Richard Marles (Corio, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary for Innovation and Industry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last week, some of Geelong’s most treasured heritage buildings were extended a lifeline by the Rudd government when the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts, Peter Garrett, visited our city and announced funding for conservation projects from the $650 million jobs fund. This is great news for Geelong.

We are a city with remarkable early heritage, but it is often overshadowed by our development as a city of industry. Because of that, we do not regard ourselves as a heritage city in quite the same ways that some other cities do, but in my opinion we have just as much and, in some ways, even more to be proud of. Geelong has the best collection of heritage buildings adjacent to Port Philip Bay. Many of our buildings are unique to our city and to the settlement of the colony. In our Botanic Gardens, a small Gothic style weatherboard building was Geelong’s first customs house. It was prefabricated and shipped from Sydney in 1838, and it is now considered to be the oldest authenticated building in existence in Victoria. A more substantial customs house, dating from 1856, is one of the few examples of the colonial Georgian style to have survived in Victoria. Our old telegraph station is another colonial gem and one of the first buildings in Victoria to be built of barrable free stone. We have Victoria’s oldest church in continuous use. Our town hall is one of the oldest centres of local government and our train station is one of the largest from its era. The list goes on.

Sadly, our failure to value heritage at times has seen us lose some significant buildings over the decades. This has led some of us to believe that our city is not beautiful, and that is a real shame because our city is exceptionally beautiful. Some think that we do not have the boom time boulevards to compare with Bendigo or Ballarat, but I believe that ours could be even better, and I am bold enough to say it in the presence of the member for Ballarat. To look at the buildings that lie in Ryrie Street between Yarra and Gheringhap streets is to see a treasure trove of architectural magnificence buried under signage and verandas in keeping with the style.

There are heritage buildings that can show us the way forward. The Fletcher Jones building in Moorabool Street is a great example of a retail building that celebrates its character. We think of Corio Bay as our best asset, but our city’s built heritage is potentially our greatest tourist attraction. It tells the story of Geelong better than any history book, but it just needs some care and attention, and that requires effort. We need a whole-of-city commitment, and today I call upon the owners of our city centre’s buildings and the council to work together to meet this challenge of restoring our city’s heritage. Our city forefathers had a vision; the city streets that sweep down toward the bay were built for a reason; they show pride in a town that quickly established its credentials as a major commercial centre.