Overland Telegraph Line

Adjourned debate on motion of Hon. E.S. Bourke:

That this council—

1. Recognises 15 November 2022 as the 150^th anniversary of the state celebration of the completion of the Overland Telegraph Line;

2. Acknowledges the important social, technological and economic contribution the creator of the Overland Telegraph Line, Sir Charles Todd and his team, have made connecting South Australia to the rest of the world through the creation of the Overland Telegraph Line;

3. Acknowledges there is an important First Nation's story to be told that will better enrich our understanding of this significant part of Australia’s history; and

4. Recognises our great state’s pioneering history in bold investments, from the Overland Telegraph Line, the world’s largest battery to our future green hydrogen industry.

(Continued from 3 November 2022.)

The Hon. N.J. CENTOFANTI (Leader of the Opposition) (17:25): I move to amend the motion as follows:

Paragraph 3—Leave out 'First Nation's' and insert 'First Nations' '

Paragraph 4—Leave out paragraph 4 and insert:

4. Recognises our great state's pioneering history in connecting South Australia to the world from the Overland Telegraph Line to our emerging satellite communications industry.

I rise as the speaker for the opposition on the motion put forward by the honourable member. On 22 August 1872, the construction of the Overland Telegraph between Adelaide and Darwin was completed. It has been described as the greatest engineering feat carried out in 19^th century Australia, according to the National Museum of Australia. The completion of the Overland Telegraph created history, with communication time between Europe and Australia reduced from months to hours.

The management of construction was conducted by South Australia's Superintendent of Telegraphs, Charles Todd, who divided the route into three sections, being the southern section, Port Augusta to Oodnadatta; the central section on to Pope River; and the northern section onwards to Darwin. While private contractors were tasked to build the northern and southern sections, the South Australian government was responsible for the remote 1,000-kilometre central stretch.

Running more than seven months behind schedule, the two lines were finally joined at Frew Ponds on Thursday 22 August 1872, and Todd was given the honour of sending the first message along the completed line, which read:

We have this day, within two years, completed a line of communications two thousand miles long through the very centre of Australia, until a few years ago a Terra Incognita believed to be a desert.

Those of us who live in country communities in particular understand the importance of connectivity, and the Overland Telegraph allowed just that. Not only did it connect regional communities, it connected cities, states and territories, and it connected Australia with the world.

It is important that we recognise the significance of this project at its time. It demonstrated the vision of our forbearers and, as Marcus Garvey once said, 'A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots.'

The opposition wishes to highlight that the position of the apostrophe in the word 'Nation's' in paragraph 3 needs repositioning, as the word in this context should be a possessive plural as opposed to a singular plural. We propose an amendment to reflect this accordingly.

Paragraph 4 of the motion requests that this council 'Recognises our great state's pioneering history in bold investments, from the Overland Telegraph Line, the world's largest battery to our future green hydrogen industry'. The opposition's second amendment recommends that it instead reads 'Recognises our great state's pioneering history in connecting South Australia to the world from the Overland Telegraph Line to our emerging satellite communications industry'.

We appreciate the government's preference to grandstand about their pet projects. However, in the usual spirit of this chamber with regard to motions, we have brought forward our amendment to remove the political nature of the motion. I inform the chamber that the opposition supports the motion as per the aforementioned amendments.

The Hon. F. PANGALLO (17:29): I rise to say that I support the honourable member's motion in relation to the Overland Telegraph Line. I would like to add that it has to be recognised that this is probably one of the greatest feats of human endurance and exploration in Australia. You have to consider the conditions that Todd had to endure and also the fact that he managed to find assistance from First Nations people along the way.

They worked with him in getting this vital piece of infrastructure that started communications between the southern part of the continent and the northern part of the continent. It is incredible to think that it was just a simple piece of wire that led to this communication system being established in Australia using Morse code.

I would recommend that members, if they have not done so already—or when they take students through in parliamentary visits—visit the library where, in one corner, there is a desk that actually contains a Morse code set-up. It was put there by two aficionados of the Overland Telegraph, two elderly gentlemen who put the exhibition together. It is actually a working model of the telegraph. You can send messages across the desk in Morse code. It is a great learning tool, and a great reminder of this enormous feat that was carried out so long ago.

With that, I recommend the motion to the chamber and I indicate that I will not be supporting the Labor amendment but I will be supporting the Liberal amendment. I just want to point out that this sort of thing tends to happen when we do motions. I note that when the Liberals put up a motion and wish to either acknowledge the work that their previous government did, Labor are the first ones to get up and then scrub it out.

In this case, it is the same thing that has happened here, where Labor wants to put in, amongst other things, projects that are still yet to be fulfilled. I do not think it is necessary. The fact is that it is simply communication that celebrates what is happening in our communications industry, because this is what the Overland Telegraph was all about. It was all about establishing a vital line of communication.

The Hon. E.S. BOURKE (17:32): Sometimes we all go to a lot of events. You might be at Rotary or you might be talking in front of a school. A lot of people in that room might be thinking, 'Why is a politician here to talk about our school?' It is something I really enjoy going along to because it is always a good reminder of what the role of a politician is.

As politicians, we can make decisions about bold and innovative new legislation that can really change our state, and make our state the place to live and also a state that thrives. That is exactly what this motion is about. This motion came to life because of a vote that took place in our Old Chamber, behind the very tables that are in the Old Chamber today. It was a bold decision to pay for the infrastructure that would become one of the biggest engineering projects that our country had seen, building the Overland Telegraph line.

That was a decision voted on by our parliament, just as two weeks ago we made a very bold decision to create a new industry, the hydrogen industry. Again, it was a decision made by this parliament because that is what we are here to do: vote on and create bold investments that not only build a better state for our infrastructure but make a state where South Australians can thrive.

I realise this is the last motion of the day, but I find it very interesting that those opposite have taken this opportunity to say that by making these comments about the hydrogen power industry, and also about building the largest battery in the world, it is a political opportunity. The largest battery in the world is quite a big achievement, quite a big, bold piece of investment and infrastructure build in our state. That I would like to grandstand, and that is why I have put this motion forward.

It deliberately did not mention anywhere in this motion the state government. It did not mention anywhere the Malinauskas Labor government, for the very reason we are celebrating an incredible piece of infrastructure, an incredible bold decision made by this parliament, be that in the old parliament, in the lower house or in this chamber, because that is what this motion is celebrating. When we make a vote in a parliament we can make significant change with our built infrastructure and, most importantly, we can make change so that South Australians can thrive.

The battery is also mentioned because there is a really interesting connection about the battery in this story. Quite often there would be a break in the line for the Overland Telegraph Line. They had to find a solution to be able to find this break in the line really quickly, so they created a battery. They had that battery connect to the line so that they could find that short very easily. It is quite a good story, connecting the battery story at the very beginning to where we are now with having the world's largest battery in Jamestown.

I will be supporting the Hon. Nicola Centofanti's change for paragraph 3, removing the apostrophe, but I will not be accepting the motion put forward to remove two pieces of significant investments for our state that will create a lasting change in our regions that will be able to benefit from the work that will be created from the hydrogen power plant, which is a significant change for our regional workers. I would hope those opposite would see that, and also the fact that the world's largest battery is also in our regions, in Jamestown. I think they should be recognised in this motion.

The PRESIDENT: The first question I am going to put is that the amendment to paragraph 3 as moved by the Hon. Ms Centofanti, which is basically a typo, be agreed to.

Question agreed to.

The PRESIDENT: The next question I am going to put is that we leave out paragraph 4.

Question resolved in the negative.

Motion as amended carried.