Hansard
The site has a long history of abuse, degradation and shameful
conditions for both women and children, firstly as the Female Convict
Factory and then through the Parramatta Industrial School for Females
and finally the Parramatta Girls Home and Kamballa. It is an ugly story
but it is a history that we should not back away from. It is a history
that needs to be told. As many as one in five Australians today are
descended from women who were once incarcerated in the Parramatta
Female Factory Precinct, and members should consider that for a
moment—that is, 20 per cent of all Australians, well over four million
people, have a direct family link to women who were incarcerated on
that site over its two-century history. Yet, while the Cascades Female
Factory in Tasmania has been excavated extensively and is under
consideration for World Heritage listing, there have been no similar
archaeological digs conducted in Parramatta. We need to preserve this
site and celebrate its heritage.
Finally, I would like to acknowledge the work of Bonney Djuric, who
has worked so hard to raise the profile of this site. In 1970 Bonney
spent nine months in the Parramatta Girls Home, when she was just 15
years old. Her experiences are mirrored by the many stories told by the
report of the 2004 Senate inquiry into children in institutionalised
care, known as Forgotten Australians. Members who have not read that report would be well served by doing so.
The Parramatta Female Factory Precinct is an extraordinary site, and
if you peek in through the gates your imagination will run wild as mine
did and you will wonder why such a treasure and such an opportunity to
preserve and acknowledge our history has been ignored for so long.
Read the whole speech
Email your comments to Julie Owens or call her Parramatta office on 02 9689 1455
