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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2025-10-30 Daily Xml
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Prospect Local History Group

The Hon. L.P. HOOD (Adelaide—Minister for Climate, Environment and Water) (15:26): I rise to acknowledge the 20th anniversary of the Prospect Local History Group. I congratulate them on this significant milestone and thank them for their ongoing work. In the gallery today, we are joined by Anna Graves, who did not have to travel too far as she is also our esteemed Deputy Parliamentary Librarian; Karen Martin; Lesley Attema; Neil Rossiter; and Catherine Manning. Thanks so much for being here.

I was fortunate enough to celebrate with the group at their 20th anniversary afternoon celebration, Making History 2005 to 2025, held at Wassail Wine Bar on Prospect Road, which I understand also happens to be the childhood home of two of the original members of the history group, sisters Lesley Attema and Merry Wickes.

Run by a group of passionate volunteers, the Prospect Local History Group was founded in 2005 under the wing of the Friends of Prospect Library and aims to preserve, protect and promote the history of the City of Prospect and the surrounding areas. They have played a significant role in ensuring the people, places and stories of our beautiful neighbourhood are not only remembered but celebrated.

Prime movers in setting up the group included then library staff, Ann Gowin and Lianne Gould, as well as key volunteers such as the late Jenni Cotton, along with City of Prospect current councillor Kristina Barnett who was, at the time, the mayor of the City of Prospect. I want to acknowledge Councillor Barnett for her continued contribution. Other early volunteers included Jo Talmage, Lesley Attema and Merry Wickes. These early movers wanted to capture the city's history before key members of the community passed on, so there was a great interest in oral history. The group now boasts a significant collection of oral histories of notable residents.

Many of the group's initial objectives have been achieved, and many members of the Prospect community have served as volunteers. They are too numerous to mention but we thank them all for their contribution to our community.

The Prospect Local History Group has worked hard to establish themselves in the community as the go-to on all things Prospect, taking on research requests from the public and working alongside council to contribute to the Prospect Local History collection and multiple celebrations. If you live in Prospect and you are curious about when your house was built or who lived in it before, there is a good chance the group can find out.

In recent years the group has been involved in major developments in the City of Prospect such as the design of Payinthi and the state heritage listing of the Prospect Air Raid Shelter where they also host tours for a small donation fee. In 2024 they successfully organised the digitisation of the Standard Messenger for the years 1966 to 1967 which were then added to Trove. The front page of the edition from 18 May 1966 has been noted as a particular favourite, with the headline, 'History of Prospect to be written,' with the story outlining that the then Mayor J.W. Rattley had formed a special committee to gather information for a book to be published, coinciding with the centenary of Prospect in 1972.

Alongside all the ongoing hard work the group does, they are extensively involved in the preparatory work with council on the Historic Area Code Amendment, which recently introduced 432 representative buildings across five historic neighbourhoods of the City of Prospect's now 11 historic areas. This was a code amendment that the Malinauskas government, through me and the planning minister, Nick Champion, was very proud to approve. Our community is incredibly proud of our leafy green streets, lined with character homes and buildings that hold so much history. I was thrilled to see these changes come into effect, which will ensure the character of our community is maintained for current and future generations.

The Prospect Local History Group has also produced various publications, ranging from self-guided tours to a compilation of stories about people gone long before us, and essays about life in Prospect during a time we can only imagine. The Parliamentary Library has copies of all the group's publications in their collection.

Volunteer commitment across a range of activities, such as exhibitions, displays, research, walks and talks, photography and the digitisation of documents and images easily exceeds 2,500 hours per year. I want to thank again the Prospect Local History Group for their ongoing dedication and contribution to our neighbourhood. Your commitment to preserving and celebrating our community's history is admirable, and I look forward to following along with your next project and many more beyond. Congratulations on your 20 years.

With the time I have left, I want to say that it was an absolute privilege last week to attend the official opening of the brand-new Walkerville Bowling Club. I am a big fan of bowling—which I took up after snapping my Achilles playing netball. I thought I needed a new sport and what greater sport to join than lawn bowling.

Joining the Walkerville Bowling Club came at a great time. It is a really incredible community and incredible family, and seeing the brand-new centre come to life, I want to acknowledge the efforts of the former member for Adelaide, Rachel Sanderson, for her contribution towards the project in securing the funding and then me, as the member for Adelaide, working with council to see the development constructed. Last Friday, it was a wonderful celebration seeing our brand-new Walkerville Bowling Club open. I look forward to getting on the green and getting a few wins.

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