Keith Pitt (Hinkler, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My electorate is named after the great aviator Bert Hinkler. After distinguished service in the First World War, the boy from Bundaberg was the first pilot to fly solo from England to Australia. Last month, on 2 August, a very special memorial and walking trail named the Hinkler Ring was unveiled at the Tuscan crash site in Italy where Bert Hinkler was killed in 1933. The memorial was the brainchild of the Capalaba based aviation history enthusiast Kevin Lindeberg, who helped research a number of historical books about the pioneer. Mr Lindeberg coordinated the Hinkler Ring's establishment from start to finish, first marking out the Italian crash site in 1974. The LNP state government contributed $37,000 towards the relocation of a basalt boulder from Mon Repos beach to the crash site in Italy to become the memorial's centrepiece. The memorial also features a time capsule containing a letter from Prime Minister Tony Abbott, the Prime Minister of Italy and the Queensland Premier, to be opened in 100 years.

In June, President of the Senate Senator Stephen Parry and former Speaker of the House of Representatives Bronwyn Bishop signed a special framed poster celebrating Bert Hinkler's visit to the Australian parliament on 14 March, 1928. Featuring extracts from parliament's visitor books and a photo of Bert being welcomed by the then Prime Minister Bruce, the framed gift was presented at the Hinkler Ring unveiling to be displayed at the Chalet Da Giocondo in Italy. A second copy takes pride of place in the Hinkler electorate office, in Bert's home town of Bundaberg.