Tony Lupton - Speech
Prahran Mechanics Institute Bill
14 March 2007
I am delighted to be able to speak in support of the Prahran Mechanics' Institute Amendment Bill not only as member for Prahran but also as a member of the Prahran Mechanics Institute itself. It is a great local institution and one that is very strongly supported not only by the local community around the Prahran district but also by many thousands of people around Victoria for the work it does in providing an important resource for local and Victorian history in particular.
The Prahran Mechanics Institute provides a lending and reference library service specialising in Victorian history.
It provides very important educational activities relating to Victorian history and encourages and facilitates the study of history in general and Victorian history in particular. The bill before the house tonight was requested by the Prahran Mechanics Institute, and that request was taken up by the government.
I am very pleased that the government has seen fit to support the Prahran Mechanics Institute with this legislation. The bill came before the house as what is known as a private bill, and I congratulate the Minister for Local Government and the house for agreeing to waive the normal costs in relation to treating it as a public bill so that it will be passed and be able to be of benefit to the institute.
The house debated about a year ago an earlier amendment to the Prahran Mechanics' Institute Act, and I think it is worth pointing out to the house why this legislation comes before the house now and how it differs from the legislation we dealt with a year or so ago. The Prahran Mechanics Institute requested that the government bring in this amendment to the governing act because during the course of negotiations in relation to a lease of some of the Prahran Mechanics Institute property to Swinburne University, some doubts were raised about the Prahran Mechanics Institute's ability to own land or enter into leases, licences and permits in relation to that land.
The matters that came to the attention of the institute were not recognised and were not part of the matters that were dealt with in the legislation that was passed through Parliament about a year ago, and the institute has made that clear to members of the Liberal Party and The Nationals in briefing material that has been made available to them.
I think it is necessary to note that members of the Liberal Party and The Nationals, while generally being supportive of this legislation, nevertheless have not seen fit to allow the legislation to be supported without taking some cheap shots at the fact that this legislation is being debated now and that these matters, according to the opposition and The Nationals, should have been included in the legislation a year ago.
The fact is that these matters were not recognised, were not known about and were not part of the subject matter of the legislation that we dealt with a year ago. The matters we are dealing with now came to the attention of the institute through these lease negotiations late in 2006. The institute approached the government to bring in this legislation to put beyond any shadow of a doubt the fact that it has the power to own land, to lease land and to enter into licences and permits in relation to that land. I believe the opposition is not doing anyone a service -- the Prahran Mechanics Institute, the government or this house -- by attempting to make some cheap political capital out of why we are debating this legislation now.
The mechanics institute has been operating since 1854. It is the only mechanics institute in the state of Victoria that operates under its own piece of legislation, and that was passed in 1899. There was amending legislation in 1912, which had the intent of allowing the mechanics institute to own and lease land and otherwise deal in land. It is that 1912 legislation that is being amended and clarified by the bill that we are debating presently.
The mechanics institute desired to have its ability to own, lease and otherwise deal with land put beyond any shadow of a doubt so that its future arrangements, including its dealings with Swinburne University -- with which it has an ongoing leasehold arrangement involving some part of the Prahran Mechanics Institute property -- and any other dealings it may wish to have in relation to its land in the future would not be the subject of any legal argument. I think that is entirely appropriate, and the government believes it is appropriate. It is precisely the sort of action that a responsible government ought to take in relation to supporting a very important local institute like the Prahran Mechanics Institute.
The government has supported the mechanics institute in recent years in a number of ways. In particular I refer the house to the grants that have been made to the Prahran Mechanics Institute to establish what is now called the Prahran Mechanics Institute Press (PMI Press).
In addition to the library, reference and lending activities of the Prahran Mechanics Institute, it now operates a press and a publishing service which is devoted to the production and publication of local histories and Victorian history.
Since the government made its grant, which I was very happy and pleased to present to the institute on behalf of the government on the institute's 150th anniversary in 2004, the Prahran Mechanics Institute Press has published four major works. The first of those is a publication called Buildings Books and Beyond -- Mechanics' Worldwide Conference 2004. Back in 2004, the worldwide conference of mechanics institutes was held here in Melbourne. It was a great success, and the Prahran Mechanics Institute played an important role in that. The Prahran Mechanics Institute Press, as its first publication following its establishment, printed the papers and proceedings of that important and prestigious conference.
Since that time PMI Press has published Frontier French Island by Ruth Gooch, which is a history of French Island; and another publication, Flood, Fire and Fever -- A History of Elwood, written by Meyer Eidelson. Meyer is a very well-known local historian in my area. He has been a very important part of the St Kilda Historical Society in my part of Melbourne for many years and has done some great work. That book of his is to be commended. Another publication that PMI Press has been responsible for is No Shops in Acland Street -- The Autobiography of An Entertaining Lady, by Helene Jacoby Swieca. She was a very well-known St Kilda identity over many years and was particularly renowned for singing and taking part in radio productions.
They are examples of what the Prahran Mechanics Institute is doing today. As a modern facility for the community it provides not only those important reference sources but also very important lending library services.
It is a great community resource, but of course in modern times it has now moved into the publishing field and helping to preserve the important chronicles of Victorian and local history. It is essential for us as we move into the 21st century to continue to provide those important historical resources so that we do not lose sight of the great contributions that local people and local organisations have made in producing the types of communities and the type of society which we are very proud of in Victoria and which the Bracks government is committed to supporting.
I am very proud to be a member of the Prahran Mechanics Institute. I am also very proud of the work it does. I wish the institute and everybody involved in it a long successful future as they carry on their very important work on behalf of the local community.
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