I rise to speak on behalf of the Victorian Greens on the Prahran Mechanics’ Institute Repeal Bill 2024.
Can I commend the house on their interest in this bill and their interest in the PMI and in mechanics institutes more broadly – particularly the Leader of the Nationals, who did a very good job in terms of the history of the PMI.
I disagree with the member for Narracan. I think if people have got something to say, whether it is about the PMI or mechanics institutes in their electorates, it is fair that everyone has their say on this bill.
The Mechanics Institute in Prahran has been an incredible community-run organisation in the Prahran electorate for over 170 years.
Before I go into some of the history of the Mechanics Institute, I just want to go through something a bit more contemporary and state what a fantastic asset they are to the community and to Victoria more broadly and go through what they actually offer right now, which is the Victorian history library, a collection of over 40,000 books for loan, many of which are not available anywhere else.
It is an extensive collection specialising in works about Victorian history, looking at things like transport, visual and performing arts and First Nations. It is home also to collections on the Cinema and Theatre Historical Society and the Victorian Railway History Library.
It is such an important resource for Victorians, unlike any other. Personally, as someone who has quite a love of this sort of stuff, it is a place with books that I could spend hours going through.
Unfortunately, due to the stack of around 12 largely unread books on my bedside table, it is probably something I will have to do in my retirement.
But it is a fantastic resource in terms of not only the books that they offer but also the seminars and the lectures on a wide range of historical topics, many of which have actually helped me in my role as an MP.
Just to give you an example of the wide range that they actually offer – and this is in the tradition of mechanics institutes offering free public workshops – one some years ago was a slideshow on the history of trams in Melbourne from the 1950s to the 80s.
There were some fantastic shots of some W-class trams and of the tram network, some of which has not actually changed all that much over the many decades.
I believe this slideshow actually happened during lockdown, so it was quite a welcome distraction but also very useful during my time as the Greens transport spokesperson, as I was pushing for a much more modern and accessible tram network.
Another, What We Found … Victoria’s Queer History, took people through the findings of the Australian Queer Archives report into the history of LGBTQI+ Victoria as far back as the 1830s – again, very helpful in my role then as equality spokesperson.
It prompted me to actually visit the queer archives and meet with the author Dr Graham Willett.
Local history is another part of their fantastic collection, with a number of books on the Prahran area.
I attended the book launch of The World Is One Kilometre: Greville Street, Prahran by Judith Buckrich – who has authored a number of books on the local area – which had the incredible story and the history of the fantastic street, Greville Street, a real icon in Prahran.
So that is just a taste of the wide range of information sessions and lectures that they offer the wider community.
The building that they are actually in is not the well-known Prahran Mechanics’ Institute building on High Street; they have moved to St Edmonds Road.
They have been a staple of the community. They were originally established at a schoolroom in Prahran’s first church.
Since then they moved to Chapel Street, then to a building which was established as Prahran’s first technical school on High Street, Windsor, in which they stayed until 2014.
I recall a very early meeting – I think at the time I was a Stonnington councillor – where to say that the building on High Street was overcrowded and not fit for purpose would be a bit of an understatement, so that is what prompted their move to their current and much more modern location at St Edmonds Road.
The president at the time, Cr John Chandler, who passed away earlier this year, along with the committee, oversaw the sale of the High Street building and the purchase and subsequent refurbishment of the home at St Edmonds Road and increased its relevance to the community and expanded what it offers to the wider community.
That new building also has a large multipurpose room which is available for community groups to rent, which I have done on a number of occasions, one to launch a report on livability in Prahran – most notably that focused on open space and transport and is actually now part of the history library’s collection.
More recently I actually put on a screening of the film Metropolis. Some might know the 1927 German science fiction film directed by Fritz Lang. I believe they were going to do a remake in Melbourne, but unfortunately that fell through.
In looking to do that screening I actually found out, for those who might not know, for a very long time with Metropolis they never had the complete version of the film; the footage was lost.
Members interjecting.
No, this an interesting story. In looking to put it on I realised that they had actually found the lost footage, and the person who actually discovered that footage was Australia’s foremost Metropolis expert, a gentleman by the name of Michael Organ.
The name rang a bell, and that was the same Michael Organ who was the first Greens MP elected to a lower house of Parliament here in Australia, to the seat of Cunningham in the 2002 by-election.
I thought, ‘Well, I’ve got to put these two together,’ so I reached out to Michael, and he was gracious enough to actually come down to Prahran.
Where were we going to put this screening? The best place, of course, was the PMI Victorian History Library, and we were able to put on screening of Metropolis and have Michael come down and talk about (a) his expertise in the film Metropolis and of course his time as well as a Greens MP in the federal Parliament during that incredible time between 2002 and 2004.
About the bill itself: this is a bill that will repeal the Prahran Mechanics’ Institute Act 1899, transfer all the property, rights and liabilities to the PMI Victorian History Library as its successor body and ensure that it can continue that work as an incorporated association.
It is good to know that the PMI were obviously very closely consulted about the design of the bill and are fully supportive of the changes put forward.
In researching this bill – and the research is made a lot easier when you actually have a book on the history of the PMI sitting on your bookshelf in your parliamentary office – I did want to look into exactly why PMI was governed by its own legislation.
The explanation was that in the 1890s, like many organisations, the Prahran Mechanics’ Institute was suffering the effects of the Depression and internal mismanagement and was almost forced to close.
The secretary and the committee were not answerable to its membership, which had actually dropped to 10 by that stage, and the building was in disrepair, so the government actually stepped in with the Prahran Mechanics’ Act and allowed for the removal of the secretary.
On to the history of the PMI: whilst it is a history library, it has got a very good history of its own.
It was established in 1854, the sixth in the state to be established, with its aims when it was created including the mental and moral improvement and rational recreation of its members by means of lectures, discussions, libraries, reading rooms, classes, museums and philosophical apparatus, and it stayed true to that mission while adapting to the needs of society.
Some of its early topics were lectures back in those early days, and they are very interesting and still relevant today:
‘Has the introduction of gun power into the art of war been more beneficial than injurious to mankind?’
‘Is America or Australia most advantaged to the immigrant?’
‘Is capital punishment beneficial or injurious to society?’ Back then the meeting decided it was injurious. So there were very topical lectures in those early days.
There were some governance issues, I understand – namely a secretary who was dismissed, squatted in the secretary’s residence and refused to leave.
My understanding is that was resolved when under the cover of darkness the roof was taken off the house to make it uninhabitable, so problem solved there.
I also want to touch on the important role that the PMI played in education in Prahran.
Whilst the schools have been amalgamated with other education providers, it still has a legacy today.
When it began it conducted arts and design classes and ultimately established the Prahran Technical School in 1915, which offered courses around art and craft, architecture, millinery and sign-writing, amongst others.
By the 1960s Prahran Tech had become one of Australia’s most well known art schools. It was a school that throughout the 1960s and 70s had a reputation for having a really progressive and nonconformist culture.
As testament to that progressive culture the college union actually established Melbourne’s first planned parenthood clinic with doctors, counsellors and a pathologist and offered advice on contraception, abortion and sexual health.
As I said, from the 1970s Prahran Tech went through a number of name changes, divisions, mergers and affiliations until it was eventually wound up and included in other schools, with the school of art relocating to the Victorian College of the Arts.
But that history of education, particularly around arts, design, craft and technical education, still remains today.
It started with the establishment of the PMI and subsequently Prahran Tech and the progressive culture of Prahran Tech. It is still evident today, with arts and creative industries being a very strong part of Prahran’s identity and the progressive values of our community.
We have got courses offered at Melbourne Polytechnic at the Prahran TAFE site, which incorporates the original PMI building, with a very strong focus on the arts and creative industries and a broad range of creative training courses.
So there is a direct link from the past and the establishment of the PMI to the present and to the future as well.
We are looking to reinvigorate the Prahran TAFE site with that shared community vision of an arts and education precinct. The government has acquired that land from Swinburne.
We are waiting on the release of the master plan to look at the site, the tenants, the governance and the course offerings. But there is a really fantastic opportunity for the Prahran TAFE site, which as I said still includes the original mechanics institute 1915 Prahran Tech building, to become once again a national leader in the arts, technical education and the creative industries.
To conclude, the PMI Victorian History Library is an incredible asset for our local community and also for our state.
As the local MP I just see firsthand the wonderful contribution that it makes.
It is just so important to recognise and support organisations like this, which really do provide a unique service and are striving to make education and information as accessible as possible.
I really do encourage all members and people, if they have not, to check out the PMI, see what they have to offer by way of their book collection – that is a collection of 40,000 books with a focus on history – and have a look at their seminar programs as well.
There are a number of them still ongoing. There are book clubs. They are a fantastic asset to our community, but they are also part of history.
Vicki Ward interjected.
Sam HIBBINS: 40,000 books.
Vicki Ward: That’s amazing. The second-oldest library in the state, is that right?
Sam HIBBINS: I will accept that. It is an organisation that I am really proud to have in the Prahran electorate. I look forward to them continuing the fantastic work they do. I commend this bill to the House.
