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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Second Session (51-2)
2008-05-07 Daily Xml
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POLISH HILL RIVER CHURCH MUSEUM GIFT

Ms CICCARELLO (Norwood) (14:55): Can the Minister for Multicultural Affairs inform the house about the historic relics he presented to the Polish people during his recent trip to Poland? I am sure that the minister's natural reticence would also prevent him from telling the house what he received in Poland.

The Hon. M.J. ATKINSON (Croydon—Attorney-General, Minister for Justice, Minister for Multicultural Affairs) (14:55): I was pleased to lead a crossbench delegation that included the members for Norwood and Bright and the leader of Family First on an overseas trip to be able to present a special gift to the people of Poland. During my visit, I presented Jozef Cardinal Glemp, Primate of Poland, a gift from the government on behalf of the people of South Australia and the Polish-Australian community.

The gift was particularly significant to the descendants of the Silesian Polish settlers who arrived in South Australia in 1856 and settled at Polish Hill River in the Clare Valley. The item consisted of a piece of one of the original sandstone blocks and one of the handmade nails used to build the Church of St Stanislaw Kostka in the 1860s, accompanied by photographs and a brief history of the church and adjoining school which is now a museum. I wish to acknowledge and thank the Polish Hill River Church Museum Committee for making the historic articles available.

The Hon. M.D. Rann: Did you receive an honour from the Polish President?

The Hon. M.J. ATKINSON: I did, Premier, and I didn't need to assemble a crowd to receive mine.

The Hon. K.O. Foley: Can I get one too?

The Hon. M.J. ATKINSON: No. The mounted, framed montage of artefacts, plaques, photographs and text included the following information in English and Polish:

Presented to the people of Poland by the Hon. Michael J. Atkinson MP, Attorney-General, Minister for Justice, Minister for Multicultural Affairs, the people of South Australia and the Polish immigrants who have settled in South Australia since 1856.

The gift included a brief history (in Polish) of the Polish Hill River Church Museum. The first large group of Polish immigrants to South Australia arrived on the barque August at Port Misery in 1856.

The Hon. K.O. Foley: Out my way.

The Hon. M.J. ATKINSON: Yes, Port Misery—aptly named. All 131 Polish men, women and children aboard immediately travelled to the Clare Valley, many settling at Hill River, which soon became known as Polish Hill River.

The Clare Valley Polish came from a region known as Dabrowka Wielko Polska which literally means Area of Dabrowka, West Poland. Almost all were from the townships of Zbaszyn and Zbaszynek about halfway between the city of Poznan and the modern border with Germany in what was then Prussian Poland. Soon after arriving in the Clare Valley, they determined to bring a Polish priest from Europe and decided to build their own church and school at Polish Hill River.

In April 1870, the arrival of a Jesuit priest from Krakow, Father Leon Rogalski, spurred on the building program and, on 3 November 1871, the church named after St Stanislaw Kostka was consecrated. Soon after, the school attached to the back of the church was also opened. Despite suffering from rheumatism, Father Rogalski ministered widely in Polish, German and English, and he also taught Latin and French, and religion and theology in English. He tried without success to get another priest from Poland to continue his work. Sadly, by the time he died in 1906, many of the Polish families had left the district and the church then fell into disrepair. In 1971, the Polish community decided to rebuild the church and three adjoining school rooms.

The church, now a secular museum building where mass can be celebrated only occasionally with the permission of the bishop, and the school were fully restored by 1980. The Polish Hill River Church Museum was placed on the South Australian register of state heritage items. The museum was officially opened in October 1988, and is now open on the first Sunday of each month or by arrangement with the Polish Hill River Church Museum committee. Cardinal Glemp was overwhelmed by the historical articles and told us it will be mounted in a prominent place in a new cathedral being constructed in Warsaw.

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