Mr MITCHELL - 2000-10-19
As we all know, Darwin experienced World War II from a unique perspective really compared to the rest of Australia and we have a number of historical sites. Can the minister tell us what plans he may have for some of these old sites because I am sure a number of members in this House, as well as people listening to what is going on in here today, will recall East Point in particular and places like that, where they not only have the old gun turrets but also guns.
Can the minister tell us what the government has planned to restore this very historical and significant area?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, the government with a vision has a view that the revitalisation of our World War II heritage would be of great advantage in educational terms, in presenting to mostly Australians who are not aware of what happened here during the course of the war, what did happen and using that also as a tourism attraction and the areas concerned as increased, improved and enhanced as recreational opportunities for the residents of Darwin and the Northern Territory.
Through the Parks and Wildlife Commission, I have had a consultant, Mr Bob Alford, appointed to prepare some concepts for the revitalisation of some major World War II heritage sites in Darwin. They are the Charles Darwin National Park and the ordnance storage areas that exist in that park. That, of course, was a very visionary action on behalf of this government to establish such a large national park within the city and to safeguard that area for all future generations and to be able to present its World War II heritage. I would imagine that the fitting out of some of those bunkers with the presentation of the activities that occurred during World War II as to the storage and handling of ordnance, would be of great interest to people. There are some very clear definitions there as to just how close the war was, with the bullet holes from strafing Japanese aircraft still in the doors of some of those ordnance storage areas.
The East Point area, with its very imposing structure, the gun turret that we are all so familiar with, has the capacity to be much better presented in terms of what it looked like during the course of the war, and for people to be able to walk through it. Whilst they currently can, they cannot get any appreciation of what was stored in there or how the ordnance was handled and what the activities were in that particular turret. Sadly, I think also, notwithstanding the wonderful job done by the East Point Military Museum, there is a gun there that is in amongst the foliage, which could be repositioned on to its concrete platform out on the cliff face, and those sorts of activities, also with the revitalisation of the some of the part-submerged buildings at East Point, could provide a wonderful military precinct of great interest to tourists and to locals alike.
Similarly, I see an opportunity for the oil tanks on the Esplanade, in terms of being able to present the archival film and footage, photographs and documents, of what happened here in World War II, and being able to utilise one of those particular pieces of infrastructure for that purpose, as well as tell the story as to what it was used for. Of course, we have the oil tunnel down near the wharf which is already operating to that effect and proving very popular.
Now, collectively, they provide, in tourism terms, an opportunity for tour operators or individual tourists to visit. It would make up a very interesting and rewarding full-day tour in terms of what could be provided by a tour operator, and extend, in educational terms, the awareness of what happened here during the course of the war.
Darwin is unique in Australia. No one else can present this history in this way, and the government has a vision for presenting it. Mr Alford will be working over the coming months to explore options in terms of concepts that can be put in place to effect what I have just been talking about. He will be liaising with individuals and organisations who are interested, and of course, most importantly, the Darwin City Council. I discussed this concept with the Mayor on Tuesday of this week, and he was greatly interested and greatly supported the concept, as did the Town Clerk. There will be a lot of work to be done in terms of the achievement of this vision. But come March or April next year, I would hope that Mr Alford has a very wide and expansive report as to some of the concepts that can be implemented, that I can then take to Cabinet and I would hope that out of that would come a long-term development program whereby we can rehabilitate, revitalise, and better present our World War II heritage, not only for the benefit of Territorians, but also to expand the opportunities for the tourism industry and to keep tourists here another day.
As an extension of that particular program, we have the opportunity then to build on the sites down the track as far as Alice Springs. In 1992, we put in place a lot of interpretative material to explain to people what those sites were and what they were used for. We can build on that over the next decade, I believe, in better presenting our World War II heritage, utilising the sites to greater advantage and taking full advantage of the unique role that the Northern Territory played in World War II.
I hope - and that is a special part of the process that is going to be pursued - that Territorians will come forward if they have photographs or items of interest that relate back to the war, or other information that they can put forward so that it could become a truly community display, a community exercise, and one that will work for the benefit of the Territory and go well into the future.
Can the minister tell us what the government has planned to restore this very historical and significant area?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, the government with a vision has a view that the revitalisation of our World War II heritage would be of great advantage in educational terms, in presenting to mostly Australians who are not aware of what happened here during the course of the war, what did happen and using that also as a tourism attraction and the areas concerned as increased, improved and enhanced as recreational opportunities for the residents of Darwin and the Northern Territory.
Through the Parks and Wildlife Commission, I have had a consultant, Mr Bob Alford, appointed to prepare some concepts for the revitalisation of some major World War II heritage sites in Darwin. They are the Charles Darwin National Park and the ordnance storage areas that exist in that park. That, of course, was a very visionary action on behalf of this government to establish such a large national park within the city and to safeguard that area for all future generations and to be able to present its World War II heritage. I would imagine that the fitting out of some of those bunkers with the presentation of the activities that occurred during World War II as to the storage and handling of ordnance, would be of great interest to people. There are some very clear definitions there as to just how close the war was, with the bullet holes from strafing Japanese aircraft still in the doors of some of those ordnance storage areas.
The East Point area, with its very imposing structure, the gun turret that we are all so familiar with, has the capacity to be much better presented in terms of what it looked like during the course of the war, and for people to be able to walk through it. Whilst they currently can, they cannot get any appreciation of what was stored in there or how the ordnance was handled and what the activities were in that particular turret. Sadly, I think also, notwithstanding the wonderful job done by the East Point Military Museum, there is a gun there that is in amongst the foliage, which could be repositioned on to its concrete platform out on the cliff face, and those sorts of activities, also with the revitalisation of the some of the part-submerged buildings at East Point, could provide a wonderful military precinct of great interest to tourists and to locals alike.
Similarly, I see an opportunity for the oil tanks on the Esplanade, in terms of being able to present the archival film and footage, photographs and documents, of what happened here in World War II, and being able to utilise one of those particular pieces of infrastructure for that purpose, as well as tell the story as to what it was used for. Of course, we have the oil tunnel down near the wharf which is already operating to that effect and proving very popular.
Now, collectively, they provide, in tourism terms, an opportunity for tour operators or individual tourists to visit. It would make up a very interesting and rewarding full-day tour in terms of what could be provided by a tour operator, and extend, in educational terms, the awareness of what happened here during the course of the war.
Darwin is unique in Australia. No one else can present this history in this way, and the government has a vision for presenting it. Mr Alford will be working over the coming months to explore options in terms of concepts that can be put in place to effect what I have just been talking about. He will be liaising with individuals and organisations who are interested, and of course, most importantly, the Darwin City Council. I discussed this concept with the Mayor on Tuesday of this week, and he was greatly interested and greatly supported the concept, as did the Town Clerk. There will be a lot of work to be done in terms of the achievement of this vision. But come March or April next year, I would hope that Mr Alford has a very wide and expansive report as to some of the concepts that can be implemented, that I can then take to Cabinet and I would hope that out of that would come a long-term development program whereby we can rehabilitate, revitalise, and better present our World War II heritage, not only for the benefit of Territorians, but also to expand the opportunities for the tourism industry and to keep tourists here another day.
As an extension of that particular program, we have the opportunity then to build on the sites down the track as far as Alice Springs. In 1992, we put in place a lot of interpretative material to explain to people what those sites were and what they were used for. We can build on that over the next decade, I believe, in better presenting our World War II heritage, utilising the sites to greater advantage and taking full advantage of the unique role that the Northern Territory played in World War II.
I hope - and that is a special part of the process that is going to be pursued - that Territorians will come forward if they have photographs or items of interest that relate back to the war, or other information that they can put forward so that it could become a truly community display, a community exercise, and one that will work for the benefit of the Territory and go well into the future.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016