Speeches and Messages

Friday, 28 June 2024
Maitland Town Hall
Her Excellency the Honourable Margaret Beazley AC KC, Governor of New South Wales

Thank you, Uncle Richard, for your Welcome to Country.

I, too, acknowledge Wonnarua Elders, Traditional Owners, custodians and knowledge-holders of these lands and waterways here in Maitland. ^[1] I also acknowledge the Worimi People, Traditional Owners of the Port Stephens area,^[2] and pay my respects to their Elders past, present, and emerging, and those of all adjoining lands and waterways.

The Honourable Jenny Aitchison MP, Minister for Regional Transport and Roads, Member for Maitland
Councillor Philip Penfold, Mayor of Maitland
Special guests, all

We are almost a ‘full house’ tonight but not quite as full as 123 years ago, when this Town Hall was packed to the rafters with a ‘who’s who’ of the Australian political scene.

It was the 17th January 1901, when Prime Minister Edmund Barton stood up to deliver his first speech for the upcoming election^[3] in the Parliament of Australia. He was interim Prime Minister, commissioned by Governor General Lord Hopetoun,^[4] as a result of the recent Federation of States.

Ironically, while rebutting the claim that there were ‘too many lawyers in his Cabinet’,^[5] his speech went on to be long and loquacious. For a speech about the new Commonwealth of Australia, that might be expected. One of its highlights was that it outlined his plan for a High Court of Australia.^[6]

This connection to Maitland highlights this region’s historic significance - which has a profound Indigenous history and a history linked to our early European settlement.^[7]

Suffice to say, that when Barton retired as local member and Prime Minister, he did so to join a favourite Maitland ‘son’ on the High Court of Australia, Sir Samuel Walker Griffith,^[8] who had earned the nickname ‘oily Sam’ at school here for his “ability to argue on any side of any subject.”^[9]

History has an important place in our community as we have seen during this and last-week’s Maitland Heritage Fest.^[10] So, also, are the social, economic and cultural elements that drive a region forward - a young and growing population; a strong and diverse economic base; a community that is motivated and well-connected, which encourages, seeks and finds opportunity - and support, where needed.

As Professor Roberta Ryan, Executive Director at the University of Newcastle’s Institute for Regional Futures has pointed out, the dynamic nature of this region means it “is accustomed to change.”^[11]

One of the fastest growing regions in NSW,^[12] the Hunter is witnessing a rapidly diversifying economic base.^[13]

Resilience and adaptability have always been key to your survival – the region has withstood over 200 recorded floods,^[14] including the devastating 1955 ‘Maitland flood’^[15], and the most recent floods in 2022. At that time, the community banded together to help each other, demonstrating the resilience and ‘fighting spirit’ for which this area has become renowned.^[16]

This spirit of community, of volunteering, has been apparent everywhere during this visit – in leadership; in the emergency services and marine rescue; in education and industry initiatives; in the care that is provided to the vulnerable and those doing it tough, to the protection of our precious wildlife and marine^[17] and river environments, and in food sustainability. Staggeringly, a recent figure indicated that the work of volunteers across NSW represents a benefit of over $178 billion to our economy.^[18]

Here, too, is a vibrant arts scene, nurtured through community organisations - the Maitland City Pipes and Drums which has entertained you is one of them - and through education.

The great Maitland-born and bred actor and director John Bell AO, described as one of our Australia’s ‘living treasures’, credits his teachers here in Maitland with fostering his early love of theatre and of Shakespeare, which he pursued through the local Eisteddfod.^[19]

Tonight is simply about thanking you for welcoming us to your organisation, for the insights you have shared with Dennis and I, including those conversations we will have this evening and tomorrow, and for the extraordinary work you do for our community: ‘Thank you’.

[1] https://www.maitland.nsw.gov.au/services/community-services/aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-peoples

[2] https://www.portstephens.nsw.gov.au/community/our-profile/history-of-our-area#:

[3] 29-30 March 1901

[4] https://www.nma.gov.au/explore/features/prime-ministers/edmund-barton#:

[5] https://electionspeeches.moadoph.gov.au/speeches/1901-edmund-barton

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/124108299/12645672

[6] ibid

[7] In 1810, a base camp was established by convicts from Newcastle to log timber. In 1818 Governor Macquarie named the area Wallis Plains after Major James Wallis and ordered the establishment of a farming community. In 1820, free European colonists were permitted by the Governor to establish a colony, which then became Maitland: https://www.maitlandlibrary.com.au/collections/history-of-maitland#

[8] Inaugural Chief Justice of Australia, in office from 1903 to 1919

[9] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Griffith

[10] 15-29 June 2024

[11] The Hunter Matters: Regional Insights November 2023:

University of Newcastle: Institute for Regional Futures:

https://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/services/Download/uon:53233/ATTACHMENT02?view=true

[12] Hunter Business Review: 2023/22 Financial year
https://www.hbrmag.com.au/article/read/welcome-to-the-fastest-growing-regional-city-in-nsw-3259#:

[13] From manufacturing and mining to health, education, services and renewable energies:

The Hunter Matters: Regional Insights November 2023:

University of Newcastle: Institute for Regional Futures:

https://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/services/Download/uon:53233/ATTACHMENT02?view=true

[14] https://www.ses.nsw.gov.au/flood-awareness-nsw/hunter-central-coast/maitland-lga/#: