The Queens Domain

 

1859: A new Government House was opened.

The land around the house was called Government Domain and owned by the crown but colonists treated the land as public land and often called it the People’s Paddock. It was the place to put abattoirs, to quarry, to agist animals, to grow food, to build and berth boats and to store munitions. Many of the buildings in Hobart were built from sandstone quarries on the Domain.

The Governor gave the Domain (except government House) to the people of Tasmania. The new Parliament of Tasmania’s declared the Queens Domain inalienable land (could not be bought and sold). It was a place for the people to enjoy.  It belonged to everyone and no-one. It was described as compensation for having to live in a penal colony.

An overpass across the Brooker at Cleary’s Gates would connect the back of beyond, our outback, our woop woop with the big smoke. Some think it has Buckleys but I dream, that in time on in the grand final, we find a safe way of crossing our ditch. It passes the café test.

You could say I’m dreaming but I watched the 1970 grand final. Anything is possible.  

Bridge of Remembrance

In Hobart we have a Bridge of Remembrance. Was built to link the Cenotaph with the Soldiers Memorial Avenue on the Queens Domain. Aim was to remember the service and sacrifice by Australian service men and women in all wars, conflicts and peacekeeping operations including and since World War One.

About 200 years ago there was violent conflict between people defending their homeland and the British colonists. The inhabitants of Tasmania were Aboriginals who had lived there for thousands of years. The majority of the British colonists were convicts. They were punished for a crime in Britain and often found themselves on the front line in the conflict against Tasmanian aborigines.

I humbly suggest a memorial to the people ignored in the Bridge of Remembrance. The people who served and sacrificed themselves in the violent conflict in Tasmania circa 200 years ago.

I suggest a bridge across the Brooker at Cleary’s Gate. 

Frederick

 

Frederick                               

The door of my fridge.

Sees and hears everything.

We all hear him sing.

 

Come to a birthday party.

for one of my grandkids.

Common let’s bake

A birthday cake.

 

Tassie devil bottle corkscrew.

Can I get one. Join the queue                          

A fridge magnet of my team.                           

A bulldog flag. I can dream.

 

Every year a Christmas card.                  

Must remember. Not that hard.                      

Every year. A card that reminds us                           

To send our cards. What’s the fuss.

 

Rows and rows of smiling                       

Brushed and combed school kids

All smiling for mum and dad.                          

And grandma and granddad.

It was hot in the shade.                 

On the beach we laid.                   

And home with us. No fret                     

My much used goanna magnet.

 

 

 

 

Queens Domain

In Hobart we don’t need a zoo, a theme park, manmade attractions or a Disneyland. We have something better.

The Queens Domain. I am simultaneously both proud of and depressed by The Queens Domain. I love the native birds and animals; the indigenous plants; the active sports people; the people respectfully walking Soldiers Memorial Avenue and the people who lived there thousands of years ago. I love them all.

But I am depressed.  Hobart is split, separated and cut off from this wonderland.  The Brooker Highway and its resultant dangerous, noisy, stream of cars, buses and trucks discourages access. The Brooker creates a fence around The Queens Domain. The Brooker bisects and severs Hobart.

Please let’s open it up.

Please build an overpass across the Brooker at Cleary’s gate.

Then more people, like me, will access, enjoy and love this wonderland.