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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2008-11-27 Daily Xml
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SOCIAL HISTORY MUSEUM

The Hon. R.B. SUCH (Fisher) (12:41): I move:

That this house calls on the state government to establish a comprehensive social history museum in Adelaide to highlight the many achievements of the people of this state.

This has been one of my hobbyhorses for a long time. Unfortunately, it remains only a hobbyhorse because it has not got to the barrier and certainly it has not had a start. South Australia does not have a comprehensive social history museum, which looks at the achievements of South Australians—which are many—and highlights them to both local residents and visitors. We have some excellent specialised museums, including the Migration Museum and the National Railway Museum, and others, but we do not have a comprehensive social history museum in South Australia.

We used to have a constitutional museum next door—which was moved and, as far as I know, does not really exist in any substantial form. Visitors often want to look at what has happened locally. The member for Schubert in his speech about tariffs mentioned the fact that South Australians pioneered some modern agricultural techniques in terms of the stripper, the air seeder, and so on. The list is quite extensive. I will not list all the achievements. I do not believe most South Australians know much about our history, despite the good endeavours of the History Trust of South Australia and people who are interested in history. Our list of achievements includes:

First police force in Australia (1838)

First stripper harvester in Australia (John Ridley in 1843)

First publication of non-English language newspaper in Australia (1848)

First public animal-powered railway in Australia (1854)

First state to grant adult male suffrage, including Aboriginal men (1856)

Legalisation of trade unions (1876)

Creation of the Torrens land titles system (1858)—which has been adopted in many places around the world.

Invention of the stump jump plough (1876)

First major long distance telephone call in Australia (1878)

First state secondary school for girls (1879)

Women allowed to study at university (1880)

First capital city to be connected to a waterborne sewerage system (1881)

First agriculture college in Australia (1885)

First irrigation settlement in Australia (1887)

First juvenile court in Australia (1890)

Adult women given the right to vote and stand as members of parliament (1894)

First to establish a Conservatorium of Music (1897)

First crematorium opened (1903)

First driver's licence issued (1906)

First female police appointed (1915)

First practicable pedal wireless set (1928)

First publication by an Aboriginal author (1929)

Establishment of first public housing authority (1936)

Invention of the Hills Hoist rotary clothesline (1945)

Development of the wine cask with a flexible bag and tap (1965)

First woman judge in Australia (1965)

Prohibition of Discrimination Act on the grounds of race, colour or country of origin (1966)

Establishment of the Aboriginal Lands Trust (1966)

Decriminalising of homosexuality (1975)

Passing of sex discrimination laws (1976)

And the list goes on. In fact, the photocopier was invented here in South Australia at Woodville, and there are many other achievements, which I will not list.

The point I make is that we should be proud to highlight these achievements and we should have a proper facility, preferably somewhere on or near North Terrace, where we can showcase these things not only to our own residents but also to visitors coming to this state. We have an excellent natural history museum on North Terrace, but we do not have a place where we can showcase the achievements—politically, socially and economically—of which we should all be proud.

I do not expect that something like this would happen overnight, but it is something that should happen. Even if it takes 10 or 20 years to get the facility, I would like to see a commitment from the government. I think it is a great opportunity for this Premier, who is very interested in history, to go down in history as the Premier who set in train the creation of a social history museum in South Australia to highlight the achievements of South Australians.

As part of that, there is no reason why it could not incorporate the cultural aspects of the traditional peoples of South Australia. If we established a centre such as that, which could genuinely and comprehensively showcase not only the achievements of those who have been in South Australia since 1836 but also those who have been here for 50,000 years or more, that would be a very significant thing to have in the city. I understand that we have the best collection of Aboriginal artefacts in the nation but, unfortunately, they are not well displayed.

As part of a social history museum, if we make it a living museum as well, with living displays—people doing crafts, and so on, that have been used in the past—as well as living Aboriginal culture and displays, similar to the Maori cultural centre in New Zealand, I think if we did it well it would be an absolute drawcard, because we have the achievements as well as the artefacts to display and showcase. I urge the government (and I am not expecting it to be done by tomorrow) to at least set in train plans to create a genuine, comprehensive social history museum on or near North Terrace. I commend the motion to the house.

Debate adjourned on motion of Mrs Geraghty.

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