House debates

Thursday, 11 May 2017

Constituency Statements

Geelong: Clocks

10:55 am

Photo of Richard MarlesRichard Marles (Corio, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Immigration and Border Protection) Share this | | Hansard source

Geelong is home to a wealth of hidden history and heritage. You only need to look down Ryrie Street in the CBD to see the story of Geelong right there in front of your eyes. Our town was the wool capital of the country and a great manufacturing hub and is now emerging as a leading health and research destination.

You can tell a lot about a town from its old buildings, from the town hall to the old post office and Cunningham Pier. Each marks a point in time which tells a story, but I have also noticed something that tells another tale about our city—our clocks. I know many people spend their time watching their phones, which have always-accurate clocks, but, when you look up from your phone, in the middle of Geelong you can see old clock faces scattered throughout the city and, indeed, Greater Geelong.

Functioning public clocks have actually been the foundation stone of working local economies. They tell us when it is time to start. They have also been at the heart of our local culture. Standing on the corner of Moorabool Street and Ryrie Street to see the men come out and ring the bell of the T&G clock has been a source of delight for Geelong children, me included, for decades. Yet public clocks that do not function make the opposite statement about a place, which Geelong cannot afford. They are a sign that something is wrong and broken. Unfortunately, too many public clocks in Geelong do not work.

The clock that hangs on the corner of Moorabool Street and Malop Street does not work. The clocks near South Geelong station on Yarra Street, in a lovely Victorian terrace, also do not work. My office has spoken to the owners of Thomas Jewellers in Geelong, who care for a clock in the heart of the city. They are determined to get their clock running on time but have been really frustrated by their inability to do this, despite exhaustive efforts to try and get the clock working. It turns out it is actually quite a specialist activity.

I have approached the City of Greater Geelong to find a way to have the clocks that do not work around our town fixed and maintained. I have met with members of council's strategic planning and heritage departments, and it turns out that there is an expert who looks after the public clocks in council buildings. Steve Young from Young's Clock Repairs in Bendigo comes down the road to do just that. I want to establish an easy way for private owners of significant and historic clocks across Geelong to access the same clock maintenance—Steve from Bendigo—in the way that the council does, because you can tell a lot about a city from its clocks. You can tell the extent to which it is working, functioning on time and getting about its business, but, unfortunately, a negative message is sent when those clocks do not work, and it is time that we get the Geelong clocks working.