Claire Chandler (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Recently I had the pleasure to present our national flag to the Channel Museum, based in Margate, Tasmania. This museum keeps the memories of the D'Entrecasteaux Channel area alive. I was welcomed by and guided through the museum by Judi, Mike, Andrew and Andrew, and Sarah. All of them are volunteers at the museum. In fact, it is operated by around 60 volunteers, mostly from the local community.

The museum has an extensive artefact collection, including more than 6,000 pieces, all of them amassed over more than 40 years and all of them donated by the residents of the channel community. The museum has sections with objects and information on the social aspects of the channel area, displaying memorabilia of schools, sports clubs, the men and women who have served our country in defence, and the 1967 bushfire, which we know was such a significant and tragic event in the channel area. It shows the cultural aspects of the channel, showcasing Indigenous heritage and migrant history, and the economic aspects of the region, including old farming tools and displays in relation to the maritime, timber and apple industries, which have had such a historically important role to play in the channel. It even has an impressive collection of cameras, which these days, given most people have one of those on their mobile phone, I imagine would be quite novel to some of the schoolchildren as they're coming through having a tour of the museum.

The museum provides stimulating educational experiences, like I said, with school visits and its 'Night at the Museum' conferences that are always booked out, and it offers a range of benefits to people with dementia by stimulating their cognitive function and by improving general feelings of wellbeing while enjoying a stroll down memory lane. Thank you and well done to the volunteers of the Channel Museum.