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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2012-10-16 Daily Xml
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BLINMAN MINE

Mr VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN (Stuart) (15:43): I rise today to advise the house of an absolutely fantastic event I went to this past weekend at Blinman in the Northern Flinders Ranges. It is a very small but very important and historic town, and I think probably the most beautiful small town in South Australia, an absolutely remarkable place. The event had a dual purpose: it recognised the 150th anniversary of mining at the Blinman mine and also the official opening of the Blinman Underground Mine Tour.

Members will understand how much work and effort goes into organising an underground mine tour in a closed mine, which is by definition, a potentially dangerous place. The people of Blinman and the many other organisations that have supported them have done an wonderful job in creating something that is educational, that is interesting, that is very safe, and that is attractive and fun. I heartily congratulate them and recommend any members or staff of this place to go and have a look at it when they have the opportunity.

The history of the mine was not overly successful. It operated in one of the many important mining ventures in this state, many of which are in the electorate of Stuart, such as Kapunda and Burra. It was a mine that certainly did get a lot of very rich and very highly concentrated copper out of it, but its distance from markets certainly proved to be very, very difficult to overcome, and that is a difficulty that remote South Australians still face, of course. But it was a working mine that did produce for this state, did produce for the people of Blinman and, in fact, is what established the town of Blinman.

It coincided with another very important 150th anniversary, and that is of the successful crossing from south to north, and return again, of this continent by John McDouall Stuart, after whom the electorate of Stuart is named. And in fact he had a lot of connection with the town of Blinman. The very first of his six expeditions set out from Oratunga Station, which is immediately north-west of Blinman, and his 2IC for his four last journeys is buried in the cemetery at Blinman—Mr Kekwick—so a very nice coincidence.

But the real purpose of my speech today, apart from advising the house of this very important event, is to congratulate the town and the community of Blinman. Now, they certainly had support from other organisations: the Mine Heritage Group, sound and light technicians, historians, and certainly SATC supported. But they supported a thriving, important and self-starting community, a community remote from the capital city.

They did an absolutely fantastic job, and this is a community which has a strong track record of helping itself. They have a wonderful annual art exhibition. They have the very, very well-known annual camp oven cook-off, where the whole main street of town is closed and they get people from all over the state coming to do that. They still hold their races and gymkhana once a year, and they are in their own right a very successful tourism destination in the Flinders Ranges.

I congratulate them on every day, every month, every year, continuing to work on behalf of their town so that they get the results that they need, so that they get help from outside their town. It is the towns and the communities that help themselves that get help from outside their town. And I would like to recognise Mr Peter Carlin from the South Australian Tourism Commission, who has been an extraordinary supporter of the Flinders Ranges and outback for many, many years and has contributed significantly to the success of tourism in the Flinders Ranges and outback South Australia.

I would also like to recognise the recent chairs of the Blinman Progress Association, Mr Bill Mackintosh and Ms Maureen Kutri, and the current chair of the Blinman Progress Association, Ms Carmel Reynolds, all of whom have done a fantastic job getting this underground mine to an up-and-running level. They have worked at it for many, many years. It has been operating for approximately a year now and it is now officially open and will be so for a very, very long time. I would also like to congratulate Cherie, who runs the mine tours.

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