Adelaide Holocaust Museum and Steiner Education Centre

The Hon. T.T. NGO (15:58): I rise to speak today about the Adelaide Holocaust Museum and Steiner Education Centre. Adelaide's newest museum opened in November 2020 and is located in historic Fennescey House at 33 Wakefield Street. I am motivated to talk about the Adelaide Holocaust Museum and Steiner Education Centre because of its relevance in the world today. None of us want to live in a world where freedom and human rights are stripped away and power is abused.

During our recent election campaign, South Australians looked on with horror at what was evolving in Ukraine. The scenes we witnessed at the Kabul airport on 16 August last year were just as heartbreaking. Tragically, we are witnessing parts of the world being torn apart by war and people being deprived of freedom and basic human rights. For us in Australia, the essential human elements of compassion, understanding and empathy are what makes Australian society safe, democratic and peaceful.

This type of human interaction is what the Adelaide Holocaust Museum and Steiner Education Centre aims to inspire. The fundamental objective of the organisation is to tell the Holocaust story in the hope that it encourages us to speak out against racism and promote human rights for all humanity.

The education centre component of this organisation is named after the South Australian Holocaust survivor Andrew Steiner OAM. It has been Andrew's lifelong passion to establish a Holocaust museum and education centre in Adelaide. His dream to make this a reality was facilitated by the generous support of the Catholic Archdiocese, which offered Fennescey House as the location.

The permanent exhibition in the museum traces the history of the Holocaust, relating it to the lived experiences of South Australian survivors. Our local Holocaust survivors and their descendants want to make sure that their stories are remembered so the atrocities suffered by so many are never, ever repeated. The survivors talk to visiting students about the dangers of prejudice, exclusion, division and lack of tolerance of others. This encourages students to connect to other forms of racism they see in the world today and the intolerance they experience in their own communities.

The story of the Holocaust has raised many questions about the complexities of human nature. How did the world let six million people be so brutally murdered? During this very dark time, evil triumphed because the good people in the world did not and could not do enough.

At this institution, we learn how Australia's Indigenous activist William Cooper led a delegation of the Australian Aboriginal League to the German Consulate in Melbourne in 1938 to deliver a petition. This was one of few delegations to speak out against what was happening under the Nazi regime. This petition condemned Hitler's regime and was described by William Cooper as 'the cruel persecution of the Jewish people by the Nazi government of Germany'.

At the time, the German Consulate did not accept the petition. However, in 2012, some 74 years later, Cooper's grandson, Alf Turner, presented the consulate with a replica letter. Israel's Holocaust Memorial has honoured Australian William Cooper and his actions with the creation of an academic chair. Last year, I had the pleasure to visit this museum and was impressed by the success of the education program that was being delivered to schools.

The harsh reality of the rise of right-wing groups around the world, as well as here in Adelaide, highlights the significant role of the Holocaust Museum and Steiner Education Centre. I would like to acknowledge the museum director, Kathy Baykitch, museum staff and volunteers, our South Australian Holocaust survivors and the board members for their invaluable work. None of us wants to live in a world brimming with hate. This institution and its dedicated staff and supporters are helping to make our world better and more compassionate.

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