Wednesday, 14 August 2024
Bills
Prahran Mechanics’ Institute Repeal Bill 2024
Prahran Mechanics’ Institute Repeal Bill 2024
Declared private
The SPEAKER (11:30): I have examined the Prahran Mechanics’ Institute Repeal Bill 2024, and in my opinion it is a private bill.
That this bill be treated as a public bill and that fees be dispensed with.
Motion agreed to.
Second reading
Debate resumed on motion of Melissa Horne:
That this bill be now read a second time.
Peter WALSH (Murray Plains) (11:30): I rise to make the lead contribution on the Prahran Mechanics’ Institute Repeal Bill 2024. In putting together my notes I relied heavily on a discussion I had with the member for Rowville, who was actually present in 1889 when this bill was passed, and I am told that as a newly elected MP he got to speak second on the bill when Sir Frederick Thomas Sargood introduced this legislation in 1889! He was a good man, and I will come back to his contribution to the history of the Prahran Mechanics’ Institute (PMI), because he was not only involved in the inception of the institute but then 30 or 40 years later actually introduced the legislation that we are talking about today.
This piece of legislation for the Prahran Mechanics’ Institute is actually the oldest bill on the statute book currently before the Parliament, so it is an important part of history that we are discussing today. I think the issue of mechanics institutes in general and mechanics institutes in Victoria is also an important part of our history. The mechanics institutes initially started in Scotland and then the UK and then spread throughout the Commonwealth over that time, but they were community-run organisations consisting mostly of local volunteers that provided and maintained a venue and facilities to run community classes and events. They were effectively the forerunner of what is adult education now, the precursors to the adult education libraries in Victoria.
The word ‘mechanic’ at that time actually meant artisan or working class, and the mechanics institutes were begun in the 1880s by Dr George Birkbeck of Anderson’s Institution of Scotland, who gave a series of lectures on local mechanics. With the industrial revolution and the move to mechanisation and to large factories, there were mechanics that were actually needed to maintain that machinery, install that machinery and make sure it ran properly. This was about making sure that there was education for those mechanics, as they were called at that time, who were engineers in all forms of disciplines who made sure the industrial revolution machinery actually worked at that particular time. It started, as I said, with George Birkbeck actually giving lectures to them at those particular mechanics institutes, and they were free. They actually started to make sure they were very well educated, and quite often they were sponsored by the industrialists of that time to make sure that the people that worked for them were well educated. After the first one in Scotland the next one was the London Mechanics’ Institute in 1823, and then they spread throughout the British Empire at that time.
The first mechanics institute here in Melbourne was actually the Athenaeum, the Melbourne Athenaeum, which was started in 1873 and still continues to operate a library, a theatre and shops in its building at 188 Collins Street here in Melbourne. Over that time from the 1850s through the turn of the century there were nearly a thousand mechanics institutes built here in Victoria, and there are still 562 buildings that remain. They are not being operated as mechanics institutes now. But in a lot of country towns you will see a mechanics institute in that particular town, and a lot of people will say, ‘Well, what was that?’ Well, what it was was the adult learning centre of that particular time, it was the library of that particular time and it was the place where the community met and had lectures about all things important to those people. Back in 1998 a group of those mechanics institutes that were still surviving got together and put together the history of all the mechanics institutes, and it was hosted by the Kilmore Mechanics Institute in the member for Euroa’s seat there to make sure that the history was captured of that time.
Particularly as we are talking about the Prahran Mechanics’ Institute, I had tried to find time in my diary to go out and visit, which I will, because it is a very important part of the history of that particular area. It was actually first started in 1854 out there. It was established after a meeting with Reverend William Moss, and it was:
… for the Mental and Moral Improvement and Rational Recreation of its Members, by means of Lectures, Discussions, Library, Reading Rooms, Classes, Museum, Philosophical Apparatus …
So it was there for the wellbeing and the learning of the working person, as they were described at that particular time. George William Rusden, Frederick James Sargood, who I will talk about later and was the MP that actually introduced this legislation we talked about, and Dr James Stokes were appointed as the trustees, and Governor Hotham, the Governor of Victoria at the time, and his wife accepted the patronage of the Prahran Mechanics’ Institute. The school inspector Arthur Orlebar gave the inaugural lecture.
It was established in the schoolroom of Prahran’s first church, then a large room in Chapel Street made available by the shopkeeper next door John Stabb. Local publican James Mason donated a portion of land adjacent to his hotel, the Royal George, on the north corner of Greville and Chapel streets, ‘provided there would be a respectable building put on it’. The PMI also purchased an additional strip of land adjoining the PMI to the north, from a Mr Dunnit, to extend the property. The council of the new municipality of Prahran would hold its meetings at the PMI from 1856 until 1861. Three years later Governor Barkly opened the new building.
What I think is interesting to put on the record here is if you were to do that today – go from inception to buying the land to putting a building there and to getting, effectively, a library and a community building going in three years – it would be unprecedented by today’s standards if you were actually trying to do a development anywhere in Victoria at the moment. By the time you had gone through the planning process, gone through the cultural heritage process and gone through all the green tape, the red tape and the black tape to actually get it built, there is no way known you could do something –
Emma Kealy interjected.
Peter WALSH: And how much would you have to pay the CFMEU, yes, for a project here in Melbourne? But it is probably not on the scale that they mostly have in their particular purview. It is a bit like the building of this house we are actually standing in: to have this chamber and the chamber on the other side built in 11 months is something that no-one could even comprehend in Victoria at the moment with the way the structures actually obstruct people from getting things built.
That new building was opened in 1857, and it continued as a new free library for a number of years. Over that period of time it provided learning and opportunities for people within the community, but there were challenges. The number of members declined through the 1870s till they got down to only about 10 members, and they struggled for resources and the building started to fall into disrepair. That is when Frederick Thomas Sargood actually got involved as an MP and created the Prahran Mechanics’ Institute Act 1899, number 1617 of 1899, which as I said is the one that the member for Rowville actually spoke on at that particular time in 1899. For the next 96 years the mayor of Prahran would be the president of the PMI and the rest of the committee will be made up of four Prahran councillors and four elected citizens.
A little bit of history about Sir Frederick Thomas Sargood CMG KCMG: he was a member of Parliament from 1874 to 1901. He started off as the member for Central in a by-election and then was the member for South Yarra from 1882 to 1901. What is interesting, looking at his history, is that he had a number of terms as the Minister of Defence. If we go back in Victoria’s history here again, this was before 1901, with Federation. He was the Minister of Defence, he was the Minister of Defence again, he was the Minister of Public Instruction, he was the Commissioner of Water Supply and then he had another stint as the Minister of Defence. At that particular time Victoria had its own defence force. We were worried about being invaded, most likely by New South Wales, but we made sure we were actually defending ourselves against all and sundry through that particular time. He served the Prahran institute from its start right through until what he did as a member of Parliament to make sure there was an act of Parliament that protected it. The bill that we are talking about today actually expunges that act from the records and turns the Prahran institute into an incorporated association for more flexibility into the future.
Over the journey the Prahran Mechanics’ Institute has been quite a few things to quite a few people. It has gone from its initial inception to becoming the Prahran Technical Art School, which was registered with the Victorian Department of Education in 1901. There was a proposal for the Prahran council to absorb the mechanics institute library into the public library, which was overwhelmingly defeated by the members of the Prahran institute in 1910. In 1915 the foundation stone of the new High Street building was laid by Alexander Peacock, and the building was opened in October of that year by Donald Mackinnon. The building was designed by the architect, Prahran councillor and PMI committee member Ernest Willis. The builder was James Simpson Green Wright. The main building faced High Street, as has been talked about, and the rear went onto St John Street in the south. It was fitted out by the Prahran Mechanics’ Institute, and the administration of the Prahran Technical School was handed over to the Department of Education from this time. The building was leased to the Minister for Education for a peppercorn rental for 33 years to accommodate the school. Later I will come to the fact that it moved from education to local government, which is why the bill has the carriage of local government and why I am speaking as the Shadow Minister for Local Government. After 33 years the lease of the High Street building expired, and the PMI granted the minister a further lease of 99 years at a peppercorn rental of 1 shilling per year – not the best deal, I would have thought, for the PMI to actually grant a 99-year lease for 1 shilling per year.
In 1958 the girls section of the Prahran Technical School opened in Hornby Street and the Windsor junior school classes were moved to that particular location. In 1966 the senior section of the Prahran Technical School, affiliated with the Victorian college association, became a higher education entity known as the Prahran College of Technology, then the Prahran College of Advanced Education and later the Prahran TAFE. Victoria College was later taken over by Deakin University, which resided on the campus in the late 1980s and the 1990s. This is the history of education in the Prahran area out there. The junior technical school’s boys classes were moved to the Hornby Street site in 1971. At the request of the college the PMI library moved to the front of the High Street building to the space that was previously occupied by shops so that it could provide income for the library with that particular rental. A short history of the PMI, Pioneer and Hardy Survivor by Laurie McCalman, was published in conjunction with the Prahran Historical and Arts Society in 1983 and captured all this history.
In 1984 the Minister for Education granted the PMI some further space in the High Street building to accommodate the Victorian history collection, because there is a lot of history stored out there not only about mechanics institutes but also about railway history here in Victoria. The one book that I do not think is there yet is the failure of the Suburban Rail Loop and what it is actually costing Victoria, but I am sure that will be well documented in time when you look at Victoria’s debt and what has happened over time. Rail in Victoria has a very proud history for what it did to open up particularly regional Victoria but also to provide transport in metropolitan Melbourne. But I think when the history of Victoria is written after this government leaves, it will prove that that particular project was the financial downfall of Victoria. The debt that has been created with the Suburban Rail Loop has just been too much for the state to swallow. Deakin University moved out there in 1992, and Swinburne University has also had some interest in that particular site.
One of the things of interest as I looked through the history was that when they were starting out they were doing a fundraiser to help the Prahran Mechanics’ Institute back in 1863. The member for Prahran might want to talk about these sorts of things. But they were running a fundraising ball to get money for the institute, and they sought quotes from caterers. There was one particular caterer who said that Prahran was too far from Melbourne to actually go out and cater for this particular ball. Prahran was thought of in the context of being an outlying suburb at that particular time, and it was too far from the centre of Melbourne to actually go and do that. But they actually raised £13 at the time through that particular ball – £13 in today’s money would be about $2000 – so there was always community support for that particular area.
The other thing to bear in mind as we talk about the history here is that at that particular time when the legislation was introduced Melbourne had a population of about 500,000 people, so less than a tenth of the population of Melbourne now. It is a very different world that we are living in and a very different place here in Melbourne. But to say that Prahran is too far out of town is hard to comprehend now, particularly for those that might live at Pakenham or Cranbourne and come in on the Eastern Freeway – the car park that comes in of a morning out there. I do not know whether the member for Prahran thinks he lives a long way out of town or not, but a lot of other people would think that Prahran is not all that far from the centre of Melbourne these days, even on an e-scooter.
I am under a lot of pressure to make sure I fill my half hour on this particular issue here, and the Nationals Whip has oversold this particular piece of legislation and the importance of the contribution, but as I reported in the party room earlier this week – and normally we do not talk about whatever goes on in the political party rooms – this piece of legislation is the barbecue stopper of the week; it is so important for what goes on. You are looking over the top of your glasses at me, mate, like I am silly. Do not answer it.
It is important that this debate for those that want to contribute is effectively a history of the Prahran Mechanics’ Institute and is recorded in the Hansard of the Victorian Parliament. It was challenging because obviously Hansard from 1889 is not digitised to be accessed easily, but you have still got the member for Rowville’s history to capture it, and as I say to –
Jade Benham: You don’t have the original volume in your office?
Peter WALSH: No, I came in just after that time. As I say to the historical groups in my area, it is important to capture the history and keep it, because too often we live in the moment and do not really appreciate what went before us. If you think about the settlement of Victoria, the size of Melbourne at that particular time, the mechanisation of industry and the mechanics institute as an adult learning centre and as a lending library for what was called the working class of that particular time, who could not necessarily afford subscription libraries, it was a very important part of the development of Victoria, particularly the lectures that were given, which actually helped develop people’s minds and gave them an opportunity to come together. Too often in a lot of our country towns the only place to meet now is the local pub, because it is the building that is still functional. It is always warm, there is a good meal and there is good hospitality there. But mechanics institutes were very much meeting places at that particular time, and they led to the development of Victoria.
We do support this legislation. I understand the need to contemporise the legal structure of the Prahran institute and to move away from a piece of legislation where if they want to make changes they actually have to come to this place. It is something that I think in this particular instance actually works. One of the things that I have seen in my time in the Parliament is the move from prescriptive legislation to enabling legislation. For those that do not understand the difference, prescriptive legislation is where things are set out in great detail in a bill, and if things need to change it actually has to come back to the house to do that. That is challenging for the government of the day and for the smooth working of the Parliament. There is only so much legislation that can be put through the legislative mincer. Getting the time at cabinet to make a bill in principle, go to drafting to get a bill to come to the Parliament and get a slot in Parliament to do it I understand is not easy.
But I think the fact that we have now evolved until effectively nearly everything is enabling legislation – where the legislation is passed in this place without any attention to the detail that might be behind it and the detail is then done by regulation, which is done by the Governor in Council – means that, yes, it creates a lot more flexibility so that the government of the day can change things by regulation, which means it just has to go through a regulatory impact statement, but effectively every Tuesday, and I assume it is still every Tuesday, four ministers by rotation meet with the Governor to deal with what goes in the Government Gazette and all the regulations that are changed. Yes, that makes it easy for government to make changes, but it does not necessarily allow the scrutiny and the interest in what changes, because unless people actually follow the Government Gazette they do not know what has changed quite often in this state when it comes to regulation.
I understand that this bill contemporises the way the mechanics institutes can work, and I accept that, but I think as a principle we would like to see more information actually come back before the Parliament. Yes, some of those regulatory changes are what are called disallowable instruments, but again, unless someone actually knows what is going on they do not necessarily know that they can move it as a disallowable instrument. In a number of bill briefings I have had over the last few years we have asked the officials in the bill briefing whether it is a disallowable instrument, and I am not sure that a lot of people even know what a disallowable instrument is now when they go and draft legislation. I think that is an issue that needs to be improved as well, because it is important that we as members of Parliament are here to pass legislation, discuss legislation, scrutinise legislation and scrutinise the executive government for the decisions they make, and that is an important part of our democratic process here in Victoria.
Jade Benham: Tell us about disallowable instruments.
Peter WALSH: Disallowable instruments are where there is a regulation that is done through the Government Gazette. Most of the ones I have dealt with have 12 sitting days to move a disallowable motion, and then they have another 12 sitting days to debate that particular motion. The one time that as a shadow minister I used it successfully was for some issues with the north–south pipeline. For those that can remember, the north–south pipeline was another one of those dark days of a Labor government, where for some reason – and former Premier John Brumby was intimately involved in this – they decided to take water from northern Victoria across the Great Dividing Range and pump it into Sugarloaf Reservoir, out of the Goulburn River, to supply water to Melbourne. There were some water entitlements that were done through the Government Gazette for that particular project, and we were able to successfully in the upper house at that time have those water entitlements disallowed. So it has been used in the past, and it can be used in the future.
If the Nationals Whip has any other questions she would like explained, I will –
Emma Kealy: That’s not currently in the animal care and protection bill exposure draft, is it?
Peter WALSH: Is that going to be a disallowable instrument?
Emma Kealy: No, there is no disallowable instrument.
Peter WALSH: It is not? Well, I look forward, member for Lowan, to having some amendments brought forward to that particular legislation when it comes before the house to make sure that those regulations are disallowable instruments.
It is important that we talk about mechanics institutes and the workings of the Parliament. The other important part of the working of the Parliament – for those of us that go and talk to schools about being a parliamentarian, about what we do in this place, the other very important principle of the Victorian Parliament – is the separation of powers, where the Parliament, the executive government and the judiciary are very separate. It is one of the core fundamentals and principles of the Westminster system. And if you look at the legislation that was just introduced, which is going to be forced through at 4 o’clock on the guillotine, it is I think actually cutting across that whole issue of the separation of powers. The government is going to introduce legislation that takes away people’s rights and takes away the rights of the judiciary, and I think that borders on cutting across the separation of powers.
Emma Kealy: If we still had mechanics institutes, we could learn about that.
Peter WALSH: Well, we could. I would suggest that maybe the member for Prahran might actually like to go to the Prahran institute and give a lecture as one of the free lectures out at the Prahran institute on the separation of powers, on what he does in Parliament and on the fact that on this particular issue I think the Greens party, the National Party and the Liberal Party are in agreement that we should not be taking away people’s rights and we most certainly should not be taking away people’s rights with about 5 hours from a bill being introduced to the guillotine voting on that particular bill. Yes, we are talking about a very important bill with the Prahran Mechanics’ Institute, but we could equally be spending the time actually debating that bill rather than having it come on after question time and being forced through in about an hour of indecent haste before it is sent to the upper house.
In conclusion, mechanics institutes and particularly the Prahran Mechanics’ Institute have played a vital part of Victoria’s history and a vital part of the education of Victorians over the last 170-odd years. This legislation has served the Prahran Mechanics’ Institute well for 120-something years, but it is time that it is modernised so that it can become an incorporated association and have the flexibility to run its business better without coming back to the Parliament for particular changes. I would hope the Prahran Mechanics’ Institute, as it evolves to deliver services to that community into the future, continues for another hundred years and that someone at some future time can make a contribution in this place congratulating it on reaching its 200th birthday. They provide education for the people of Prahran and the wider area but particularly they provide such a great library service now with what they are storing out there both for the railway systems of Victoria but generally as a library for that particular community. I wish the bill a speedy passage.
Danny PEARSON (Essendon – Minister for Transport Infrastructure, Minister for the Suburban Rail Loop, Assistant Treasurer, Minister for WorkSafe and the TAC) (11:57): I am delighted to join the debate on an important bill.
Cindy McLeish: Is it related to the Romans?
Danny PEARSON: Don’t worry; I’m going there, sister. Don’t you worry about that. Caesar was there; it is a worthy point. It would be not parliamentary language to refer to some of the language that was found in certain places of disrepute in Pompeii. But nonetheless it is important to note that there was a gentleman called Felix, and Felix was a perfumer. The point here is, in this particular case, being a perfumer in ancient Rome was an artisan’s job. When you go through Pompeii and you look at Pompeii – it was buried in 79 AD – you see levels of literacy and numeracy you do not see really until, as the member for Murray Plains pointed to, the 19th century. I think that why this bill is important – why mechanics institutes were important – is it is all about making sure that people can reach their potential through education.
If you go back to that time in the 19th century, the Victorian government’s statistician, whose name escapes me at this stage, made the error of thinking that compound growth could go on for an infinite period of time and so talked about the fact that Australia would have a population by 1950 of, like, 350 million. He based that assessment on the levels of compound growth we saw in terms of population growth through the 19th century. Why the mechanics institute was important was that it started to enable the capacity for working people to start to read and write, and from that you started to see higher levels of economic growth and prosperity.
Coming back to ancient Rome, with Rome you saw that level of literacy and numeracy emerge which then created an enormous amount of economic growth. Rome had a population of around about a million people; you would not see a city of that size again until probably London in the 17th century. With the fall of Rome you started to see levels of literacy and numeracy decline, and what you saw was the way in which people started to learn about the world was through the church. It was done in Latin, and it was all premised and all filtered through a member of the clergy to provide what the teachings of the Bible were.
It all started to happen on 31 October 1517 when Martin Luther published Ninety-five Theses. It was a moment in time with Martin Luther and Ninety-five Theses which enabled that beautiful connection between political change and technology. What Luther was able to do was seek refuge from Frederick the Wise. At that stage Germany was not a sovereign state; it was a number of different and disparate states. If Luther had been living in France or in Italy or in Spain or in the UK, then he would have been excommunicated and he would have been executed. You had, at that particular point in time of the publication of Ninety-five Theses, Johannes Gutenberg starting to produce his Bible, so you had the ability to use technology with the political freedom and expression offered by Frederick the Wise to enable the dissemination of those ideas.
The fact that you had the ability to then start to mass-produce information led to the rise of that dissemination of information. Indeed anyone who has studied the French Revolution and anyone who has studied the American Revolution knows the important role that pamphlets and pamphleteers played in relation to capturing the imagination of the community at that particular point in time in order to identify trends and to express themselves more freely. Thomas Paine, for example, was a very famous pamphleteer in the US Revolution –
Members interjecting.
Danny PEARSON: Yes, I was there. That was two centuries – about 2 minutes – ago. Now we are moving forward. Thomas Paine wrote a very influential pamphlet call ‘Common sense’. That again enabled people to start to understand these ideas and start to challenge monolithic power structures, either through the state or through the church. The mechanics institutes, I think, built on that and started to increase that level of literacy and numeracy and then started to enable that higher level of economic growth and prosperity that has been really endemic, notwithstanding fluctuations, for decades now.
Andrew Carnegie founded U.S. Steel, or a precursor which became U.S. Steel. He sold it to JP Morgan in 1901 for, in 2023 US dollars, about $6.5 billion. What Carnegie did with his wealth was invest it in libraries right across America, so much so that when a visitor from Europe visited America they said, ‘Well, there must be a lot of money in libraries, because Carnegie’s name is everywhere, and they must obviously be quite lucrative.’ They obviously missed the fact that this was about the way in which these investments can have a profound impact in terms of raising economic growth and prosperity.
If you look at George Megalogenis’ book The Australian Moment, he talked about the way in which we have started to grow and prosper as a nation, particularly since the 1990s. He talked about that in the context of the fact that you had higher levels of female participation in the workforce and you also started to see the second and third generation of those postwar migrants take more senior roles or more high paid, more secure roles than their parents were able to as first-generation migrants. Again, when you start to see the ability for people from all walks of life to reach their potential from an education perspective, then you give people choice and options. Some people choose not to exercise that. Some people may have an absolutely fantastic rolled-gold education, and a life of meaning and purpose for them might be to pursue another endeavour. They may say ‘Well, look, I don’t want to be a lawyer’ or ‘I don’t want to be an engineer. I’m happy to work in the care economy. I’m happy to go off and do something else.’ It is the importance of education and the way in which education can uplift people who would otherwise be shackled to a life of drudgery and mediocrity, and the mechanics institutes played a really important role in starting the journey.
In many respects all of us here stand on the shoulders of giants because of those who came before us – those who had the vision, those who had the ability to think about what a different future could look like and were prepared to back that up with the vision, the legislation, the funding, the drive and the energy. The fact that you could have people from different walks of life with different lived experiences engaging with people who would otherwise not be afforded those privileges and those opportunities is really important.
Those of us who have ever had a tertiary education I think can marvel at the joy and the freedom that that time gave all of us: the time to think, the time to start to awaken, the time for somebody to get a sense of where one’s place was in the world and then start to envisage how things could change and things could be different. Think about, though, if you were in the 19th century and you were living in Prahran, you were working for the railways or you were working at the port or you were working in an abattoir, and you had the ability to go to an institution like the mechanics institute and hear from a speaker, hear someone, for example, like William Lane, who played a profound role in relation to the emergence of the labour movement here in the nation, talking about the aspirations of making Australia – and I know it is a gendered term – a working man’s paradise. These were all institutions that enabled and encouraged that freedom of expression and that freedom of thought.
All things must end. All things must come to their natural conclusion, and that is why as the oldest piece of legislation on the statute books it is appropriate that it be repealed by this Parliament. But it is nonetheless important, because it is a salutary lesson for all of us to think about: where do we want to be as a society and community in 20 years time? How do we use our privileged positions as members of this place here and now to chart that course, to have the vision and to have the bravery and the courage to do what is right, to do what is fair and to do what we think is the right thing to do in terms of not just our direct benefit but the direct benefit of those who come after us?
So whether it be a perfumer in a house of ill repute in Pompeii, whether it be Gutenberg, whether it be the wisdom of Frederick the Wise, whether it be the rise of the Enlightenment and what that led to or whether it be working-class people in the mid-19th century who got an education at the Prahran Mechanics’ Institute, it is all this continuum of human growth and endeavour. And I think that we should all remind ourselves when we can: how can we be stronger, how can we be better and how can we leave this place better than we found it? I commend the bill to the house.
Cindy McLEISH (Eildon) (12:07): Although I am pleased to rise to speak on the Prahran Mechanics’ Institute Repeal Bill 2024, I think there is a degree of sadness that this is the oldest act currently on the statute books, from 1899, 125 years ago. History does move on. We do need to contemporise things and have legislation and operations that actually work for our modern society, but I think when we are looking at an act that is so old that has remained on the statute books, there is a little degree of sadness for me.
It is a pleasure to follow the member for Essendon, who did not disappoint with his history lesson and did manage to include ancient Rome in there, as he has been known to do in the past. I am actually going to limit my comments a little bit more locally, but I do appreciate the efforts that he went to.
It is worth noting also that this started as a private members bill. I understand that there were a few issues going on at the time, 125 years ago, that caused a member of Parliament to bring this in, and that was clearly in the days when private members bills were looked at more favourably than they are these days rather than being shot down straightaway. This private members bill got legs. It actually became legislation. And I note that it had to be altered before we could debate it as public legislation.
When we think about the Prahran Mechanics’ Institute we look at the history. The oldest building was somewhere located in Chapel Street, and its current location in High Street was from 1915. This is fairly indicative of mechanics institutes around the country and particularly in Victoria – that the location that they are now in is not necessarily the location where they started. We have before us a 170-year-old community owned and run library specialising in Victorian history. We have also got the Prahran Mechanics’ Institution and Circulating Library, which is in St Edmonds Road, around the corner from the building that was established in 1915. A 170-year-old building is pretty special in itself, and it is the state’s second-oldest library. It is a place for learning, research, knowledge sharing and community engagement, and it is a resource of research materials and education for those interested in Victorian history. I think if any of us find time to go and delve into the history, it is particularly interesting, and the Public Record Office Victoria, I would say – I have been there – has got an amazing array of the history of Victoria.
The institute in St Edmonds Road has the collections of the Cinema and Theatre Historical Society of Australia and the Victorian Railway History Library – it is where they are located – and it has this important role. But I think now the time has come for it to be updated and to contemporise it, so this new bill is in place. It will repeal the Prahran Mechanics’ Institute Act 1899 and it will dissolve the Prahran Mechanics’ Institution and Circulating Library incorporated, established by that act. There are a number of properties, rights, staff and employment things that are at play here that will be transferred through. I understand that the state is not doing a money grab here, that the transfer of all sorts of things will just go straight through to the new entity.
If we have a look at the history of the mechanics institutes, which are dotted not only around Australia and Victoria but certainly worldwide, the first mechanics institute in Melbourne was established in 1839. Given that Melbourne itself had only been founded in 1835, these got legs fairly quickly. The Prahran one and others like it, including many in my electorate, spread like wildfire, I guess, and were established in so many locations, wherever a hall was needed, a library was needed or a school was needed. The aim of these was to provide that adult education to working-class folks – folks who did not normally have access to books at home – to provide that extra little bit of education. I see so many of these still around. There were a thousand built and 562 remain today, and I have many in my electorate.
I want to touch on some of those, and I have visited many of them. A couple of them actually – and this will be true around the state – have been sold off, including for private homes. I know that in Healesville in Church Street there is still the facade of the mechanics institute with the sign, but it is private. And in Howes Creek, which is a little locality just out of Mansfield, it was sold off by the Mansfield shire in 1991, and it has changed hands a couple of times since. But many of them have remained as a key focus of community. I will touch on the Arthurs Creek Mechanics Institute, which is absolutely steeped in history. It was established in 1887. These are so many years old – 130, 140 years old. It is a really lovely, beautiful building. It has a variety of events, and I have been to a number of events there. It has had, like many of them, refurbishments. I know the Regional Growth Fund that the coalition had allowed small communities to upgrade and refurbish so many of these halls which were mechanics institutes. Arthurs Creek has funerals, birthdays, exhibitions and meetings. I went there for the opening of the commemorative garden in 2016. It is located next to the Arthurs Creek Primary School, and they have had their Anzac services, and it flows into the catering out of the mechanics institute. The first Christmas Hills mechanics institute was constructed in 1877. It was on a site now occupied by the Sugarloaf Sailing Club – could link it to the north–south pipeline there.
Peter Walsh interjected.
Cindy McLEISH: To where the water comes in, just adjacent to it. There was a fire in 1893, and the institute was eventually rebuilt and opened in 1895 on the present site. That land, as happened so often, was donated by Thomas Young, who was a pioneer of the Christmas Hills community. Exactly a century later, a second, larger room was erected, adjoining the earlier one, and named the Harold Muir hall in honour of one of the institute’s longstanding trustees. In the 2009 devastating Black Saturday fires we saw the old hall dating from 1895 demolished and rebuilt, funded largely out of grants provided by the bushfire recovery authority. It was opened in 2013 and it is used many times. I am often invited to events at Christmas Hills. The Fawcett hall, which is just out of Alexandra – 14 kilometres out of Alexandra in Spring Creek Road – is in amongst farmland. It is a very small area, as so many of these are, and it was the central point for people to come together. It has got beautiful backdrops and Stoney Creek running alongside the reserve’s boundary. This hall dates back to its establishment in 1882.
It originally served as a mechanics institute and a public library and later as a primary school. The community at Fawcett Hall are very active at Fawcett, and they have quite a number of events there. The Acheron Mechanics’ Institute was identified for a facilities upgrade by Foundation Murrindindi. I have been to events at the Acheron Hall, and at one event at the Acheron Hall – I think it was the centenary of it – I saw photos of my grandmother as a primary school student sitting on the steps of the primary school, which I did not know she went to. I had not seen that photo; it was quite a trip back too for me. This is another hall that continues to operate as a community hub. It has got that real focus, and it helps promote the physical and mental wellbeing of locals. Badger Creek was built in a day and a half – fancy that, building it in a day and a half.
Peter Walsh: Did they do a cultural heritage study?
Cindy McLEISH: I do not think they did. It is like barn raisings in America – a day and a half. It was moved to its present location, though, in 1978, and on the opening day it was hoped it would be a happy meeting place. Like so many other institutes, it has dances, weddings and parties of all kinds – to me, that happy meeting place.
We have others: Kinglake West, a hall that is used very often; the Molesworth hall; Taggerty; and Yarck. And locals do hold these community halls to heart. They want to see them upgraded. They like to see them upgraded, whether that is new floorboards or re-sanding floorboards, whether it is fixing the drainage or whether it is a lick of paint. These halls still require upgrading, and when they are in community hands it is very difficult for the communities in small areas to raise funds to do that.
I think it is so important that government and we as a Parliament have this, because it is part of preserving history. We have this front of mind, because I think it really needs to be done. Like with the Prahran Mechanics’ Institute and the changes that are happening there, we need to make sure that we preserve history on the way.
Katie HALL (Footscray) (12:17): I am absolutely delighted to make a contribution on the Prahran Mechanics’ Institute Repeal Bill 2024, and I have a cracking story about the triumphant Footscray rowing club victory of 1888 coming up, which I have learned about through the Footscray Mechanics’ Institute. I will get to that. It is a good one, in keeping with our Olympic spirit.
There has been a lot said about what mechanics institutes represent in our communities, and in Footscray I feel like the mechanics institute represents the best of Labor values. It is working people coming together to educate and care for their communities. We have quite a few of these organisations in Melbourne’s inner west, including Cohealth, which was established originally as the trade union clinic and formed by unionists. The marvellous Moss Cass was a heart surgeon who believed that the working people of Footscray deserved access to the best health care. These were pre-Medicare days of course, and that legacy continues through Cohealth. The mechanics institutes were blueprints for public libraries and technical schools and community centres.
This bill rather sensibly will ensure that the Prahran Mechanics’ Institute, the second-oldest library in the state, receives the good governance it deserves and ensures that its legacy and value to the community is preserved. It is quite a special thing that the Prahran Mechanics’ Institute has its own act of Parliament, and I think it shows how old this organisation is and what a legacy it has.
The Footscray Mechanics’ Institute, of which I am very proud – it is just across the road from my electorate office – has been serving the people of Footscray and its surrounds since 1857, and design schools and technical colleges housed in the institute have provided free and low-cost education for countless residents over its long and storied history. I am very proud that the Footscray Mechanics’ Institute is still a vibrant place for people to gather and to access their beautiful collection. It provided women and girls with a place to study and learn when many larger institutions would not, which highlights the importance of the legacy of a mechanics institute. Education of course is just one valuable thing that the mechanics institute provided. There were also dances and billiards – we still have a fine billiards room at the Footscray Mechanics’ Institute – and they have been hubs for community activity for nearly 200 years in Victoria.
Of course we celebrate on this side of the chamber our investment in free TAFE. I would like to acknowledge the connection that the Footscray Mechanics’ Institute has with what is now Victoria University but was Footscray Tech back in the day, where my grandfather studied and taught and was also involved in the Footscray Mechanics’ Institute. It is our duty as custodians of these institutions to ensure that the service they have provided to working people for generations continues to receive the care and attention it deserves.
With the 5 minutes I have got left I have to tell you all about the fantastic rowing story that I discovered when I was researching the Footscray Mechanics’ Institute. This is from their newsletter, which is called Footnotes. It is a good read. You can download it from their website. Here is the story about the year Footscray beat the Melbourne–UK elite in the Clarke Challenge Rowing Cup:
The year was 1882, and Footscray had a crack rowing team. The Footscray team consisted of: Rae Johnstone, M. Logan, E. Marriner, H. Saunders, H. Huxtable, P. Nash, Bob Johnstone, T. Woods and F. Vernon.
Comprised of mostly working class men from Footscray, and featuring the FMI’s own Johnstone brothers, both of whom were respectively the FMI librarian for a combined tally of nine decades in the role.
Money was raised locally –
in Footscray –
through a series of concerts and charity events until they could afford to purchase an eight-oared boat …
Their opposition, the Melbourne Rowing Club, were considered Melbourne’s best team – featuring three top Victorian oarsmen, and … rowing champions from Oxford and Cambridge.
No-one apart from the Footscray locals gave the workers much of a chance up against the toffs!
Once the race began the pace was furious, set by Footscray at 47 strokes per minute, and there was only a foot difference between the boats (in metric converts to 30 cm). As they rounded the Sugar Works bend –
in Yarraville –
both boats were neck and neck, and alternating the lead between them.
Bob Johnstone sang out 300 yards … from the finish line, “Sprint Tom!”, and it had a magical effect on the Footscray team, who were … “rowing like devils”. Local steamers sounded their whistles and the crowd of 20,000 –
extraordinary –
‘went mad’. Of the 20,000 strong crowd, 15,000 were barracking for Footscray –
of course –
and the atmosphere was electric as Footscray pulled away to take the Clarke Challenge Cup by three lengths.
The cheering broke out even louder than before, and the crew were carried shoulder high as winners and champions into the boat shed, to enjoy the spoils of victory.
Go, Footscray!
Sadly this win sounded the end of a golden era in rowing for Footscray, as at first the Rowing Association of Great Britain –
this is an outrage –
and following suit, the Victorian Rowing Association changed the rules, defining the status of an amateur as one who only did sedentary work.
Of course the working men from the factories of Footscray were effectively banned with their working-class team of mostly manual labourers, and they were banned from future competitions after they beat the Melbourne Rowing Club. So next time you are visiting the Footscray Mechanics’ Institute – it is just opposite my electorate office; you are welcome to drop in – you can see a beautiful photo of the Footscray Rowing Club winning this wonderful event, the Clarke Challenge Cup. When you see it you will understand what a glorious victory it was – followed by a great injustice against the Footscray Rowing Club, a magnificent rowing club which is still working hard today and producing rowing champions.
I am much obliged to the Footscray Mechanics’ Institute for their preservation and celebration of these wonderful stories of the people and history of Melbourne’s inner west, in particular our working-class history. It is a beautiful place, the Footscray Mechanics’ Institute, and it is well serviced by its librarian Cameron and the beautiful reading room and billiards room. There is a meeting room you can book, and membership is only $10, so it is well worth joining the Footscray Mechanics’ Institute. It has been an absolute joy to read a bit more about them and realise what an extraordinary role they have played in supporting the education of working-class young people in Footscray. I commend the bill to the house.
Wayne FARNHAM (Narracan) (12:26): I am so excited to rise and talk on the Prahran Mechanics’ Institute Repeal Bill 2024. When I saw the government business program this week I said, ‘Now, that’s the bill I want to contribute on.’ I was just so excited, and I am even more excited that I get to follow the Leader of the Nationals and his brilliant contribution that went for so long. It is always very, very nice to hear from someone that lived in that time and to hear their stories from that time about how the institute came about!
Peter Walsh: I can walk Kokoda.
Wayne FARNHAM: Touché, but I got a nice helicopter ride. I will go to the purpose of the bill. The purpose of the bill is to repeal the Prahran Mechanics’ Institute Act 1899, dissolve the Prahran Mechanics’ Institution and Circulating Library incorporated, established by the Prahran Mechanics’ Institute Act 1899, and provide for the transfer of the property, rights and liabilities to the Prahran Mechanics’ Institute’s successor body, the PMI Victorian History Library Inc, which is an incorporated association under the Associations Incorporation Reform Act 2012.
It is a bit of an interesting history about the mechanics institutes, and the Leader of the Nationals went into that history in depth in his contribution. But it is interesting that in many ways with the mechanics institutes I think we could almost call them an early class of TAFE, if you may. It was somewhere where – mechanic actually means ‘working class’ – they could go for further education. I do agree with what the member for Essendon said earlier on about education and giving everyone their best opportunity. You can imagine in the 1900s – well, I can only imagine; I know the Leader of the Nationals lived it! – what it was like for the working class trying to get educated. It would have been very difficult. They got to go to the mechanics institutes and listen to lecturers to further their knowledge. I think it is fair to say that we all believe everyone should have an opportunity to reach their full potential, and back in 1899 that gave the working class that opportunity.
When we talk about further education and TAFE – and this in one way was TAFE – I think of our current TAFE system and the challenges we have there. At the moment, unfortunately, we only have one in two apprentices finishing TAFE, and that is very disappointing. I do not know why it is that so many in the current generation are not completing their TAFE courses. I went through TAFE as an apprentice, and when I was an apprentice we were all thankful to have a job in the late 1980s and very thankful to get an apprenticeship in an economy that was basically on a downward spiral at the time. If you got an apprenticeship in the late 1980s, you worked your hardest to stay in that job. The government has thrown a fair bit at TAFE, I will acknowledge that, but we have got this current generation that almost just goes, ‘Well, it might be a bit hard. I’ll quit.’ It is not good. We have one in two apprentices not completing their apprenticeship. We have over 90,000 trade shortages now in Australia. We have had in Victoria in the last 12 months over 21,000 tradies leave the building industry. This comes back to: how can we keep our youth in trades and keep them in TAFE to complete their apprenticeships? Because the state of Victoria needs tradespeople. We need them urgently. As I said, we have lost 21,000 tradespeople in last 12 months. We have also lost over 700 builders, which is obviously putting a lot of pressure on housing supply.
Peter Walsh interjected.
Wayne FARNHAM: Some of them became politicians. It is a good way to win a tender: vote a politician in.
A member interjected.
Wayne FARNHAM: The opposition builder, I mean – the other builder, yes. That all came out wrong.
The mechanics institutes did serve a purpose in the 1900s, as current-day TAFE does, but the real problem we are having is a lack of completion of apprenticeships, which is putting pressure on housing supply and trade supply. Something the government really needs to look at is how we can get these young men and women finishing their apprenticeships so we can have the workforce required in the construction industry to deliver the homes that are needed.
In my electorate I have four mechanics institutes. I have one in Bunyip that was established in 1905, one in Longwarry that was established in 1886, one in Trafalgar established in 1889 and one in Narracan. I am not 100 per cent sure when it was established, but I do know last year we passed a bill realigning Crown titles, and Narracan Mechanics’ Institute was in that bill. But I am not sure when that one was established. They do serve a purpose in the current day as meeting places, libraries and for history, and as the member for Eildon pointed out, a lot of them probably need a lick of paint and a bit of upgrading, which is good. But I like the fact we still have 562 today in Victoria. It is part of our history, and our history should be preserved and passed on to the next generation so they know what mechanics institutes were all about.
I am trying to go the full 10. The Leader of the Nationals actually covered this subject very, very well, and I do not really want to plagiarise his whole 27 minutes, although it would make my life easier if I did. But the Leader of the Nationals did a fantastic job on this bill report.
Members interjecting.
Wayne FARNHAM: Yes, I am trying to repeat myself. Essentially, we have a bill here today that we all agree on. We have got a lot to debate this week, and I think when we have a bill like this that we support and the government support, let us have two speakers, guillotine it and move it on so we can get on to other business. The minister is sitting there, and I would encourage the minister to stand up at any point in time and guillotine this bill so we can all move on to more important things that we want to discuss this week. We have quite a few issues going on this week in the Parliament, and I think our time would be better served debating those issues rather than talking about a bill that we all agree on. We do know it has to be ratified so things can move on, but I really think the minister should stand up and say, ‘Listen, we’ve had enough of this. Let’s just move it on, and let’s get on to things that are important.’ Like Lawyer X, for example – that needs to be debated, and I think that would be a debate worth having and spending more time on. I am about done with this bill. We support the bill, and good luck to the next speaker.
Lauren KATHAGE (Yan Yean) (12:36): I note the member for Narracan wanted to gag me in this debate. He wanted to shut the debate down because he knew that I was coming for him in my contribution, and here I am to say that this may look like a simple bill to be debated but in reality it highlights the core difference between those opposite and us and our deep, deep value for, respect for and investment in accessible education for all Victorians. Those opposite do not think this is important to talk about, but on this side we have always got time to talk about education for Victorians, because that is what we are focused on, making sure that it is not just for the Oxford elite, who changed the rules to beat the Footscray workshop workers; we are talking about everybody having access.
We heard earlier a fantastic sweeping history from the Minister for Transport Infrastructure. We started in Pompeii, we stopped by the Reformation and visited Martin Luther and the Gutenberg press – and I do take pause to note that Tim Walz is a German Lutheran and wish him well on his way to the White House – and we ended up with Carnegie libraries et cetera. It was a fantastic contribution from the minister. The theme of my contribution is similar. It is not as grand, but it is similar.
I think it is common parlance to say, ‘The more things change, the more they stay the same’, and in looking at the history of the mechanics institutes we can see how much has changed in our community but how the values have remained the same. The two values that I want to highlight are the generosity of community members and the value of education for all. To expand on the generosity of community members, I would like to talk a little bit about the formation of the Mernda Mechanics Institute, because the Mernda Mechanics Institute could not have started without the generous donation of land by Mrs Louisa Perkins, who was the proprietor of the Bridge Inn, which still stands today. She gave that land, and I would like to give you a short potted history now of that place. I am reading some notes from the Eltham and Whittlesea Shires Advertiser and Diamond Creek Valley Advocate, Friday 13 February 1920, page 3, just to help Hansard out.
A small group of people formed there in Mernda and decided to make information, books and training accessible to the people who lived in that area. They formed a committee, and the secretary of that committee applied to the government for assistance. Shortly after a cheque was received for 50 bob, which is pretty good – a pretty easy way to get money back then, perhaps. Then they decided that they needed to build a bluestone building. They thought it would cost about £900, so they called for tenders. The tender of Mr Peter Baird of North Fitzroy – perhaps somebody who had something to do with the mechanics institute we just heard about from the member for Footscray – was accepted, and that was for £860 without extras. The building that was built there we still have standing today on the corner of Bridge Inn Road and Plenty Road.
It is one of the few historic buildings we have in our area, and the Mernda Mechanics Institute is certainly treasured by our community. In fact the opening was a time of great celebration for the community. It says that:
In December, 1888, the opening ceremony was performed by the late Hon. Robert Harper, M.P., and a bazaar of several days duration was held, in which the ladies of the district did splendid work. It would be invidious to name any special ladies where all did so well, the outcome of their efforts being the handsome sum of £198 at the opening ceremony. Two gentlemen (now deceased) gave £100 each to the fund … of Bundoora, and the Whittlesea Shire Council also gave £100, the result being that –
the facility was able to open and that library books were available to all people to borrow information, which we heard about from the Minister for Transport Infrastructure with the Gutenberg press and that sudden dispersion. It was the second flourishing of Gutenberg there in Mernda, and people had access to knowledge and information.
The author of this story in the paper I think noted and understood that that access to education was so important, because he said of the people that contributed to the development of the institute:
There are many others that are gone to rest. But such is life, and undoubtedly posterity is reaping the benefits derived from the establishment of the Mechanics’ Institute …
because what we set in place today then goes on to benefit people for a long time after. We think especially there of free TAFE and how access to a TAFE course benefits not just the person who completes the course but also their children, who grow up in a family where Mum or Dad has a better paid job, a more secure job, a safer job – a job with dignity. So the benefits of a free TAFE course continue for posterity, which is probably why since free TAFE was introduced more than 100,000 women, 42,000 unemployed Victorians, 16,000 learners with disability, 50,000 culturally and linguistically diverse students and 45,000 students in regional Victoria have completed a course.
The generosity that we saw in the development of the Mernda Mechanics Institute carries on today, we see, with the volunteers who keep up such places around Victoria. I think of the Wandong Public Hall committee, who give so much of their time to keep that beautiful building and service available for the people of Wandong.
Somebody who stood at the steps of the Mernda Mechanics Institute and looked around when it first opened would have seen farms, fields and a stockyard. There was a Methodist church, a bakery, the pub and not much more. But now if you stood at the steps of the Mernda Mechanics Institute and looked around, you would see the Mernda rail, which this government extended; the Mernda ambulance station, which this government built; the Mernda police station, which this government built; the upgraded Plenty Road, which was done by our government; and the currently being updated Bridge Inn Road, which is being done by our government. You would be standing near the start of the Plenty trail upgrade, which is going to be a beautiful park from my electorate all the way down to the electorate of the minister at the table, the Minister for Development Victoria.
This is what I mean: the more things change, the more they stay the same. There is so much that has changed in Mernda, and all of the positive changes have come about because of this investment by our government. Never forget that when the Liberals were in power they invested exactly zero dollars in the electorate of Yan Yean – nothing, not a cent. If you stand at that intersection, whether you face north, south, east or west, you are going to see massive investment by this government. The one that is coming up that I am very excited about, with the sod turn fast approaching, is the new Mernda regional sports and aquatic centre, which will provide more courts for players in our area. We look forward to council delivering the full scope of that project, which includes a pool as well. No matter which direction you face, you know that Labor is at your back. We are supporting you. We are supporting you with the investment and infrastructure that you need in your community.
But we will never forget the past. One of the founders of the Mernda Mechanics Institute was Moses Thomas, a very generous man from Mernda who also built the bridge over Plenty River there right next to where the mechanics institute is – a beautiful bluestone bridge. As part of our work to upgrade Bridge Inn Road we have kept, maintained and restored that bridge, and it will now be the shared-use path for people to walk around, right next to our new double-lane Bridge Inn Road. We are proud to have a slice of history in Mernda and for it to be intact. For me it will always represent the value of education, accessible for all Victorians, and the generosity of local people – local working people who know what it means to give the small amount of money they have and who know what it means to give the small amount of time that they have. I continue to see that in my community with all that the residents do for their community. I commend the bill to the house.
Sam HIBBINS (Prahran) (12:46): I rise to speak on behalf of the Victorian Greens on the Prahran Mechanics’ Institute Repeal Bill 2024. Can I commend the house on their interest in this bill and their interest in the PMI and in mechanics institutes more broadly – particularly the Leader of the Nationals, who did a very good job in terms of the history of the PMI. I disagree with the member for Narracan. I think if people have got something to say, whether it is about the PMI or mechanics institutes in their electorates, it is fair that everyone has their say on this bill.
The mechanics institute in Prahran has been an incredible community-run organisation in the Prahran electorate for over 170 years. Before I go into some of the history of the mechanics institute, I just want to go through something a bit more contemporary and state what a fantastic asset they are to the community and to Victoria more broadly and go through what they actually offer right now, which is the Victorian history library, a collection of over 40,000 books for loan, many of which are not available anywhere else. It is an extensive collection specialising in works about Victorian history, looking at things like transport, visual and performing arts and First Nations. It is home also to collections on the Cinema and Theatre Historical Society and the Victorian Railway History Library. It is such an important resource for Victorians, unlike any other. Personally, as someone who has quite a love of this sort of stuff, it is a place with books that I could spend hours going through. Unfortunately, due to the stack of around 12 largely unread books on my bedside table, it is probably something I will have to do in my retirement.
But it is a fantastic resource in terms of not only the books that they offer but also the seminars and the lectures on a wide range of historical topics, many of which have actually helped me in my role as an MP. Just to give you an example of the wide range that they actually offer – and this is in the tradition of mechanics institutes offering free public workshops – one some years ago was a slideshow on the history of trams in Melbourne from the 1950s to the 80s. There were some fantastic shots of some W-class trams and of the tram network, some of which has not actually changed all that much over the many decades. I believe this slideshow actually happened during lockdown, so it was quite a welcome distraction but also very useful during my time as the Greens transport spokesperson, as I was pushing for a much more modern and accessible tram network.
Another, What We Found … Victoria’s Queer History, took people through the findings of the Australian Queer Archives report into the history of LGBTQI+ Victoria as far back as the 1830s – again, very helpful in my role then as equality spokesperson. It prompted me to actually visit the queer archives and meet with the author Dr Graham Willett.
Local history is another part of their fantastic collection, with a number of books on the Prahran area. I attended the book launch of The World Is One Kilometre: Greville Street, Prahran by Judith Buckrich – who has authored a number of books on the local area – which had the incredible story and the history of the fantastic street, Greville Street, a real icon in Prahran. So that is just a taste of the wide range of information sessions and lectures that they offer the wider community.
The building that they are actually in is not the well-known Prahran Mechanics’ Institute building on High Street; they have moved to St Edmonds Road. They have been a staple of the community. They were originally established at a schoolroom in Prahran’s first church. Since then they moved to Chapel Street, then to a building which was established as Prahran’s first technical school on High Street, Windsor, in which they stayed until 2014.
I recall a very early meeting – I think at the time I was a Stonnington councillor – where to say that the building on High Street was overcrowded and not fit for purpose would be a bit of an understatement, so that is what prompted their move to their current and much more modern location at St Edmonds Road. The president at the time, Cr John Chandler, who passed away earlier this year, along with the committee, oversaw the sale of the High Street building and the purchase and subsequent refurbishment of the home at St Edmonds Road and increased its relevance to the community and expanded what it offers to the wider community.
That new building also has a large multipurpose room which is available for community groups to rent, which I have done on a number of occasions, one to launch a report on livability in Prahran – most notably that focused on open space and transport and is actually now part of the history library’s collection. More recently I actually put on a screening of the film Metropolis. Some might know the 1927 German science fiction film directed by Fritz Lang. I believe they were going to do a remake in Melbourne, but unfortunately that fell through. In looking to do that screening I actually found out, for those who might not know, for a very long time with Metropolis they never had the complete version of the film; the footage was lost.
Members interjecting.
Sam HIBBINS: No, this an interesting story. In looking to put it on I realised that they had actually found the lost footage, and the person who actually discovered that footage was Australia’s foremost Metropolis expert, a gentleman by the name of Michael Organ. The name rang a bell, and that was the same Michael Organ who was the first Greens MP elected to a lower house of Parliament here in Australia, to the seat of Cunningham in the 2002 by-election. I thought, ‘Well, I’ve got to put these two together,’ so I reached out to Michael, and he was gracious enough to actually come down to Prahran. Where were we going to put this screening? The best place, of course, was the PMI Victorian History Library, and we were able to put on screening of Metropolis and have Michael come down and talk about (a) his expertise in the film Metropolis and of course his time as well as a Greens MP in the federal Parliament during that incredible time between 2002 and 2004.
About the bill itself: this is a bill that will repeal the Prahran Mechanics’ Institute Act 1899, transfer all the property, rights and liabilities to the PMI Victorian History Library as its successor body and ensure that it can continue that work as an incorporated association. It is good to know that the PMI were obviously very closely consulted about the design of the bill and are fully supportive of the changes put forward.
In researching this bill – and the research is made a lot easier when you actually have a book on the history of the PMI sitting on your bookshelf in your parliamentary office – I did want to look into exactly why PMI was governed by its own legislation. The explanation was that in the 1890s, like many organisations, the Prahran Mechanics’ Institute was suffering the effects of the Depression and internal mismanagement and was almost forced to close. The secretary and the committee were not answerable to its membership, which had actually dropped to 10 by that stage, and the building was in disrepair, so the government actually stepped in with the Prahran Mechanics’ Act and allowed for the removal of the secretary.
On to the history of the PMI: whilst it is a history library, it has got a very good history of its own. It was established in 1854, the sixth in the state to be established, with its aims when it was created including the mental and moral improvement and rational recreation of its members by means of lectures, discussions, libraries, reading rooms, classes, museums and philosophical apparatus, and it stayed true to that mission while adapting to the needs of society. Some of its early topics were lectures back in those early days, and they are very interesting and still relevant today: ‘Has the introduction of gun power into the art of war been more beneficial than injurious to mankind?’ ‘Is America or Australia most advantaged to the immigrant?’ ‘Is capital punishment beneficial or injurious to society?’ Back then the meeting decided it was injurious. So there were very topical lectures in those early days.
There were some governance issues, I understand – namely a secretary who was dismissed, squatted in the secretary’s residence and refused to leave. My understanding is that was resolved when under the cover of darkness the roof was taken off the house to make it uninhabitable, so problem solved there.
I also want to touch on the important role that the PMI played in education in Prahran. Whilst the schools have been amalgamated with other education providers, it still has a legacy today. When it began it conducted arts and design classes and ultimately established the Prahran Technical School in 1915, which offered courses around art and craft, architecture, millinery and sign-writing, amongst others. By the 1960s Prahran Tech had become one of Australia’s most well known art schools. It was a school that throughout the 1960s and 70s had a reputation for having a really progressive and nonconformist culture. As testament to that progressive culture the college union actually established Melbourne’s first planned parenthood clinic with doctors, counsellors and a pathologist and offered advice on contraception, abortion and sexual health.
As I said, from the 1970s Prahran Tech went through a number of name changes, divisions, mergers and affiliations until it was eventually wound up and included in other schools, with the school of art relocating to the Victorian College of the Arts. But that history of education, particularly around arts, design, craft and technical education, still remains today. It started with the establishment of the PMI and subsequently Prahran Tech and the progressive culture of Prahran Tech. It is still evident today, with arts and creative industries being a very strong part of Prahran’s identity and the progressive values of our community. We have got courses offered at Melbourne Polytechnic at the Prahran TAFE site, which incorporates the original PMI building, with a very strong focus on the arts and creative industries and a broad range of creative training courses. So there is a direct link from the past and the establishment of the PMI to the present and to the future as well. We are looking to reinvigorate the Prahran TAFE site with that shared community vision of an arts and education precinct. The government has acquired that land from Swinburne. We are waiting on the release of the master plan to look at the site, the tenants, the governance and the course offerings. But there is a really fantastic opportunity for the Prahran TAFE site, which as I said still includes the original mechanics institute 1915 Prahran Tech building, to become once again a national leader in the arts, technical education and the creative industries.
To conclude, the PMI Victorian History Library is an incredible asset for our local community and also for our state. As the local MP I just see firsthand the wonderful contribution that it makes. It is just so important to recognise and support organisations like this, which really do provide a unique service and are striving to make education and information as accessible as possible. I really do encourage all members and people, if they have not, to check out the PMI, see what they have to offer by way of their book collection – that is a collection of 40,000 books with a focus on history – and have a look at their seminar programs as well. There are a number of them still ongoing. There are book clubs. They are a fantastic asset to our community, but they are also part of history.
Vicki Ward interjected.
Sam HIBBINS: 40,000 books.
Vicki Ward: That’s amazing. The second-oldest library in the state, is that right?
Sam HIBBINS: I will accept that. It is an organisation that I am really proud to have in the Prahran electorate. I look forward to them continuing the fantastic work they do. I commend this bill to the house.
Sitting suspended 12:59 pm until 2:02 pm.
Business interrupted under sessional orders.
The SPEAKER: I acknowledge in the gallery today a number of mayors from our Melbourne outer councils. Welcome.