Church And State In New Zealand, 1835-1870: Religion, Politics, And Race

There is a considerable international literature on the contemporary relations between church and state in the provision of welfare services. This chapter reviews the experience in Australia since the late nineteenth century to examine some of the dynamics of how church agencies have negotiated and re-negotiated their place in the mixed economy of welfare. The chapter focuses on the mixed economy of welfare established by the end of the nineteenth century and, in many important ways, this no longer exists. Subscriber-based benevolent asylums in country towns, where they still stand, have been transformed into government hospitals; the Ladies Benevolent Society is no more, though St. Vincent de Paul continues its work. But some over-arching themes suggest continuity as much as disjunction. Keywords:Australian welfare; Benevolent Society; church; St. Vincent de Paul; state