David Hawker (Wannon, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today I want to draw to the attention of all members a service that is going to be held at Mount Dandenong on Saturday. Organised by the Mount Dandenong historical society, whom I commend heartily for what they are doing, it will commemorate the 70th anniversary of the disastrous crash on Mount Dandenong of the ANA Kyeema airliner. I will be joined at this service on this very special occasion by my colleagues the two federal local members, the member for Casey and the member for La Trobe. We will commemorate the disaster when the Kyeema, a Douglas DC2 which was fully booked and, with its crew, had 18 people aboard, flew from Adelaide, ran into cloud and, because radio navigation was not available at the time, ploughed into Mount Dandenong, with everyone being killed instantly. Included amongst its passengers were three prominent vignerons from South Australia and also a member of the federal parliament, the then member for Wakefield, and a former minister who was a cousin of mine, the Hon. Charles Hawker, hence my very keen interest in the commemoration of the 70th anniversary. The tragedy of it all is that, as has been shown by a proper investigation carried out later by Macarthur Job, who was with the then Department of Civil Aviation, or DCA, this could have been avoided. Of course it caused considerable embarrassment all throughout the government and indeed Australia because at that point it was the worst air crash Australia had ever experienced in peacetime. It is unfortunate that it happened but it has since led to a much higher level of air safety and, most importantly, the establishment of a reputation that I feel Australia can feel proud of.

The other part of my keen interest in this is that, in commemoration of my relation, Charles Hawker, a scholarship has been set up by his family. It is a scholarship available for tertiary students which is by far one of the most generous privately funded scholarships available. I have been involved in the presentation of it in the last few years. Most importantly, it commemorates this very significant event. I commend the Mount Dandenong historical society for again hosting a special commemoration of this occasion. I know that many people will attend locally and from South Australia, many being relatives of those who were aboard the Kyeema at the time. I think it stands as a reminder of the importance of governments getting on with the job given that the government at the time knew they could have done something before this tragedy ever occurred. (Time expired)