look the other way).

Er Mick, the people responsible for the abuse have been identified and punished. If you have information about others speak up, or shutup. (I didn’t realise you found the issue so amusing BTW)

Interesting how not one person has disagreed with the actual issue raised by Zilog though (forgetting of course the usual pedantry in RA of style over content – but what the hell I’ve done that myself in other threads, it’s what RA’ers do best!).

The point he is making is valid – Who is responsible at Marist now, the P&C association? I bet they’re well pleased! Or the teachers? If I was one of them I’d cancel any plans to take my class on any excursion until someone takes charge. The school has made clear that those that run reside in some ether where they can’t be held responsible for any abuse, injury etc. suffered by anybody in their care. Apparently, according to their laywers, the school is now run by individuals all doing their own thing together. That can’t be right can it? So if some poor kids get hurt doing PE and breaks his neck, how is he going to live on the cash he gets from suing a PE teacher?

I think the Government needs to have a good hard look at this for everybodies sake, including the teachers, clerical staff, cleaners, etc.

Was the original post sarcasm? Because if it was, I totally missed it.

I think the loony is anyone who cannot tell that ZILOG has his tongue firmly implanted in his cheek.

I know you Marist Brothers have a better place for his tongue but please note that can now get you into all sorts of strife (well, that’s if your buddies don’t look the other way).

Yes but a poorly worded pseudo-legal talk letter doesn’t help the situation, it just makes the writer look like a loony.

If you really want to bring it up with them write a normal letter or get a lawyer to write one in legal speak if you must. But trying to fake legal speak is just going to get you ignored.

Canberra Gardener11:59 am 10 Jul 08

They also don’t seem to understand the legal seriousness of an organisation like a large private school operating with no legal entity involved.

Fact is they can’t operate with no legal entity. One must exist.

So it’s simple, as any parent who sends their child to that school now, must understand that they do so at their own legal risk. If it does not exist legally, it cannot, and should not be allowed to operate.

I wouldn’t do it…….peadophile issues or not…….because it only leaves the children exposed. To everything.

Think about it.

Zilog,

I get it.

Seem the Marist Brothers who responded (above) don’t think it’s funny! 😉

Here here tickboom.

We are all aware of the current issues at “said college”

Keep your pretentious letters to yourself.

Posting it did not make you look like a “said college” graduate but more like a sook.

Wide Boy Jake9:44 am 10 Jul 08

I think there’s as much chance of Marist closing down as there is of the Canberra light rail system being built. In other words zilch.

“…said college…”

“…one might be inclined…”

Pretentiousness meter rating: high.

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