Western Australian Heritage Icons 2004: Connecting A Community

6PR - The Way We Where, 15/02/2004, interview with Mark McGowan, MLA for Rockingham

 

 

GORDON

 

Well, Mark McGowan is the MLA for Rockingham, of course, and he is also the chair of the 105^th… 175^th anniversary steering committee and parliamentary secretary to the Premier, who is largely… well, out front of the 175^th anniversary.  Anyway, let’s welcome Mark McGowan to the program… (greetings not transcribed)…

 

The website is fantastic.  There’s an absolute wealth of material on it, and all those little historical… what, what do you call ‘em, sketches that have been put in.  People have written about various parts of our history.  It’s a fantastic resource for people, students, anyone else who’s interested in our history.

 

MCGOWAN

 

Oh, it is.  This year, of course, is 175 years since the establishment of the Swan River colony by Governor Stirling and Charles Fremantle and John Septimus Rowe. And 175 years provides a lot of history, a lot of stories, particularly for a place like Western Australia, which is… had just the incredible history for such a short period of time.  Of course, our history is much broader and longer than that, but since the establishment of the colony, it’s been 175 years.

 

I must congratulate groups such as the Constructional Centre and the National Trust of Australia, both of whom have played a major role in relation to co-ordinating things like the website and co-ordinating the icons project, which we’re participating in this year.

 

GORDON

 

Yeah, that’s obviously going to be one of the big projects of the year. Mark, can I ask you this, the last one was a sesquicentenary, it took most of us that whole year to get used to saying that word, what are we going to have to deal with this time?

 

MCGOWAN

 

We’re just calling it the 175^th. We actually researched what a 175^th anniversary is, and, of course, I’m not aware of any marriages that have lasted that long. Of course, you know, I often write letters to people on their platinum and gold wedding anniversaries, and … I haven’t heard of one that’s lasted 175 years.

 

But we looked it up, I can’t recall exactly, tectraquestenary*, or something like that.

 

GORDON

 

Okay, yeah, we’ll stick with 175^th, hey?

 

MCGOWAN

 

We haven’t put that out there, no. 160^th, apparently, was a very … a magnificent year of events in Western Australia, kids and families and all sorts of people got involved and, you know, if you walked down St George’s Tce, of course, you can see the evidence of the 150^th, all of the plaques.

 

GORDON

 

Those plaques in the footpath, that’s right.

 

MCGOWAN

 

If you go to Garden Island, actually, they set up a little sort of historical structure to remember that Governor Stirling first of all set up on Garden Island, which, of course, is in my electorate of Rockingham.

 

GORDON

 

Yes, that’s true. And I was talking to, I think, Ruth Marchant-Jones* was talking to us about that, that little settlement a few months ago on the program, and I think some of the … even the foundations of the original buildings they built there are still there.

 

MCGOWAN

 

It’s a great story, the Garden Island story. Of course, it’s now a naval base, and as I said, it’s in my electorate of Rockingham. I actually served at the navy base there for a number of years. And the northern end of the island was, of course, where Governor Stirling first set up in 1829. And he only lasted there I think it was about 5 or 6 months, but they built a little village and they had a lookout and they built a well. But it was fairly inhospitable and eventually they went across to the Swan River.

 

But it’s a great story because there are some … the base of the flag pole and the base of Governor Stirling’s house. It’s very… it was actually… the whole village remained there, I think, until 1834 or 1835, when a group of drunken sailors got in a row boat, rowed across there one night with some rum, I presume – I don’t think they had … I don’t know if they had slabs of beer in those days – and they burnt the whole thing down in a big bonfire.

 

So we lost a bit of our heritage in 1835, so it’s a pity it’s all gone.

 

GORDON

 

Yeah, it is really, but it is a great story and one that I think many of us probably aren’t as familiar with as we should be.

 

Now you mentioned the icons, and that is going to be one of the major projects of the year, the announcement of our prominent icons here in Western Australia. The first has been announced as the Swan River. There’ll be one announcement I think each month, so there’ll be another one due pretty soon I guess.

 

MCGOWAN

 

That’s right, there will be one announced this month. The Premier has taken a very close interest in the icons project. He’s a, as most people would know, he’s a student of Western Australian history, and I think he’s ancestors go back to one of the first ships that came to the state, and he often talks about some of his ancestors and the role that they played. But he has a very keen interest in the icons project, it’s something that he very closely follows, so that we can have a series of icons announced across the state that reflect the broadness of our state and various aspects of our heritage and history.

 

As I said, the National Trust has played a very important role in receiving public nominations and putting forward suggestions as to what could be made into an icon, and the Swan River, of course, was a suggestion of the National Trust, and we announced that, I think it was January 15 we announced the Swan River as the first icon.

 

GORDON

 

Yes, and there was quite a bit of discussion, and the newspaper ran a bit of write in suggestion thing, and there are many good nominations. This radio station did the same thing. Paul Murray got lots of great nominations from various people, so I’m sure during the course of the 12 months some of those will show up amongst the 12 icons that will be announced as the year unfolds.

 

MCGOWAN

Well, we’re not going to announce individuals as icons.  Of course, you know, everyone has their various people they would like to see announced as a West Australian icon, I personally think John Curtin is the defining iconic figure of Western Australia and Australian history, but we’re not actually putting people in there, because once you put people in there, you know, it’s a question of very subjective judgement as to which Western Australian icons.  Some people would say industrialists and others would say sports people and others would say historical figures, and so on and so forth, so…

 

GORDON

 

…yeah, well it’s hard to go past John Forrest as well, really, isn’t it, I suppose?

 

MCGOWAN

 

John Forrest, yeah, John Forrest, and I suppose the Governor of Stirling, Yagan and various other people who have played such, you know, major roles in the history of the state. So we’re not actually going down that path, we’re… the icons are going to be non living or non…

 

GORDON

 

…non human…

 

MCGOWAN

 

…not people I suppose.

 

GORDON

 

Yeah, that’s right. Just in case we come up with a quokka we’ll just say non human.

 

Now among other things that will be happening in this year, of course, it’s also the hundredth anniversary of our Parliament, isn’t it?

 

MCGOWAN

 

That’s correct. And there’s been a special stamp commissioned to reflect that.  And the Parliament of Western Australia was set up and commissioned on the hill there in 1904, all of the great political figures throughout the history of Western Australia, John… as you said, John Forrest and all the state political figures have wandered its corridors and sat in the leather chairs in there.  I often think when I’m sitting in my chair who… who may have sat in my chair before me.  And there was, you know, some important people who have played a role in the development of the state who inhabited that particular building.  It was added on to in 1964, I think, which was when the front part of the building was added on…

 

GORDON

 

Yes, and it was a bit…

 

 

 

 

MCGOWAN

 

…and they’re doing some sort of minor renovations at the moment to try and create a little bit more office space, but it’s a lovely building.  And I would encourage all West Australians to go and have a look, whenever Parliament’s sitting, everyone’s welcome.  People are often surprised, they think that somehow it’s not open to them, but it is.  Any day Parliament is sitting you can go and watch the Parliament in action.

 

GORDON

In the Gallery there.

 

MCGOWAN

 

And you’re enterprising you can go and see… call your member of Parliament and if they’re half decent they’ll organise a tour of the building for community groups that you might be involved with.

 

GORDON

 

Yeah, that’s a fantastic thing and it is something that everyone should do at some stage, to go and sit in the gallery and watch our democratic process in action, because it is, it’s very, very revealing.

 

Now during the course of this year, Mark, I think that the Cabinet or maybe the Parliament, itself, the whole Parliament is going to be sitting in some regional areas, is that right?

 

MCGOWAN

 

That’s correct, that’s another 175^th program.  We are… we will be… this will be the first year ever the Parliament has sat outside of its traditional building in Perth. And we’re sending the Lower House to Albany in March, and Albany, of course, was… has a very significant historical role in West Australian history as well with the…

 

GORDON

 

…well it was our first European settlement, wasn’t it?

 

MCGOWAN

 

It was the first European settlement and then…

 

GORDON

 

…certainly the involvement during World War One. 

 

 

MCGOWAN

 

And the ships that went through in World War One, of course, and… and it’s a beautiful place. And we’re going down there in March, and the entire Lower House will sit there and hold a sitting of Parliament over three days, in Albany.  So it should be a big event in Albany. 

 

The Upper House is going out to Kalgoorlie, I think it’s later in the year, might be September, and they’ll be holding a… an historic first sitting of the Upper House outside of Perth in Kalgoorlie then. 

 

So we’re taking Parliament out to the people, which is really quite symbolic, but it’s also quite meaningful, in that people will be able to come and see how it operates and realise that it’s very close to them, and people just like them actually sit in there.

 

GORDON

 

Yeah, that…

 

MCGOWAN

 

…pretty ordinary people…

 

GORDON

 

…extremely some would say.

 

MCGOWAN

 

And so, you know, you can see it in operation and realise that it’s… Australian democracy is a wonderful thing, and there’s very few countries in the world where people are as close… can be as close to their politicians and their elected representatives and can actually play that role themselves with the freedom that Australian’s can.

 

GORDON

 

Yeah, I know it’s fantastic.  Great opportunity for the people in those centres to be able to do what we in Perth can do, if we so desire, as you quite rightly say.

 

MCGOWAN

 

I suspect there’ll be huge turnouts in Albany and Kalgoorlie.

 

GORDON

 

Oh, no doubt… they might be…

 

MCGOWAN

 

…we’ll have to be on our best behaviour.

 

GORDON

 

Yeah, they might be a bit noisy, they might have a few agendas.

 

Now there’s an anniversary song contest as well, I think, Mark?

 

MCGOWAN

 

That’s right.  We’ll be releasing a few more details of that shortly, but the Premier announced that in December, that there will be a WA song contest.  We’ve got a number of categories, I think it’s six categories, for various school and professional and non-professional groups.  And people will have a few months to put together a song and submit it, and we’ll have a judging panel and a WA song hopefully will come out of it. 

 

But it’s great… a great initiative for the music industry across the state, and our musicians, there’s literally tens of thousands of musicians across Western Australia who never get the chance to strut their stuff, and they’ll have the opportunity to come up with something that is reflective of Western Australia…

 

GORDON

 

… what we’re looking for something almost like a state anthem?

 

MCGOWAN

 

Yeah…

 

GORDON

 

…is that the plan?

 

MCGOWAN

 

Yeah, that’s right.  That’s what we’re looking for. But not… it won’t be as… I don’t think it would necessarily be jingoistic or… but it would have to be celebratory and meaningful and we’ll have various categories and prizes and so forth.  Give musicians a chance to have a go.  We’re hoping to come up with a song that actually might get a little bit of air time on stations such as yours and make sure that it gets some people listening to it. 

 

So we’re hoping that… I think there’s various negotiations going on in relation to radio stations to see who’d like to participate in this.

 

GORDON

 

Yeah, it’ll be fantastic…

 

MCGOWAN

 

…so we’ll launch that very shortly.

 

GORDON

 

We’ve got some very talented songwriters and singers and musicians, as you quite rightly say, in this state, and among them someone will come up with a beauty, I’ve got no doubt about that.

 

MCGOWAN

 

That’s right. It’s a pity Bon Scott’s gone, he would have come up with something…

 

GORDON

 

…I bet he would have.

 

The Exhibition Centre will be opening during the course of this year, and that will be a big event.  I think there’ll be a 175^th Pavilion as part of it.  But that’s all part… comes under, I think, the heading of WA On Show.

 

MCGOWAN

 

That’s correct.  The Premier will be opening the Convention Centre, I think it’s in August.  He’ll be using a key which is specially commissioned by the Mint, and the key will fly all over the state of Western Australia using the Royal Flying Doctor Service on their normal operations.  And the key will come back to Perth and he’ll open the Convention Centre and we’ll have a display which… has all sorts of Government and private organisations involved that put WA on show.  And so there’ll be all sorts of… I think it’ll be a magnificent event. 

 

People will be able to go there and see what… not only the Convention Centre, but see what Western Australia has to offer.  It’s a huge state, and I think some, you know, people in Perth often don’t know what’s on offer in the various corners of the state…

 

GORDON

 

…no, that’s right…

 

MCGOWAN

 

…people in various corners of the state sometimes don’t know what’s on offer in other parts of the state.  It’s a broad and…

 

GORDON

 

…very diverse…

 

MCGOWAN

 

…diverse place, and, you know, we border on our southern border, I suppose, I think one of the closest land masses to Antarctica, and our northern border we’re quite close to countries of South-East Asia and equatorial Asia.

 

GORDON

 

Yes, that’s right, you’re getting up towards the equator, it’s… you’re… you start driving up there and you realise just how big this state is, and it’s very, very diverse.  You’re quite right, and it’s just got an amazing range of natural features that you could never get tired of. You can drive around and around and around this state, and always find new things and think, wow, look at that.

 

MCGOWAN

 

Yeah, I mean I’m in the Parliament and I’m, you know, I’m ashamed to admit there’s whole swaths of the state that I’ve never been to.  And so we’re going to put them on show in the Convention Centre, to make sure that people in Western Australia get that sort of broad understanding.  It’ll be great for tourism and great for… a great place for West Australians to go and just have fun and enjoy themselves with their families.

 

GORDON

 

Yes, I’m sure it will, it’ll be… and be very revealing for people who haven’t travelled as much as some of us have within this state. 

 

Now as well as the hundredth anniversary of the Parliament, also it’s the one-hundredth anniversary of His Majesty’s Theatre, which we’ve talked about quite a lot on this program in recent times. And, of course, also, the Midland Workshops opened in 1904, so it’s also their centenary, not that they’re workshops as such anymore, but a very, very important part of our history and an amazing big industrial complex out there.

 

MCGOWAN

 

Both of those are most important parts of our history. His Majesty’s… have a look at both the Midland Workshops and His Majesty’s, both very important in terms of our industrial heritage and also in terms of our artistic heritage.  The Midland Workshops of course played a significant role in the Second World War, as did Fremantle Harbour and Albany and Exmouth and Garden Island and various other places, but they both have a very important place in West Australians’ hearts I think.

 

 

GORDON

 

Yeah, no doubt about that, and it’s going to be good to watch what happens particularly at Midland, there’s been of course an incredible amount of redevelopment out there, but the bulk of the original buildings are still there, and the history is just dripping off the walls, and it’s an absolutely fascinating place. 

 

So obviously, Mark, there’s going to be a lot of opportunity for the community to be involved in, I’m reluctant to use the celebrations because I know that Noongar people don’t see much to celebrate in this, but, in this reflection of this anniversary?

 

MCGOWAN

 

There is, there’ll be a lot of things for people to do and to experience and to be a part of, if you watch your newspapers or have a look at the website, not everyone has access to the website, but if you watch the newspapers you’ll see various events advertised and organised for the year and how people can be involved and be a part of.

 

So it’s certainly a very exciting time.  I’m very privileged to have the role of chairing the coordinating committee, so I’m very excited about being part of it. So… and of course in 25-years time, we’ll have our bicentenary, so, if I’m still in the Parliament I might chair that one.  I think it’s probably unlikely, but we’ll see what happens.

 

GORDON

 

Well you never know you luck in a big city, Mark.  Well good on you, well it’s sounds like it’s going to be an exciting year of events and  there’s going to be many things that we can call be involved in, and we look forward to the announcement of the next icon, I gather, in the next week or so, and also that song contest also sounds like something… and to take a Parliament to the regions I think is a fantastic idea.  They’ll have their bit to say, they’ll take an opportunity, no doubt about that, but that’s what democracy’s all about. 

 

Good on you, Mark, we appreciate your time tonight, and we’ll be talking about this at different times on this program during the year, as other events are announced we’ll talk to the people appropriate to find out what’s behind them all and keep the public involved.

 

MCGOWAN

 

Any time.

 

GORDON

 

Thanks a lot for your time, Mark. 

 

End