Page 3822 - Week 12 - Wednesday, 29 October 2014
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Alan has been a self-confessed “history addict” since he completed an honours degree in geography at the University of Sydney, where he studied the history of mining towns in Queensland. Alan was recognised for his service to ACT history and heritage in 2009 when he received a Medal of the Order of Australia.
Alan’s latest book is entitled They Came to Build Canberra: The Story of the Turner Workmen’s Hostel—the People, the Buildings and the Land 1946 to 2014. Between 1946 and 1952, seven workmen’s hostels were built in Canberra to provide accommodation for about 2,500 mainly single men, the majority of whom worked in the building industry. The commonwealth Department of Works and Housing was struggling to attract building and construction workers to Canberra due to the acute shortage of housing.
As a way of encouraging workers to come to Canberra, the department provided temporary accommodation at the Eastlake, Riverside and Fairbairn hostels. Over the next few years the department built the Capital Hill, Ainslie, Turner and Hillside hostels. Between the opening of the provisional Parliament House in 1927 and the late 1940s, only 8,000 more people had moved to Canberra. The city was suffering due to the Great Depression, World War II and the general disinterest in the national capital from the rest of the nation.
The men who lived in the hostels were an integral part of the development of Canberra as the national capital. They moved to Canberra from all around Australia, as well as from many European countries, as part of the federal government’s postwar immigration program.
The Turner workmen’s hostel was completed in 1949 and had 360 rooms. It was located on a site fronting Childers and Boldrewood streets in Turner. The hostel was only open until 1952 because by that time most of the residents had been able to build and live in their own houses. The hostel’s buildings were located near the campus of the newly established Australian National University and office accommodation was still scarce.
The city’s administration decided to keep the buildings for other uses rather than demolishing them. They were used for a variety of purposes between 1953 and 2010. The first users of the hostel buildings after its closure were the Canberra University College and Bureau of Mineral Resources when they had to relocate from the Melbourne Building after the 1953 fire. The buildings remained in use until 2010 when they were demolished to make way for the ANU Exchange.
Alan’s book provides a detailed history of the Turner hostel, including recollections from residents, workers and other users of the buildings. I congratulate Alan on his latest book and the valuable contribution he continues to make to the Canberra community through his recording of stories from early life in the city. I recommend all members read Alan’s latest book, and other books he has written, to find out more about a fascinating part of Canberra’s history.
Question resolved in the affirmative.
The Assembly adjourned at 6.25 pm.
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