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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2023-11-02 Daily Xml
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Lucindale Historical Society

The Hon. T.T. NGO (14:30): My question is to the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs. Minister, you recently visited the Lucindale Historical Society during your country cabinet visit. Can you tell the chamber more about your visit to the Lucindale Historical Society?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector) (14:30): I thank the honourable member for his question and his interest in the Lucindale Historical Society. It was, as my colleague the Hon. Clare Scriven has talked about already this week, a distinct pleasure to be down in the Mid South-East for our country cabinet and to meet with the great people of the South-East throughout areas like Naracoorte, Bordertown and surrounds. As well as gathering as a whole cabinet during the country cabinet, each minister took the time to undertake relevant visits in their portfolio areas.

One of the visits that I was delighted to attend was to look at the work of the Lucindale Historical Society, whose volunteers dedicate so much time to preserving relics and information about Lucindale's history, particularly the history during wartime. It was great to be welcomed by John McLean and Shirley Goodman at their space just outside Lucindale, which included what I found to be quite a remarkable feature: the Tim Hughes Room.

The Tim Hughes Room is dedicated to Corporal Timothy Hughes MBE MM, a Narungga man who was born at the Point Pearce Aboriginal community in 1919. Tim served in World War II from 1939 to 1945. He was a Rat of Tobruk, serving in Libya as well as New Guinea and Borneo.

During an advance in New Guinea, Tim's platoon was met with unexpected heavy machine-gun fire. Instead of retreating, Tim climbed atop a post to engage by throwing two grenades and then providing cover for his comrades with a machine gun to allow them to take cover, saving many lives in the process. For these actions, he was awarded a military medal for his exceptional bravery and 'total disregard for his own safety'.

Upon returning to Australia after being wounded elsewhere in New Guinea, Tim returned to his community of Point Pearce and continued with his labouring job. Two years after his return, Tim was interviewed by a national newspaper, Smith's Weekly, and rightly criticised the discrimination he and other Aboriginal returned soldiers experienced on their return to Australia.

Despite being treated as equals whilst serving and having had to sacrifice everything for his country, he continued to be subject to the racist bounds of the Aborigines Act and unable to access the benefits that his white comrades, who he served in war with, could. Whilst Tim eventually was granted an exemption from that act, he remained critical of its operation and its ability to negatively impact on the lives of Aboriginal people.

Tim was one of the few Aboriginal people to be granted a soldier settler block on land near Lucindale—as I said, a rarity for an Aboriginal returned soldier—and he went on to farm that land at Lucindale for over 20 years. He was also appointed as the inaugural chairperson of the Aboriginal Lands Trust upon its establishment by Don Dunstan in the 1960s. Being entrusted to be at the helm of such a monumental reform is testament to how well Tim Hughes was regarded. The Aboriginal Lands Trust was the very first piece of Aboriginal land rights legislation in the country and one of the most significant moments in the advancement of Aboriginal people in our state's history.

The Tim Hughes Room at the historical society in Lucindale has quite a number of photographs and clippings of Tim's life and is a brief reflection on his immeasurable impact. It is also worth noting that Tim's son, Paul, went on to have a very significant contribution throughout his life in the field of education. Paul Hughes received his teaching degree before returning to Lucindale to teach at the Lucindale Area School.

I met with a family friend of mine and a local journalist for the Naracoorte Community News, Chris Oldfield, when I visited the society last week. Chris Oldfield fondly remembers being taught by Tim's son, Paul Hughes, and the significant impact that Paul had on life in the community. Paul Hughes went on to become what we think is the first Aboriginal professor in any university in South Australia. He previously chaired the National Aboriginal Education Committee and the South Australian Aboriginal Education Advisory Committee. For these contributions, among many others, Paul was awarded the South Australian NAIDOC Award for lifetime achievement in the education category in 2015.

When I met with John and Shirley in Lucindale, they were eager to share their plans to extend the Tim Hughes Room to incorporate the outstanding work of his son, and I look forward to helping with that project and doing what I can to make sure it is a success. It is no surprise that both Tim Hughes and his son, Paul, have had such significant impacts on the advancement of Aboriginal people in this state. Their influence and work in this space is one that has passed through generations, given that Tim Hughes was the son of someone who will be very familiar to some in this chamber, Gladys Elphick.

Aunty Glad was a monumental Aboriginal community leader who, too, was raised at Point Pearce. She was trained as a midwife before moving to Adelaide and being a long-time member of the Aborigines Advancement League of South Australia. She was then the founding president of the Council of Aboriginal Women of South Australia, using this position to assist Aboriginal women in developing skills such as public speaking so they could have a voice in the community and on affairs that mattered to them.

The council established a women's shelter and health service in Adelaide and built the foundations for a dedicated legal aid service and kindergarten. This is just a brief summary of the work of Aunty Glad. It is no wonder, with these credentials, that she has inspired a family legacy of service to the South Australian Aboriginal community that is very happily commemorated by the Lucindale Historical Society.

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