Susan Templeman (Macquarie, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Deputy Speaker Goodenough, I'm going to pose a question: within what time frame should you expect a response from someone after sending them a letter? How long is too long: 24 hours? A week? A month? Four months? Hypothetically speaking, what do we think is a reasonable time, and what would you do if you weren't getting a response? Would you write again and again and again? Well, it turns out that that doesn't work.

I have unashamedly not been playing it cool, so to speak, when it comes to the issue of Thompson Square in Windsor, in my electorate of Macquarie. You see, I've written to the Minister for the Environment and Energy a few times over the last four months asking him to consider the application for emergency heritage listing for Thompson Square. I'm yet to receive any response. I get the feeling he hasn't read my letters, so I thought I'd take the opportunity today to run through them quickly—to summarise them a bit and save him some time. Just to clarify: I didn't send the minister the same information each time; each letter was an update on the colonial and Indigenous artefacts that have been uncovered and are still being uncovered during the archaeological dig that's being carried out in Thompson Square.

I'm going to go through the most recent letters. On 29 September last year I wrote to the minister regarding the tender documents that were released for the Windsor Bridge replacement project, because they said, 'Construction will result in a number of adverse impacts, particularly on Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal heritage.' The documents went even further, detailing that there are substantial Aboriginal archaeological deposits, including evidence of Aboriginal occupation and use of the area dating back to between 17,000 and 27,000 years ago. I also mentioned the fact that the minister did manage to grant an emergency heritage listing for St Kilda road, which, according to the minister's own media release, he took the time to write to the Premier of Victoria about to ask whether he would reconsider the project design to lessen its impact upon the surrounding landscape, including the trees that give important character to the precinct.

What happens in Melbourne, it seems, matters more to him than what happens in the outer suburbs of Sydney. Never mind that machinery is hacking into rare Aboriginal relics and the first pieces of government infrastructure in this country; St Kilda Road apparently has untouchable trees that, thanks to the minister, will continue to give important character to that precinct. Perhaps I should ask which form of communication was used to bring St Kilda Road to the attention of the minister. It is safe to assume that it wasn't the written word—or do I just need to mention that Thompson Square also has trees? Thompson Square does have trees, although it already has fewer than it did a few months ago.

On 24 October 2017 I wrote to the minister to urgently bring his attention to the discovery of handmade and hand-laid Telford blocks near Thompson Square. Telford paving is a type of early 19th century road construction that was a leap forward in road building not only in Australia but also around the world. The only other known example of Telford paving in Australia is located in Willoughby, where the road is considered so significant that it's registered with the National Trust of Australia. Unfortunately, I had no response from the minister.

On 7 December last year I wrote to the minister because many constituents came to me concerned about the level of destruction that was occurring during the archaeological dig in Thompson Square. You would think that, given the amazing Indigenous and colonial relics, archaeologists would be on their hands and knees chipping and dusting the ground to be sure not to damage anything of significance. Unfortunately, that's not what's happening. What's happening on the ground is that the caterpillar treads of a giant mechanical excavator are crushing the remains of goodness knows what artefacts. I got no response from the minister.

On 14 December I called for backup, thinking that maybe the minister would acknowledge a letter from me if I wrote a joint one with the member for Watson, the shadow minister for the environment and heritage. We spoke about the recent discovery of two sections of brick barrel drain dating back to as early as 1814, asking him to intervene in the New South Wales government's plan to destroy the heart of Windsor, its heritage and its Indigenous response. Still no response.

On 30 January this year I wrote again to the minister with the news that more of the brick barrel drain had been uncovered and was possibly the earliest piece of government infrastructure built in this country and that it paints a picture of what Governor Lachlan Macquarie had envisioned, not just for the Hawkesbury region but for this entire nation. I also spoke of the local history that says these tunnels played a role in illicit rum-running, which was rampant along the Hawkesbury in our early days. According to the community group CAWB, older residents of the area can recount that kegs of spirits were brought up from the riverbank through a tunnel in Thompson Square in more recent times. Access to these tunnels is thought to be in the basements of the pizza parlour and the Macquarie Arms Hotel, which of course happens to be the oldest pub in Australia. This is what locals are referring to when they talk about the legendary 'smugglers' tunnels'. I told the minister this and—you guessed it—still no response.

That letter also detailed my fear that these discoveries were just the tip of the iceberg—items being discovered only during this archaeological salvage. They are salvaging these items, removing them from the site, putting them on trucks and storing them somewhere. The construction of the bridge hasn't even started, and this is what we're finding.

Just last week, after I had sent my most recent letter to the minister, a sandstone pillar was ripped from the ground by a mechanical excavator. There was damage to the pillar on the way out. Photos taken of the stone by the people who are monitoring the square from as close as they can get to it show that it looks similar to a marker post that archaeologist Edward Higginbotham identified in his historical and archaeological investigation of Thompson Square in 1986, in the lead-up to the bicentenary celebrations that the Howard government auspiced. He noted that it was a rare survival.

Local activist group Heritage Act summed up perfectly on their Facebook page why we should care about this block of sandstone, and they said: 'This sandstone block would have had a purpose in the square and would have contributed to the functioning of the civic space. In turn, the square played a vital role in feeding and saving a starving nation. It's not just one stone post or one drain or one building that is significant; it's each of these puzzle pieces that, when joined together, build the picture of an important place in the European history of this nation.'

I would say to the minister: Thompson Square, much like St Kilda Road, has trees, but where they differ is that St Kilda Road has heritage listing based on its 19th century boulevard, and Thompson Square is being demolished—despite being the sole surviving foundation site for the late 18th and early 19th century settlement on the entire continent that still retains its original form and its sightlines from the top of the square to the Hawkesbury River and beyond to the farming grants across the river. In other words, it is the only surviving Georgian public square in this country.

I would say to the minister: you have the power to immediately grant emergency heritage listing so that a full investigation into the many reasons Thompson Square deserves to be given national heritage listing can take place. I invite him to visit the area, to speak to the people who've been occupying this square for 4½ years, 24 hours a day, on shifts, to guard as best they can against the destruction that is taking place. I urge him to visit the area before making a decision so he can see for himself why it is worthy of listing alongside Port Arthur, Fremantle Prison, the Glenrowan Heritage Precinct, and, yes, St Kilda Road. I ask the minister that he no longer ignore the destruction that happens day in, day out at Thompson Square but puts politics aside and saves this piece of history.

Let's be clear: the Hawkesbury was crying out for a new bridge. That's the reason this destruction is taking place. The Hawkesbury needs a new bridge, but it needs a bridge to bypass this Georgian gem and provide two things: a genuine traffic solution and the opportunity to revive and rejuvenate the unique history of Australia's colonial past.