Tuesday, 3 February 2026

 Bev McARTHUR (Western Victoria) (20:46): (2248) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Planning, and the action I seek is for her to direct the Department of Transport and Planning, which is responsible for the state government offices at 30 Little Malop Street, Geelong, to remove the hoarding and allow full public access to Harold Freedman’s Geelong Regional History mosaic mural. This mural is not a minor decorative feature; it is a significant public artwork commissioned by the state of Victoria in 1977. Completed over two and a half years and unveiled in November 1980, it is heritage listed by both the National Trust and the Victorian Heritage Register for its historical importance and its depiction of the changing lifestyle of the region’s people. The mural consists of more than 1 million tiles set against a golden background. It depicts key moments in Victoria’s early history, including Indigenous life, first settler ships, early agriculture and explorers on horseback engaging with an Indigenous man. These scenes are rendered in a style of portraiture realism, meaning the figures are lifelike, proportional and historically accurate.

Yet, as of last year, Harold Freedman’s descendants discovered the artwork inaccessible to the public without good reason. Hoarding was placed over it, initially citing building works. When the family questioned the covering, they were told by the property director that the decision was influenced by anger expressed by Indigenous visitors and staff. Heritage protection exists precisely to stop each generation from erasing the past because it makes a few people uncomfortable. A poll conducted by the Geelong Advertiser asked whether any aspect of the mural was disrespectful; 98 per cent of the 1390 respondents said no. The public does not want this mural hidden. They do not see it as offensive; they see it as their history. Harold Freedman was a deeply patriotic Victorian, appointed the first and only state artist of Victoria in 1972. He was a man of many talents, an official war artist during World War II, a fine arts teacher at RMIT, an illustrator and a magazine art director. He believed art should be accessible to ordinary Australians, not locked away. When his children and grandchildren came to Geelong to see a great Australian artwork created by a man who loved this country, they were confronted not by history but by a blank sheet. That should trouble every one of us. This is not the Australia we believe in. We are a nation that honours its artists and shared story. We do not hide our history because it offends modern over-sensibilities. Minister, restore the mural, restore our history, restore Australian – (Time expired)