Matt Burnell (Spence, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would like to take this opportunity to discuss a real hidden gem located within my electorate of Spence, one which, as a veteran myself and co-chair of the Parliamentary Friends of Veterans, adds to the pride I feel knowing that this piece of Australian military history resides within Spence. Located in Edinburgh, the National Military Vehicle Museum was opened back in 1993 in Port Adelaide, but it eventually found its way back up into to the northern suburbs of Adelaide in the heart of the Edinburgh Defence Precinct. The museum is run by the Military Vehicle Preservation Society of South Australia, whose volunteers keep the museum alive.

It isn't just vehicles that are a drawcard to the National Military Vehicle Museum, for their building houses a remarkable collection of signals equipment, with its oldest piece being a kerosene signal lamp that would have been in use during the Boer War. That's quite remarkable. Given that RAAF Base Edinburgh is home to the Defence Science and Technology Group, I'm sure some of our current serving personnel are just as engrossed by the collection as I am, if not more so. The magic of the National Military Vehicle Museum was first shown to me by a gentleman called Jeff Pinney, who has been a volunteer there for quite some time. Jeff spent his working life at GM Holden up in the northern suburbs of Adelaide for 36 years and 17 serving in the 3rd/9th Light Horse (South Australian Mounted Rifles). Thank you, Jeff, and everyone at the museum who has indulged my curiosity and love of the military museum.