Jason Wood (La Trobe, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Justice and Public Security) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Tonight I wish to talk about a national heritage application which my office has put together for the Dandenong Ranges landscape and Puffing Billy Railway. I seek leave to table that document.

Leave granted.

I am obviously very passionate about the Dandenong Ranges. It is one of those amazing places to live, but it also has a fantastic historical component to it. That is why I have taken the time to put this application together.

I would like to thank Tom Harley, Chairman of the Australian Heritage Council, for his ongoing support with this application. I would also like to thank two former staff members, Joe Magee and Scott Fyfe, and the current staff member, Sara Magny, who have worked on this application for over three years. It is a 10,000-word document, but it is one of those things I passionately believe is necessary to protect the Dandenong Ranges. It will give extra protection for the environment and also enable extra federal and state funding to look after this amazing area.

If we go back in time, the Dandenong Ranges have some amazing historical aspects. The first of these is that, in the early 1900s, we had Puffing Billy, which is Australia’s oldest steam train. It was used in the olden days mainly for tourism but also, obviously, for moving logs around. When I say ‘tourism’, the city folk used to love coming out to the hills to have a look around.

Then there is the artistic nature of the Dandenong Ranges. In the late 19th century, the Heidelberg School of art, which is so famous, began to have a number of its artists go up to the hills and paint there. Look at people such as Arthur Streeton and Tom Roberts, two amazing and well-known Australian artists from the Heidelberg School who in their final days resided in the Dandenong Ranges. We can then go back over time to famous European artists such as Eugene von Guerard. You just have to go to the National Gallery and you will see works by Eugene von Guerard. In fact, I have been to most galleries around Australia, and in the Australian art section there is always a picture taken in the Dandenong Ranges. Why? Because it has those beautiful fern trees, which are synonymous with the hills.

We can also look at Australian writers. You may remember CJ Dennis. He was the guy who wrote The Sentimental Bloke. Where did he write it? It was actually in the Dandenong Ranges. He was in a colony called Sunnyside. He was commissioned to write that amazing piece. That is where it was.

We then have what is called Horatio’s house. Built shortly after World War I by Horatio Jones after he returned from the war, the house is made of flattened kerosene tins. It is featured on so many documentaries. To see the place is absolutely amazing. That is where all the artists from the Heidelberg School used to go and spend month after month undertaking their paintings. It is truly a beautiful location. And then we have the flora and fauna.

We have had strong support from the local community with this. I must thank Dandenong Ranges Tourism, Michael Axel and the now president, Ron Hurley, and previous members involved in that; Lou Hesterman; and others in the local community. The community really wants this. It is one of those things that as a member of parliament you really push for very hard. In fact, I have submitted the application three times. The first time the department said, ‘Really focus on the flora and fauna, not Puffing Billy.’ That was unsuccessful, and they said, ‘Next time, concentrate on Puffing Billy, not so much on the flora and fauna,’ so I did that. It missed out again, and they said, ‘What you should do’—which we had removed the first time—‘is the famous Australian landscape artists.’ So we put it in again, and again we were told we were unsuccessful.

To me, the Dandenong Ranges are one of the most amazing places in Australia. Look at the fantastic heritage, from Puffing Billy to Horatio’s house to CJ Dennis and all those famous international and local artists. It deserves recognition, and that is why I am so passionate about this. I can tell the House that I will never give up until we actually get it listed.

Question agreed to.