In the history of Australia's industrial development South Australia occupies a special place. Not only was the state a centre of the nation's mineral exploitation and heavy industry, it also occupied a leading place in its shipping industry. Port Adelaide contains some of the oldest stone buildings related to the merchant trade, and the grain mill operation known as Hart's Mill is unique in the nation's history in employing Aboriginal workers at full pay as early as in the 1860s. I believe that South Australia deserves a museum to document Australia's industrial history, particularly in relation to mining and shipping. The industrial history of Hart's Mill and its associated buildings, as well as the historical significance of its construction, make the buildings an ideal site for a technology and industrial history museum. A new museum in the Hart's Mill precinct will also make a significant contribution to the revitalization of the Port. Why a museum? A country is not mature and educated unless it understands its own history. The 19th century was a time of tremendous change, propelled by advances in science and technology that allowed industrialization on an ever larger scale. All major industrialized countries honour their industrial history through magnificent museums. Some outstanding examples are In Britain • the National Museum of Science and Industry, a collection of technology museums in London, York, Bradford and Shildon, with the Science Museum in London as its heart. • the Cambridge Museum of Technology, based in the Old Pumping Station; it still contains the original pumps and boilers with many other engines. • the Museum of Science and Inudstry in Manchester, an Anchor Point of the European Route of Industrial Heritage; it is devoted to Manchester's contribution to the development of science, technology, and industry. • In Germany • the Deutsches Museum (German Museum), founded in Munich in 1903, the world's largest museum of technology and science, with approximately 1.5 million visitors per year and about 28,000 exhibited objects from 50 fields of science and technology. • the Museum of Technology, established in 1982 in Berlin; it exhibits a large collection of historical technical artifacts and industrial technology and includes a science center. • In Canada • the National Museum of Science and Technology, established in 1967 as a Centennial project by the Canadian Government; it was the first museum to employ interactive exhibits related to the ongoing relationships between science, technology and Canadian society. • In the USA • the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, established in 1933; its diverse and expansive exhibits include a working coal mine and is the second largest cultural attraction in the city. In Australia the only museum of comparable objective is the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney, housed in a converted electric tram power station. (Australia's National Science and Technology Centre "Questacon", which opened in 1988, focuses on current day science and technology. It is appropriately housed in a modern new building and serves a different purpose. South Australia's Investigator Science and Technology Centre, located in the Adelaide Showgrounds, was downscaled and transferred to Regency TAFE before being abandoned altogether.) I believe that South Australia's industrial history deserves a place in public education, that a Museum of Technology and Industrial History is sorely lacking in this state and that a properly designed museum could spread its influence beyond South Australia become a centre of national significance. Why in Port Adelaide? Port Adelaide is the birthplace of South Australia's industrial history. Despite many changes that led to the loss of significant buildings and industrial sites it still maintains a character of its own with a strong historical flair. Several museums related to industry and technology are already located in Port Adelaide: • the South Australian Maritime Museum, one of the best of its kind; • the National Railway Museum • the Aviation Museum The three museums already cover many aspects of the history of technology. By focusing on mining, commercial shipping and shipbuilding the new Museum of Technology and Industrial History in Harts Mill would complement the exhibits of the existing museums and close an existing gap in the coverage of all aspects of the history of technology. To make a museum viable and keep it alive it has to be located near the major agglomeration of people. Port Adelaide is in easy reach for the population of Greater Adelaide, which constitutes the greater part of South Australia's population. Why Harts Mill? The Harts Mill complex is ideal for a Museum of Technology and Industrial History. Its history as part of Australia's industrial development makes it unique in its own right. In addition, its location on the waterfront, with unused but available berthing space, offers plenty of scope to develop it into a Museum of national significance that will attract visitors from interstate and overseas. Port Adelaide's historic ship Falie could dock in front of the buildings, the two historic cranes of the dock area could be relocated to the Museum, and other items of maritime technological interest could easily be added. With an array of historic waterside items the museum would quickly develop a reputation of Australia's premier Museum of Industrial History, enough to make it financially self-supporting in the long term. I would be happy to assist in any way to retain Harts Mill as a focus of Australia's industrial and maritime history.
Matthias Tomczak
Matthias Tomczak