Is this really worth the expense? How will it improve interfaith relations?

Kevin Rudd parts the Holy See with Tim Fischer

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24057444-2702,00.html

KEVIN Rudd has defied the public service to appoint Tim Fischer as Australia's first resident ambassador to the Vatican.

The Department of Foreign Affairs as recently as this year urged parliamentarians not to embrace a full-time post, privately raising concerns about the $1million cost.

But the appointment of the former deputy prime minister ends a long campaign by both sides of politics for the post.

In a move that underlines the growing importance of the mission to the Vatican - amid speculation that China will also establish ties - the Prime Minister said he hoped the new role could help interfaith dialogue and discussion on human rights and political freedom.

Mr Fischer, also the former Nationals leader, confessed yesterday he was a "less than perfect practising Catholic" who was simply honoured to accept the position.

"I am Australia's representative to the Holy See before I am a Catholic representative," he said.

"There's only one true perfect practising Catholic, and he has just left Sydney this morning."

Mr Fischer is Mr Rudd's first political diplomatic appointment, although John Howard sent several former ministers to serve as ambassadors, including Amanda Vanstone in Rome.

The Vatican does not allow envoys in Rome to double as ambassadors to the Holy See. Australia's envoys to the Vatican have traditionally shared the role with their position as Australian ambassador to Ireland, Turkey, Malta, Sweden or Switzerland.

Career diplomat Anne Plunkett is the current ambassador to the Holy See, based in Dublin as part of her dual role as ambassador to Ireland.

Mr Rudd, who announced the appointment yesterday while farewelling Pope Benedict XVI at Sydney airport after the week-long World Youth Day celebration, had in the past criticised the political appointment of a former Howard government minister, John Herron, to the role. But yesterday he said the appointment would "mark a significant deepening of Australia's relations with the Vatican". "It will allow Australia to expand dialogue with the Vatican in areas including human rights, political and religious freedom, food security, arms control, refugees and anti-people trafficking," he said.

There was speculation last night that yesterday's announcement could be an attempt by the Government to soften opinion before a Labor diplomatic appointment, such as former NSW premier Bob Carr or former Opposition leader Kim Beazley.

Former Howard government minister Tony Abbott, a practising Catholic, confirmed yesterday the merits of a Vatican-based representative were discussed during the Howard years.

"I'd rather not comment on what went on behind closed doors but I will say it is a very good idea," Mr Abbott told The Australian. "I think it's frankly overdue and I think we should give credit where it's due."

Dr Herron yesterday said the Vatican had invited China to open a diplomatic post in the Holy See "and there's some indication that they'll take it up". "There's been a feeling that it's only a matter of time, and Australia will want a full-time person there, when that happens, if for no other reason," he said.

In 1973, then prime minister Gough Whitlam appointed the first Australian envoy to the Vatican as an add-on to the role of the Turkish ambassador, prompting him to remark that it would do the Vatican good to appoint "an ambassador who has credentials with the Caliphate too".

Most recently, Peter Lawler, who was accredited to the Vatican by the Hawke government in the lead-up to the 1986 visit by Pope John Paul II, argued a permanent ambassador could aid interfaith dialogue, particularly between Western and Islamic nations.

"Australia continues to be a stand-out anomaly for a country of its size, international status and connections," Mr Lawler said in a submission to parliament's foreign affairs committee.

He is also believed to have his own candidate in mind: distinguished Sydney QC and Labor Party member John McCarthy, who may have been rejected on the grounds his appointment could spark "jobs for the boys" claims.

Gerard Henderson, the Sydney Institute director who studied at Xavier College in Melbourne with Mr Fischer during the 1960s and once clashed with him in

the student newspaper over

BA Santamaria, also welcomed the elevation of his student foe.

"I wish him well and I am sure he will make an excellent contribution to Australian-Vatican relations and no doubt will advise the Pope about the need for a railway track within the Vatican city," Mr Henderson said.

Mr Fischer said he had not sought out a diplomatic posting and admitted criticism of such roles for former politicians was justified.

"It's when they are given out as some form of sinecure, as maybe has happened in the past, that is what I find is objectionable," he said. "If they (politicians) are going as twilight zones, they should be vetoed."

Dr Herron, former Labor minister Michael Tate and former West Australian Labor premier Brian Burke were all former ambassadors to the Holy See.

Mr Tate so loved the job that the former politician was said to have told the pope at his final audience that he was joining the priesthood.