Ewen Jones (Herbert, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Dawson for moving this motion on the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the SS Yongala. We have heard tonight that the ship was built in South Australia, and I am reliably informed that the actual name of the vessel is pronounced 'Yongulla', whereas the actual name of the building in Townsville is the Yongala Lodge—there are always arguments about pronunciation. It is an Aboriginal word, although I am not sure of the meaning. All 122 people were lost as the ship sailed into a cyclone, and that was a great tragedy. The racehorse Moonshine almost made it to Townsville. It was washed up; it never made it to shore alive. It had an undistinguished racing career and it did not win its last race either. What I would say is that since finding the Yongala in 1958 it has turned into not just one of the great dives in Australia but one of the top five dives in the world. The member for Flinders is a very avid and very keen scuba diver—he keeps his tickets low. He has dived with the great whites in South Australia. He has dived all over Australia and yet he has never done the Yongala. I had the member for Flinders in Townsville just prior to the 100th anniversary, but the weather was such that he was not able to make the dive.

On Saturday, 26 March this year, there was a celebration for the 100th anniversary at Yongala Lodge. Yongala Lodge was built by the Rooney family in Townsville who lost one of their family members in the sinking of the Yongala. The Rooney family built the lodge and they also built the massive and beautiful altar in St Joseph's Church, the Strand, which is directly across the road and home to Father Mick Peters, one of the greatest blokes in the history of the world, even if he is a Warwick boy and a Nudgee boy.

There was a dinner at Yongala Lodge for 122 people and everyone's place card marked with a crew member, passenger or racehorse that was on the ship. It was a fantastic evening. It was hosted by Stephen Price the local breakfast radio host and I was lucky enough to be called upon to do the auction that evening where we raised some valuable funds for the coastguard and other local charities.

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